Author's notes: Yes. I ripped the title shamelessly off from the song. Yes, I have no regrets. Its a good a song. Also yes, you should look it up. Its a Security Breach themed song. And YES, it fits this chapter completely and super well. You'll see what I mean. Imagine its like, the ending credits song to the end of this chapter- if this story was told in an episodic manner. I thank music for my muses.
Anyways, Enjoy!
GLAMROCK BONNIE
Calling him confused would be an understatement.
He hadn't expected to wake up to Vanessa's voice after Cassie had freed his mind from the AR world. So naturally, he freaked out. Once he noticed there was something different with his body- like the upgrades and the heavier, larger motor, he thought it was a diabolical means to an end for Vanny. For her to turn him into a drone or something. And again, upon waking up and realizing he's different and hearing her voice, he couldn't help but immediately assume that his life would be in peril and he swung first.
Indeed, he hadn't seen the kids in the room with him when he first got up. His ears had tracked Vanessa in the room with him and stayed locked on her; then his eyes followed. And once he saw her, all bets were off. He went into Security mode immediately and flew off the handle. He reacted; not proacted- even though it'd given the illusion of the latter.
But now, dawning back on the last few minutes, he realized his severe error: his friends were NOT under Vanessa/Vanny's control, they were completely fine, they were rebuilding him, Cassie was here and HURT, and Freddy had to lecture him about not seeing the children and charging in the manner he did. It's embarrassing enough he'd flung the daycare attendant into Roxy- and he smashed Roxy into a wall and nearly flattened her; thinking she was going to rip his throat out again.
Again, he reacted... and it fell more in line with OVER-reacting. And once more, he blamed his partially stupid rabbit brain for the flipping out part. He could've swore he changed some of those behavioral tics out.
For now though, in the lull of his attack, his body had wound down and he felt himself slump into the bots holding him. Yes, ironically, the first hugs he got upon awakening were from the very same bots who rendered him defunct in the first place. Call it a karmic turnabout: Roxy and Chica had jointly destroyed him, but here he was, relishing the fact he was sitting in their embrace while he rued. He knew they hadn't meant it- nor do they remember. And even if they did remember, he suspected the result would've been the same; more hugs, more crying, and apologies everywhere. And if they don't remember doing it, he wasn't going to tell them. Why the heck would he tell Chica she helped kill him? She was sensitive enough as it is- let alone Roxy!
As for himself... he found himself shockingly exhausted even despite the new and more powerful chest rig and the fact he was better than ever- despite the way his shell looked right now. His fatigue actually stemmed not from his mad pursuit of Vanessa, but from his own emotions. He never got to properly finish processing that night he'd seen the truth in the underground; never got to process his own tumultuous mindset after Vanny disabled him. He was tired, and yet at the same time he felt charged with a live-wire anxiety that electrified his limbs. He wanted to bolt this time, and with the intention to flee-
But how can one flee from his own feelings?
So he cried instead.
He found himself laying partially on Cassie now; his chin over her crown, tucking the girl close with one paw while the other stayed rooted to the ground beneath him. He didn't want to touch her with the bloody one; and frankly, he needed that limb to brace his weight anyways due to aforementioned exhaustion dragging at him. He jerked; shoulders rolling at certain intervals and his eyes shut as he struggled to process that he was here now and he was able-bodied again.
He knew Cassie had saved him. She was the one to have found him, freed his mind, inspired the others to fix him- he was here because of her. And now, he owed her everything that he is or was- and he intended to give it.
She'd come back to the PizzaPlex for Gregory, at first. But she stayed for THEM- even despite being injured and scared. Despite the fact she should be in a hospital and not involved with this madness, she stayed for them- for a bunch of expensive glorified children's party bots. She stayed to fix them, to love them when no one else does, to embrace them when they've needed it the most.
Bless her heart, because she sure as fuck has mine in her hands. Can't imagine the others, he's pondered.
He found himself inhaling again; the motion a symptom of his sorrow as he attempted to process the weird world around him right now. Cassie was hugging him, Chica and Roxanne were too, and he just had a fight with all his comrades with the exception of Monty. Freddy had just... walked off. He didn't even say anything. Couldn't defend himself from Bonnie's barbed accusation.
So he cried some more- like a huge fucking baby. And while his sadness wasn't as flippantly obvious as it would be with Chica whenever she was at her worst, no one can mistaken the odd huffs he produced for anything else. At best he can attribute the noises to happy rabbit noises, but he didn't want to straight lie about it neither. He couldn't physically cry like a human, but damn if all the bots can't give their best approximation of it. They showed their sadness in varying ways. Chica's was the loudest by far, and Bonnie's the quietest and most deceptive in all the band. These aren't happy huffs- they're the sad kind.
His nose twitched; his chest movement weirdly rapid as Cassie continued to hug him. She wouldn't move for the longest time; wouldn't budge unless he wanted to. The endearment had the rabbit choked up now for a different reason. This loving girl- caring about them all even when the whole rest of the world had banished them to the depths- she was literally the only reason why Bonnie wasn't resuming his chase right now. He let Vanessa go for the moment- rather savoring the first real hug he's had in...
In...
Well, the fact he couldn't remember said enough. He's been trapped digitally ever since being decommissioned; and even before that, he hadn't deigned to hug his friends in the days leading up to his 'death'. Now that he dawned on it, Chica may have been the last person to have hugged him.
At length, and back in the present, he eventually opened his eyes again and rubbed Cassie's back; the girl feeling oh-so fragile beneath his platter-sized paws. His maroon gaze fixed on the hen and wolf too; Roxanne's nose stuck to his jaw in what could've been a passably submissive canid manner and Chica fixed to his back like she was trying to become one with him or be his shield- or both? Was that what hens do? Cover their babies like that? He didn't know, but Chica was now producing some sort of odd noise- one he wasn't sure he's ever heard before. He didn't know chicken language well enough to understand it. Roxy was whining on rare occasions- the sound tapering off really fast as if she recalled she was doing it and didn't want to show it.
Finally, Cassie pulled away. Bonnie suspected they've been sitting here a few minutes now just holding the position. She wiped her eyes; Bonnie's own red set noticing the girl's leg beneath her and the splint on it. The rabbit felt incredibly foolish for not noticing sooner that Cassie was hurt and he'd almost hurt her further when he'd thrown that glass panel. He won't forgive himself for the error anytime soon either.
How dare he. Didn't he promise Cassie's dad to protect and watch her?
The girl sniffed and looked up at him, hazel gaze a warm glow that reminded Bonnie vaguely of bubbling honey. "Are you... okay now? Kinda? Maybe?"
Her words, so small and barely heard. If he didn't have good hearing he would've missed them. He merely nodded in answer though, the gesture vague and distracted. Talking again felt difficult.
Shit. He STILL hadn't processed if he was truly an A.I or some sort of ghost in the shell. And he's never told anyone of his discovery either- literally, Chica and Roxy here wouldn't know what he's seen that night. Freddy wouldn't know since his memory was deleted, and all they knew was that Bonnie has had Vanny to contend with. In this respect, the rabbit literally felt like the odd one out right now.
But with the way this tiny girl looked at him, he felt like he can find some understanding here in due time. He just needed to process.
After his nod, Cassie was seen touching his face again and turning his head; he followed the motion, let her direct his skull how she wanted. "Do you feel any pain?" She queried, no doubt looking at his damaged side and focusing on the fact that he was missing half his face.
He blinked once, his gaze sliding to Chica and Roxy. If only they knew. "No," he mumbled, his reply simple. He didn't feel anything in some regions of his face- the tactile sensors anchored to some areas of his visage having been damaged to that severity. He briefly wondered if the silvery bands under his chassis can be replaced, as he knew he wouldn't want to go without touch. It was maddening if he felt numb to the physical realm.
Cassie's fingers moved away from his whiskers- which he was silently thankful for. He never liked people touching them (although he would've happily taken what he can get in terms of touch right now). Her hand lowered, her gaze long and fraught with a tempestuous array of pain. He didn't want sympathy but, he wouldn't deny that her ability to wear her heart on her sleeve was a relieving and beautiful notion. "I'm so sorry," she mumbled as well. "Seeing you like that-"
"I'm the one that's sorry," he cut in, though his tone remained low and quiet. "I should've seen you and... Gregory, was it? I almost hurt you both. I'd never forgive myself if I had." He inhaled; compressor whirring softly as he considered her words as well as his own. He glanced briefly at Chica and Roxy, wearing the same pensive, apologetic expression all the while. "And I'm sorry about the er... the fighting. Roxy, I smashed you into a wall! I really-"
"Don't start with that," She bit, though not unkindly. "If we go around apologizing for every little thing we've ever done in all our lives, we'd never be able to move on. I know you didn't want to hurt me- you thought I was under Vanny's influence, yeah?"
He nodded grimly, ears still low to his head.
"Well, as you can see, we aren't. Vanny hasn't been around for a long time," The wolf shrugged as she passed Chica a glance too. "I don't trust Vanessa all the way but... she helped put you back together and is working to do the same for the rest of us. I dunno what to think personally, but she hasn't tried anything Vanny-like."
Bonnie blinked, then looked Chica, "And you? how do you feel?"
"Fine, actually! She didn't do anything I wouldn't have wanted done for myself," She shrugged.
He frowned there, twitching his nose in irritation, "Then... how come she did something to me? I just scanned myself and I'm finding a few weird things..."
Roxy supplied easily, "She didn't put anything in you I wouldn't have wanted for myself. And for that matter, I DID help her with your reassembly. I did your motor-" Her claw touched his broken breast plate, "The programs she would've put in are something we all jointly agreed on and WATCHED her do. Believe me, its not anything malign."
He snorted dismissively there, then shut his eyes and scanned himself in further detail. His frown deepened when he found a particularly large file on his processor. "The hell is a... 'Mixies'? Pixies? Mixie-sticks?"
"M.X.E.S," Cassie explained. "Its some sort of hard-core, super smart and super adaptive security program that was designed to combat the Mimic- which is some kinda evil animatronic that tried to... oh, I dunno... kill me?"
Bonnie looked alarmed, his jaw falling open. His eyes went to her leg, then her, "Did it- was it the thing that broke your leg?"
"No... not directly. Its actions led into it though," Cassie replied. "But anyways, I don't think you need to worry about M.X.E.S being an issue. Its biggest vice is just being a super-huge, memory eating program meant to combat any viruses and malicious programs inside the PizzaPlex. And sadly, with the broken terminals here and the blinking power grid...Vanessa couldn't run it. She could only run its most basic features on her tiny laptop. So, she and Roxy gave you that new core so YOU can run it instead." She pointed to his motor next, "You have the processing power to stop and slow down the Mimic, and I think you're the only one that can right now."
"Is this thing truly that hostile? Like, really hostile?" He glanced around at his friends next. At their nods he frowned again, and shook his head, "I'm sorry but... you guys really want me to run Vanessa's program when she was the one who fucked me over?"
"That wasn't Vanessa!" Chica began. "Vanny and her are two different people. Its like, Sun and Moon. And Eclipse. Different people, same body."
Bonnie still looked skeptical. He hissed, the noise odd as it escaped his repaired voice box. "Vanessa was still responsible for a lot of shit- besides locking me up in the PizzaPlex security network."
Roxy shook her head sadly, "Look... I wish we can say we have the luxury of picking our allies, but we simply don't have that luxury. And as loathe as I am to say this, Vanessa knows what she's doing. That program of hers... well, I think its done a better job dealing with the Mimic when it was active than I could. I had my ass handed to me on gilded platter!" She snarled briefly, "I couldn't protect Cassie. I failed. And that thing? If it escapes, its gonna do the same to a BUNCHA people."
"Its apparently running a copy of the same program that crippled the PizzaPlex and created Vanny," Chica continued for Roxy. Bonnie blinked in wonderment at the 'create' part, within reason. He was definitely missing some context here, but on Cassie went, "I don't understand it but... that thing cannot be allowed to leave, or spread its toxic programming to places outside of here."
"You guys are for real serious about me running this thing," Bonnie dead-panned. At all their nods though, he heaved a great sigh and sat back on his ankles. He scanned his Hud; eyes shut briefly as he checked the contents of the enormous file size and listings of its features. He raised a metaphorical brow, "Damn... this thing's HUGE. I mean, I appreciate having a new heart and all but... running this thing is still gonna keep me from doing too much moving around. Shit."
"That big?" Cassie wondered.
"Yeah... but, I can do it. I'll run it, and see what I can do about this big-bad Mimic thingy," Bonnie finally affirmed. "I mean, I can still do stuff? Just not a LOT at once. I can't imagine getting into a fight while running M.X.E.S at the same time and still expect to come out of that super stylishly."
Roxy dusted herself off, then went to stand, "Once its disabled, I think we can all get it at once. And then you won't have to run the program anymore. Vanessa also says you have access to the cameras here too... so, can you find it?"
"I can do a LOT with this thing... its incredible," Bonnie admitted the longer he scanned the Hud. "It has a buncha behaviors in it that're unique... and its intelligent! Not gonna lie, it almost feels like I'm sharing my body with someone else. Kinda intrusive, honestly. But I don't think I'll complain too much. Its... shit." He fell silent for a second, frowning at the Hud blinking before his eyes. "Its rewriting some of my security algorithms on its own-? Rearranging... improving efficiency... I mean, I knew Vanessa was a tech-wiz but this thing's... wow."
He slowly got to his feet, helping Cassie up next. Roxy took the girl into her arms as Bonnie's motor started to hum louder. "Its compensating for my own errors already. And fixing some messed up stuff... and... improving certain defensive features... I feel like I got hijacked but its not terrible?" He blinked in a dazed way, "Adaptive... a little scary, admittedly."
"You sure you're okay?" Chica mumbled.
"Yeah, its not doing anything I wouldn't do; to take the words out of you guys' mouths," Bonnie affirmed after a few seconds. "But I ain't gonna let it take the helm in my own head. That's fucking nuts. So, you guys said something about Vanessa not being able to run it-?"
"Her laptop's too small. Not enough memory," Roxy added. "And the larger terminals here are either broken or flicking off with the main power grid."
"Right right... okay," He glanced around, although his expression suggested that he was watching his Hud and not the world around him. "I have access to the cameras. I'll start looking for this thing. Apparently M.X.E.S has already taken the liberty of imposing some digital firewalls everywhere here in the short amount of time that's passed since I started running this thing. That's fast." His ears perked, blinking dazedly as he watched the girl. He found himself frowning again, "I'm so sorry about your leg, Cassie. Is it bad?"
"No, Eclipse gave me a splint and has been good about tending it," She informed him.
"Okay, good. Good. Now then-" he pressed a talon to the good side of his head. Then, he smirked, "So uh... can I ask why this thing's got the chiseled cheeks of a Greek God? I mean like, I know you guys said Vanessa designed this thing but... why the heck did she design this rabbit sprite with more cake on one side of his inter-face than I do my whole body? No fair."
Chica let out an involuntary snort, "Oh my god. So like, its a rabbit sprite... and its weirdly hot or something?"
"...Yeah, kinda. He's hot-ish?"
"...'He'?"
"Yuh. Like I said earlier: its intelligent. Pretty much its own individual but just a step or two down." His expression pinched again, then he muttered, "Does this woman have a fetish for rabbits or something? I swear to shit..."
The hen cackled loudly enough to wake the dead on that note; slapping a hand to her face.
Roxy blinked rapidly and slapped Freddy's borrowed paws to Cassie's ears as if to cover them. She glared at the two of them and scathingly grumbled, "O-kay. We're leaving. Gotta take Cassie to bed!"
"But I'm not even tired-" She groused.
"Yes, you are. And we are SO not going to talk about a stupid security program being hot. I don't wanna listen to Bonnie complain about it."
"But I have many complaints! How come my digital interface ain't that sexy? I mean, I knew our cutouts were adorable and all but-"
"I just said I don't want to hear it! And do I need to remind you we have a child present?" She snapped.
Bonnie and Chica kept snickering despite this, with the blue rabbit bending over to pick up his almost completely forgotten high collar. He frowned at it, turned it over, then just tossed it to the floor again.
The hen tilted her head at him, "Not keeping your stylish looks?"
"I think I'm a little past caring about my appearance at this point," Bonnie supplied, opening his arms as if to gesticulate to his whole body. The numerous dents and large holes in him said enough- let alone the ominous stains of coolant on his torso from when Roxy bled him (a memory he definitely did not need to be reminding himself of). "And really, that thing has impacted my ability to defend myself sometimes. I think I'll be okay without it."
"If you're sure," she shrugged before turning to follow Roxy and Cassie.
Indeed, being able to lift his arms over his head now was a luxury he was keeping. Bonnie didn't feel like he could regret it. If anything, his high collar was, while unique in the Glamrock band, more hindrance than help. It made him heavier, and when Roxy had a hold of him earlier, allowed her to fix herself to him while she'd been holding him back. Worse, he couldn't even reach up over his head that well, or at ALL at certain angles. It's about time he left one of his more interesting tastes behind, considering the circumstances.
So, he followed the girls back to the repair ward in reflective silence; Bonnie fixing himself on his current task: He had to admit; this M.X.E.S thing was good. He wished he had something like this back when he was fighting Vanny. He'd fallen silent on that note; simply shadowing them as he distractedly tended the security system in the PizzaPlex. It felt weird having access to EVERYTHING here; and he was allowed to do whatever he wanted to the system right from the get-go. The amount of power was ridiculous and dizzying after having gone without it for so long.
He jumped when he felt something take his paw; blinking out of his reverie when he noticed Chica had been the one to seize it. She burbled at him; a low, silly, thrilling noise that could've passed as a 'purr' of some kind. She eyed him, every bit herself he could remember: The hen that existed before the bugging out- but still carrying around some of the memories and the events AFTER the tragedies. Chica was the best her she could be.
The observation prompted a returning squeeze to her hand. He was wary but welcoming of it regardless; and he was glad he could still feel touch in his paws when a lot of his face still felt numb or absent. He ashamedly kept his other blood-stained paw out of reach; tucking a claw into his pelvic piece. He made a mental note to clean his paw up when he got the chance.
He ended up being led to the padded rooms; blinking when he heard voices from inside. He bared his teeth once as the door opened; narrowing his eyes as he beheld Vanessa bent over Gregory and pulling some blanket up and around him. The sight baffled Bonnie and felt reasonably obscene; as he couldn't picture Vanessa in a million lifetimes doing something so endearing for anyone. She's pointedly made it clear just how much she's always hated kids in the past.
At their arrival, Gregory was shooting Bonnie looks. The scrappy headed kid looked like he wanted to shove the hurricane bucket on him instead; and it didn't help that he had a fucking fazerblaster sitting within reach. Why the hell was this kid armed? Even worse, he had a fazcam (which Bonnie lamented had the ability to stun EVERYONE in the room at once) and a... is that a copy of the animatronic taser?
Bonnie stayed far away from the boy as Roxy walked in with Cassie. The wolf bent near Gregory too; pulling up some of the plushies and resting the girl in a bed of toys and what looked like her spare tail piece. After tucking her in, the wolf passed Vanessa a glance and sniffed her curiously- to which the former security guard recoiled and mumbled "uh..." uncertainly.
Roxy chuffed, then, "You smell tired too. You gonna lie down?"
"I said I'd help with Monty," the woman reciprocated. She glanced at Bonnie over her shoulder, noticeably wilting as she said, "And frankly, I dunno if I can sleep right this instant... Still feel a little... um, awake, if you get what I mean."
Bonnie's maroon eyes fixed to her and remained that way; as if he could see into her body and reach for her very soul. Chica popped him gently in the upper arm next to snap his focus off her.
Roxy bobbed a shoulder, "Whatever. Freddy's already prepped the cylinder- and his stupid self sounds like he's leaving-"
"WHAT?" Vanessa shot up. "Oh my god that idiot! He needs to be MAINTENANCED first!"
She turned on her heel and bolted passed Chica and Bonnie; intent on catching Freddy before he straight dipped. Bonnie watched her leave, nose flaring a few times and then focusing on the kids again anew. Chica pulled him into the room fully, then let his hand go so she can bend down next to Cassie.
"Rest up! We'll be able to take care of things from here," she cooed. "You guys honestly shouldn't have to be dealing with this crap anymore to begin with."
Cassie was seen fluffing her bed of toys, laying her head on a large Freddy plush and pulling up replicas of Roxy, Chica and Moon. She smiled gingerly at them all, "Ain't gonna stop me from helping again if I can get away with it."
"Oh no you don't," Roxy grinned at her, reaching for her head and fluffing it. "You're gonna sit tight here and sleep. I don't wanna hafta deal with Moon if he realizes you're still awake."
At that, Gregory shivered noticeably. Bonnie was the only one in the room that heard him mutter, "Nope... not doing that again."
Cassie grabbed Roxy's (or Freddy's?) paw and squeezed, "Will you guys do me a favor and fix yourselves up a bit more? Please? Make sure to actually take the time to yourself for some self-love?"
"We will," Chica nodded. "I think I'll go help Vanessa now with Freddy... knowing him, he'll refuse the care until literally everyone else has been finished first. Literally won't go near the cylinder if he thinks any of us need more maintenance."
Gregory winced there too, "Yeah no... don't let him wander off until after he gets some new pieces on too. He can't be walking around with that worn motor about to quit on him. Don't matter if the car battery kept him charged... Actually, speaking of which-" He glanced at the other bots, "Vanessa put the battery on a shelf in the room so... if you guys don't wanna use the recharge stations, go ahead and use the battery. That thing will keep you guys charged for HOURS."
Bonnie blinked, tilting his head at this.
Roxy bobbed her shoulders and turned back to Cassie. She bumped her forehead with the girl's own, then stood back up, "We'll be in shouting distance if you need us. Just get some sleep or I'll send Moon in here- given he hasn't left with Freddy already." She turned to leave, then paused in front of Bonnie, "Maybe you should lie down somewhere too?"
"Er... why? I feel fine," the rabbit shrugged.
"Running M.X.E.S is gonna tire you out fast. Now that I think about it... maybe you should keep the car battery near you while you route out the Mimic. Its going to fight you digitally once if realizes what you're up to."
Gregory was still levelling Bonnie a suspicious look as he said, "That Mimic-thing has like, self-replicating routines? It'll adapt and change stuff on the fly too. And a primitive version of the same virus that shut the PizzaPlex down and messed everyone up is in its head. And if you had trouble dealing with Vanny's hacking before, you can BET this thing is just as good- if not better. I'm surprised you haven't detected it already, given you're running the M.X.E.S."
Bonnie blinked and shut his eyes again. He frowned, "Don't get me wrong; I detected a security issue already but M.X.E.S got it cooked and canned. I didn't really take a closer look beyond that. Still trying to understand what I'm looking at here..."
Roxy and Chica blinked at him, "Wait, you felt something?"
"...Yeah. But like I said, chiseled cheeks got it. I think at this point M.X.E.S is letting me just power it and be its vessel, and in exchange, he gets to do his thing and leave me some memory to spare?" He blinked and shrugged, "I'll sit and eyeball it more carefully. Haven't caught anything on the cameras yet though... doesn't help that there's not a lot of functional cameras left either. If I'm supposed to find this thing, I'm going to have a hard time doing it, regardless of M.X.E.S's help. The PizzaPlex is just..." He inhaled and shook his head. "Its coming apart. And its likely the Mimic knows that and its biding its time. Probably hiding out away from the cameras, given it knows they're there."
There was a brief and somewhat grim silence there. Gregory's expression actually pallored, which within itself wasn't a good sign. He ended up adding, "I forgot! After it got free, of course it would've checked the system! Crap! So it'd know where all the cameras are and what we've been doing-"
Roxy's muzzle fell open, then she was looking at Bonnie, "By chance... can you check the exits? Make sure everything's barricaded?"
He nodded, "We don't have to worry about a lot of points of entry, I can say that immediately. I put money on that thing still being trapped in here... only way out may be the main entrance right now. The fire escapes are sealed ridiculously tight and the loading docks are locked. All vents are too big for this thing to fit as well... so, even though this thing's got access to the system, it'd know it wouldn't be able to leave." He folded his arms and rested his weight on one hip, "Granted... let's hope it didn't figure out the main entrance... I don't have any active cameras near there."
Gregory shook his head, "The only way to the main entrance was through the elevator shafts, and they don't work. The elevators themselves are in the way. Vanessa, Freddy and I only got in because I had to unscrew a maintenance door on the ceiling of one of them. Vanessa made me seal it back too- wanted to make sure nothing leaves the same way. That thing won't be leaving, in that case."
"Good. So its definitely still here," Bonnie acknowledged. "I suppose its... kinda reassuring? But it means none of us have a way out unless we go that way." His ears flattened, "I don't want to say this but... we still can't eliminate the chances that parts of the PizzaPlex can cave and let that thing have another means of escape."
"Or the tunnels that giant thing made," Cassie mumbled. She passed them all a worried look, "When I came in... there was areas in the floor where that... amalgamation came through. Around the giant Freddy statue in the lobby? The Mimic may leave through that."
Bonnie's expression slipped into abjectly horrified. "You... y-you saw it? The many-faced bot?"
Gregory and her now looked at Bonnie in-turn. "YOU saw it before?" Gregory sputtered. "When was THIS?"
Roxy growled, then glanced at the other two bots, "Explain later. These kids need to rest. On that note, I think we made need to make a party to go and seal that tunnel nearer to the main entrance, the one Cassie mentioned."
"Right. Do we have enough paws available?" Bonnie waved at her.
"Just enough, and then some if we get Monty up sooner rather than later," the wolf provided. "I think Freddy will have to get his claws dirty again. We'll have to talk this over."
The bots shrugged at other in uncertain, wane motions. Then, they bade the kids goodnight and left them be. Bonnie's eyes lingered briefly on Cassie and Gregory, but primarily on the former as he turned on his heel.
"Bonnie?"
He paused, then looked at her, "What did Roxy get through saying? Sleep, kiddo!"
"I know, but-" the girl blinked at him and sighed heavily, "Can I ask you something real fast? Just real quick." At his nod she continued, "I know it's a lot to ask and... I know you haven't been out of the cylinder for more than a short while but... Can you... yunno, please, not go after Vanessa again?"
Gregory passed a look now, then returned his hard gaze to the rabbit.
"I won't touch her," Bonnie reluctantly conceded. "But if I think she's gonna do some Vanny-like shit, I can't promise that otherwise."
"She won't," Gregory said this time. "I swear to god, you better leave her alone! She wouldn't hurt anyone if she coulda helped it! She couldn't exactly control what she did at the time no more than any one of you could when you're all bugged out!"
Bonnie flicked an annoyed ear at the boy, eyes slanted slightly but not in the severe manner it has been for the last while. "Fine. I won't touch her. But I don't get it, kid. What the heck even is she to you? You weren't exactly on speaking terms with her when you spent the night in the PizzaPlex. Keep in mind that I saw that through the eyes of the mop bots. So, what changed?"
Cassie was now looking at Gregory herself, her honey eyes politely curious.
Gregory's ears seemed to turn pink, then he lie down in a huff. He didn't say it very loud but he did finally reply, "She's all I got, besides Freddy. Just leave her alone."
Bonnie blinked again, both ears lowering. While the kid hadn't explicitly put it into detail, he got the context. He sighed forlornly, then felt something inside of him twist and release pressure. He nodded, then ducked his head submissively, "Sleep tight, rockstars."
He left them be, leaving the door behind him ajar.
GLAMROCK FREDDY
The bot had been reluctant, but conceded to Vanessa's doting.
He had to temporarily leave Monty's body outside the cylinder; going in and letting the former security guard rig him with a new set of spare chest pieces. Which was great in hindsight! If ever he had to protect one of the kids in a pinch, he could do so. He was glad that he'd even HAD spare chassis pieces in the Parts room. He also had some motor pieces replaced as well; and his arms were given new connector wires that fine-tuned his control on his limbs and their respective appendages. He found absolute precision with his claws difficult thanks to the lack of wires in some areas; and Freddy had been lucky when he hadn't accidentally hurt Bonnie in that scrap.
It'd taken everything Freddy knew just to prevent the rabbit from getting his limbs accidentally ripped off! And thankfully Bonnie had noticed him holding back and done so in-turn. And if he had to be honest, that brief scuffle had been too scary- and so much so, Freddy hadn't thought to use Chica's voice box on him. Granted, he didn't want to use it around Bonnie anyways, not with his hearing being what it is.
The bear was still undergoing the care when Bonnie returned. The two caught each other's gaze but the rabbit quickly severed it in a heart beat. There was no way Freddy can tell what was going on in his head, and he noticed Bonnie's inner connection was set to 'private'. He didn't want anyone pinging him right now- no one to get into his head and send messages to.
The blue rabbit sat in the corner on the left side of the room; the weird, low red light of the bulbs above giving him a ghostly, somewhat zombified look as it cast sinister shadows upon his broken and horrifically maimed body. His left eye looked like it was floating amidst a black void devouring the left side of his face; his endo completely invisible in the dim atmosphere. The only light Bonnie himself gave off was the low glow of his optics; letting himself be devoured by the darkness of the room. Even the brighter fluorescent lights inside the cylinder at the center of the repair ward couldn't quite reach him. His presence in here already felt like some kind of cold spot- and it couldn't be more bothersome.
From there, Bonnie was seen slouching into a lazy, weirdly relaxed position with one knee pulled up and the other leg stretched out in front of him; resting an arm on the drawn-up one. His bloody claws were drying now- and his lack of attention to them left Freddy feeling unnerved in some part. The rabbit's glaring maroon eyes flicked to Vanessa too often; and it seemed to have a tangible effect on all residents in the room. Hair stuck up on Roxy's tail and Vanessa's head- while Chica merely crooned sadly at the rabbit's direction like she wanted to allay whatever ill remained. Eclipse had gotten between Bonnie and Vanessa and actively blocked his line of sight- in which Freddy was inwardly thankful for.
Freddy felt too ashamed to keep trying to catch his eye after a point. After Bonnie's words earlier, he couldn't help but feel responsible for the deteriorated state of their friends. Yes, Freddy was sensible enough to know that this wasn't his fault either, but one couldn't help feel as they do.
"Okay, so-" Roxy had resumed the conversation between them," How do we split this up? Cassie tells me the Mimic could escape through the make-shift tunnel the giant blob thingy made. Should we go and cover that? I mean-" She gestured to Freddy himself. "We wanted to go down there anyways and get an endo from the daycare for Monty. The lobby and daycare are right next to each other... Maybe we can go as a group this time? Two of us can grab an endo and the others check the tunnel out right next door."
"Might be our best bet," Vanessa mumbled as she reached into the bear's new chest cavity. "I just removed the blocks for Freddy's strength. He can bury the tunnel. You or Chica can probably nab the endo. But... I'm reluctant about you guys getting split up and Freddy ends up alone somehow or the vice versa. If the Mimic finds any of you alone, it'll be a real big issue."
"I ain't keen on losing to that thing again," Roxy growled. Now she was looking at the sulking rabbit, "Bonnie. How's your motor? M.X.E.S still too much?"
"No, but its only because I'm not moving," He reciprocated uncertainly. "I can help Freddy bury the tunnel but... I'll heat up pretty damn fast if I'm running M.X.E.S at the same time. It might be better if Eclipse goes with Chica to take an endo and you can help Freddy? You ain't weak, Rox-and-Roller."
She chuffed at his compliment, making a motion with her head that would've fluffed her mane; had she had it.
Eclipse drummed a finger to his mouth region, the teeth beyond his mask moving as if he'd be kneading his lip. "I have an idea. Do we have more upgrades lying around? Like more strength augmentation or were those few in number?"
"Should be one more set," Vanessa replied. "Why?"
"Give it to Roxy! She can help Freddy while I help Chica with grabbing an endo from the daycare. Bonnie doesn't have to move anywhere- honestly, one of us should stay here to help you with Monty's motor assembly anyways and speed things up. Roxy can send Bonnie the method she used on his own motor. Also, in case any of these... things coming in through Parts and Service-" Eclipse huffed, "Its best if a physically adept bot can defend you and the kids if this place is breached somehow."
Vanessa frowned at the attendant, "You want me. To stay here. Alone. With HIM?" She flicked her head towards Bonnie.
"Don't worry, Summer-Eyes," Bonnie casually threw from his position on the floor. "I told your kid I won't touch you again. I'm a rabbit of my word. You know that-" His eyes narrowed, "-Unless of course you give me the inclination you're in it to hurt us. Beyond that, I think we'll get along just fine."
Vanessa shivered, her eyes clearly pained as she shuffled uncomfortably on her feet. She looked back at Eclipse, "Now uh... you sure maybe Bonnie can't go with Chica to grab the endo at the daycare? I don't think that's a whole lot of work..."
"If he gets caught in a fight, he said himself he won't last long... Bonnie, what do you think?"
The rabbit held up his finger in a motion like 'gimme a sec', then shut his eyes again. After a minute, they opened back up, "I can last 2 minutes before I hit critical ranges and system shut-down becomes eminent, even with this new motor- and its a given if I'm experiencing high intensity activity. If its not so bad, it'll be longer. I could go with Chica, and hopefully we don't run into any trouble, but- oh. Hold on."
He shut his eyes again, then his expression twisted. There was an audible hissing noise. "Er... Eclipse... um, the endos. At the daycare... can you uh... tell us what the heck I'm seeing?"
"How do you mean? What do you see?"
"Just opened some camera feed there. Look at the laptop, I just synced it so you all can see it."
Vanessa pulled her laptop up and typed. Then there was a pinching of her brows and nose, "Fuck me. They're moving around now? Weren't they docile before?"
Roxy peered over her shoulder, then she glanced at Eclipse, "Hey... you told Cassie and me something a while ago... when we first met up. The damage you suffered-" She pointed a claw at him. "That was from them, right?"
"...Yes."
"...Shit. They're probably under the Vanny virus' influence. Like the little wind-up music men were," she supplied to Vanessa while touching her new ear in remembrance.
"So... we may have to fight them. Great. We may have to forget about using a new endo for Monty," Vanessa huffed. "Cassie said his legs are at the golf course. We have his whole body then, on that note... but the new endo could speed along repairs far more easily... what do we do?"
Bonnie twitched an ear, then shut his eyes.
On the laptop, Vanessa was startled to see one endo pause; glitch out, then slump over. She blinked, then stared at the rabbit. She clicked her tongue, "The fuck didja do? I know that was you."
"M.X.E.S, actually," was his reply. "The chiseled cheeked Greek god of digital warfare and I wanted to try something. By the way, sweets, random question: Can ya tell me why you gave this thing so much handsome in one localized area?"
"What?"
"What?"
She glared at him, "Cut it with the cute act. Whatcha do to the endo?"
Bonnie rolled his eyes, "M.X.E.S found the virus inside it and put it in quarantine. Then, he removed it from its system and put it into safe mode. Sadly, me and him can't do this to ALL of them at once. And there's enough endos skittering around as is. We can both disable them one-by-one however. And by the time you guys get over there, they should all be turned off."
"I knew giving you M.X.E.S was a good idea," She smirked.
"Eat me," he bit back, his expression mutinous. He didn't want to admit to it being a good idea apparently.
The former guard bobbed a shoulder at him. "You wish. So, say we don't want to go to the obviously dangerous area. How about Monty golf? Can you see the legs from any feeds?" Vanessa queried.
He swapped her monitor remotely; the camera in Monty golf showing up. Vanessa tabbed through them, then huffed. "Shit... I don't see them... and I dunno if we can look all throughout the course in a timely manner. And its cluttered to hell and back. I mean, I can see a lot of the golf course but... where are the legs?"
"Might have to resort to the endo then," Freddy reluctantly admitted. "I don't like this though... the endos may be hostile to us all. Bonnie, you sure you can get them all off before we arrive there?"
"...Pretty sure," He said, but his tone trailed off. "Its a given the virus doesn't spread back again to the individuals M.X.E.S didn't just wipe clean. They're kinda- Oh. OH. SHIT!"
Just as he said that, there was a wild noise: Bonnie had swapped the computer back to the daycare- and the sounds from it had everyone in the room jump at once. A garbling chorus of screeches and a cacophonous wailing of static-filled screams filled the repair ward. Every bot minus Bonnie came to look at Vanessa's screen as they identified the sounds of the endos yowling at each other. Vanessa jumped so bad she'd fallen into Chica, who held her up but her beak fell open as they gazed into the monitor:
All the endos near the one Bonnie just cured jumped it... and were essentially tearing it apart. The poor thing couldn't even fight back due to being in safe mode. Limbs went flying- wires were yanked free; looking horrifically like the possessed bots were pulling its guts out. Coolant splashed the floor and coalesced into a black pool beneath it; the wiped endo sparking and fizzing as it was rendered nonfunctional.
There was silence in the room. Nobody moved or even blinked; beyond the falling jaws and irregular and frenetic twitch in Eclipse's fingertips. Eyes sat saucer-like in every socket everywhere; with Bonnie having pulled himself somewhat out of his comfortable laze on the floor and letting his muzzle fall open. Freddy's paw went to his jaws to cover the gaping.
"Oh my-" Roxy muttered.
Vanessa pulled away from Chica, blinking as she stared at the screen in a gob-smacked manner. She flipped between Monty golf and the daycare. Eventually, she sighed and looked at Eclipse. "Um... didn't you say you... had to deal with these things?"
"I did. Or rather... Moon and Sun did," He specified. "I think I remember how we got damaged now."
She blinked and pointed to his open waist, "Ya THINK?"
All the bots looked at him. The attendant shrugged casually, "I er... from what Sun tells me, he was free of the Vanny virus. So the day the endos migrated to the daycare, he was the personality in control at the time. I'm going to assume the endos don't much like the ones that aren't infected with the virus and are programmed to target that bot. Vanny didn't seem to properly hack Sun so... I guess that's why they attacked him. Like a bunch of zombies?"
Freddy moved his jaw, then, "That'd make sense... the S.T.A.F.F bots who jumped me, when Gregory and I had to face Vanny... I remember. Yes, that seems to fall in line with their behavior. So they're hostile to anyone who isn't under Vanny's thrall."
"So it seems," Eclipse shrugged. "After they jumped Sun, Moon surfaced by default. Since Moon is like our... 'attack mode' and is the default personality whenever we go into Security mode, he surfaced to fight the endos in self-defense. Sadly, the endos tangled with him and damaged us. And they pulled key parts out of us-" He turned and showed them his circuit board on the back of his head, "I think they did something else but... we don't recall. Because after that, Moon stayed the dominant personality and became especially erratic. He was only cured when Cassie came along and rebooted us."
"WELP," Vanessa threw up her arms. "Daycare's obviously more dangerous. So, I'm going to assume we're picking the golf course... did anyone ask Cassie where the legs were?"
"I don't think any of us did," Eclipse shrugged.
"...Triple shit. And I don't want to wake her up. She's been through enough. Okay. Can you guys briefly check the parts room back there and see if there's ANY legs available? I didn't see any when I combed it but... maybe I over-looked a set," Vanessa sighed.
"I got it!" Chica chirruped, leaving the room in a graceful lope. "I'll grab the strength augmentation upgrade too!"
"She finds something, we won't have to deal with any of these things," Roxy shrugged. "Except for burying the tunnel."
The former security guard leaned against the repair module, her gaze heavy-lidded. She face-palmed and fought a yawn; and ultimately lost. Ignoring Freddy's glance, she went on to say, "So uh, what happens if any of us run into the er... giant tangly monster? On the way to blocking the tunnel. Won't the noise of us covering it attract it?"
ALL bots cringed there, with Freddy's eyes falling to the floor next, "My guess is to run away, should we see it. I don't know what we can do to get rid of it... The Mimic won't be an issue after a point but... we never figured out how to deal with the giant mass of old bots though."
Bonnie twitched an ear nearby, then frowned, "I don't think M.X.E.S can help with it either... it has no presence in the AR world. If we had to do something about it, ALL of us would be required to dispatch it. But its as big as DJ and... not easy to take down."
"I think we can do it as a group but... it may end up breaking some of us," Roxy shook her head.
Freddy banged a fist on the table; making all in the room jump- especially Bonnie. "We are NOT going through all this effort just to lose one of us at the finish! When we take care of that thing, we do it as a group and ALL get out of that alive or not at all! I will not settle for less." He folded his arms, his nose producing a loud whooshing noise as he considered something else. "When Gregory and I encountered it, I learned its suspectable to Chica's voice box upgrade. We could use that to our advantage."
"That'd only stun it," Vanessa supplied.
"Maybe, but then we'll have to dispatch it after stunning it. From the appearance of its body, it looks like it was exposed to fire at some point... some of the older animatronics on it had burn marks," Freddy supplied. "So setting it on fire isn't going to work... But we could cave in some part of the PizzaPlex around it? Or blow it up- not that I think we should try the latter option. That'd put all of us at risk- kids included."
Bonnie shook his head nearby, his expression especially pathetic here. Freddy was curious about the shift in his visage, but the rabbit wasn't forthcoming.
"We'll hafta sit on that," Vanessa yawned. "But I agree with you. I don't think we should try blowing it up. That might not even work anyways. And its not like we have a means of blowing it up. No obvious explosives here, and we've already combed this place from top to bottom. Worse, if we try blowing it up in the wrong place... it could domino into the rest of the building collapsing and get ALL OF US crushed by extension-"
Roxy growled in annoyance, "Then what the heck do we do about it-?"
"Back!" Chica clucked as she walked in. She shook her head though, her expression grim, "No more spare endo legs! I think a lot of the leftover single parts went into me and Bonnie's repairs... we'll hafta nab an endo from the daycare or go to Monty golf... which is admittedly not great."
Bonnie checked the daycare feed again, then looked up with a pained expression, "I think... and I REALLY don't want to say this, but considering the fact we're all getting low in parts... we maybe-kinda-sorta need to grab an endo from the daycare after all."
"For the love of- WHY?" Roxy spat.
"Think about it: The legs in Monty golf were damaged, as you guys say. We'd need scrap parts in order to repair them, even if we did get them. And in which, the scrap parts would have to come from an endo, regardless." His expression deepened, "And its not just Monty, but all of us. We'd all need tune-ups and shit. Nabbing an endo or two is literally our best bet. We'll uh... hafta send two of us to daycare and the other two to cover the hole. I can try to get M.X.E.S to pull a hat trick though."
He put a paw to his chin, "I think I'll work on getting two of the endos, or one of them, 'cured'... and lure them away from the masses. Maybe use a distraction to make them move away from the feral ones. And then, the two of us who going to the daycare can snag 'em real easy. It may be our best bet."
Freddy got up from the bench inside the cylinder, flexing his limbs and moving his fingers. All repaired as far as he can see. He hated it, but Bonnie wasn't wrong, "That could work... and last time I checked, Chica's voice box worked on them too. She can use her voice box to keep the feral endos off, should they attack. Eclipse can make off with one at least."
"Oh! Yeah, I can do that," Chica pumped her arms. She showed no concern despite the fact it was her life being juggled here, "I'll knock 'em dead with a song! I haven't sang anything in so long- it'll be almost fun!"
Roxy stared hard at her, "How much of your brain did we actually restore? Seriously, Chica? Why are you not more worried? How is this fun to you?"
She only shrugged, then smiled sweetly at Bonnie. The rabbit blinked curiously at her, "I learned from the best that we should always put our best foot forward for our friends. Getting hurt for Monty doesn't concern me at all."
Bonnie wrinkled his small nose, "Don't take my example! I got my life subscription CANCELLED for my stupidity! And these guys just fixed you!"
"Firstly, you're here now, aren't you? Secondly, those endos won't be able to take Eclipse, me and you and M.X.E.S at once. We'll get it done," She winked, her tone completely calm.
Freddy gazed into her face, "You sure?"
"Absolutely! And if I had to be honest-" she bobbed her shoulders, "If we're going after bots with this virus, we might as well go the whole way and take out the endos anyways. Not unlike the Mimic, they can escape to the outside world. And they could cause trouble in its place." Her expression darkened, "By all rights, we SHOULD be taking these things out. They're a joint threat."
Vanessa sighed, "Shit. You're right... I didn't consider that."
Bonnie rapped his talons, then affirmed, "I'll get to work, then. I'll try to cut down the endo numbers to manageable levels with M.X.E.S so Chica and Eclipse can get a couple. They shouldn't be too hard to handle if done right."
Freddy smiled at him, "That'll do. In the meantime-" He now looked at Vanessa, "You should go take a nap, and get your head cleared. You cannot help with Monty if you're nodding off over his body."
"I... okay," She slumped, her hand running through her flaxen hair. "Not like I can help anymore anyways."
Freddy grabbed her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, "Go on, then. We got it from here."
The woman huffed, then started to leave, "Alright. Don't get destroyed doing something stupid. And please for the love of god, don't let me sleep longer than an hour or two. I want to be sure this all blows over well."
Eclipse waved at her, "Will do! And don't worry, so long as we have a plan, we'll be okay!"
Freddy looked at Bonnie, "So you're staying here?"
"I hafta," the blue rabbit mumbled. "I can't supervise us, disable the endos, locate, redirect and subdue the Mimic digitally, help dig the tunnel, or carry an endo back all at the same time. I'll DEFINIETLY get shut down. I'll stick here and babysit the humans and direct you all from afar. And I can run repairs on whatever little of Monty we have anyways and get to work on his motor. Roxy, send the blueprints." He got up, then made his way to the cylinder, "And let's get those upgrades into you while we're at it."
The rabbit studiously avoided Freddy's face the entire time he'd been speaking, instead directing himself distractedly to Vanessa's laptop and the repair module. Freddy hung his head, getting the subtle hint that they couldn't speak yet anyways.
Roxy took the upgrade from Chica and sat on the bench, letting Bonnie quickly tend her. Chica and Eclipse waited for the next couple minutes in silence, the room strangely stifling. Nobody would speak again until after Roxy got the augmentation upgrade; which only took 3 minutes at most to implement. The wolf would walk over to some scrapped frame from one of the previously repurposed endos used for Chica; then bent it into a pretzel shape with liquid ease. There was no denying the smirk on her face.
"Dude. I feel POWERFUL. No wonder Monty's so full of himself," Roxy chortled. She turned to look at Bonnie and Freddy, "And you two are walking around with these upgrades all the time! Freddy, you act like a total wet kitten. I legit forget you can easily throw us around if you wanted."
"Why would I want to?" Freddy looked abashed. "I wouldn't dream of it!"
Roxy sank into a hip as she eyed Bonnie, "And you are a loving cheater- carrying around an upper body and leg upgrade too. You and Monty both."
Bonnie snirked and shrugged it off, "Aw come on. The Florida man reject can't have all the fun!" The grin wore off quickly however, then he went over to Monty, "But no seriously, I'll get to work. You guys please be careful while you're out there."
"And YOU don't bother Vanessa," Chica squinted at him.
Bonnie waved her off dismissively, "I promised the kid I wouldn't touch her. And I won't. Unless she became Vanny."
"She won't," Freddy supplied. "She hasn't been Vanny in a while. And the chip in her head was removed. so..."
"...What chip in her head?" Bonnie blinked. "She had a chip in her HEAD?"
"Some sorta transmitter," Freddy only briefly recounted. "She had it removed a couple weeks after we left the PizzaPlex. Some sorta occipital transmitter her mask gave her? I believe it had a hand in her being Vanny? Although that's a bit of a stretch- er."
"So... it was controlling her?"
"Something was. Anyways, its hard to explain, and we don't have the time for it yet," Freddy shrugged. "Let's get this over with! We'll leave at once and stick together until we get to the front of the building."
Just as they turned away to leave, Freddy briefly paused to touch Bonnie on the shoulder- anything to let him know that there was no bad blood there. He also wanted a reason to simply touch his best friend again after having lived so long believing he'd become some sort of intangible memory. He squeezed the rabbit's naked shoulder joint, then reluctantly left him.
He was satisfied and inwardly gladdened to see a slight softening in the rabbit's face as he left.
...
Her dreaming didn't last long.
But in a way, one can say it also didn't end. It never did, in hindsight.
Cassie stirred and opened her eyes, but she wasn't awake. Nay, she stared at her peer in this listless, pragmatic way; blinked, then gazed around him at the tools on the floor. She glanced at Vanessa next, who'd come in a few minutes ago and was already passed out nearby them- soft snores escaping her. The old vessel. The inferior one. The one who failed.
This new vessel will do. It has the bots' trust.
Cassie's body moved, reaching over and taking the animatronic taser without waking Gregory. She then got up slowly; bracing herself on the wall while keeping her awkward steps as quiet as possible. She pulled out the V.A.N.N.I mask next, putting it on and dulling down the leg pain.
The mission was on.
Vanny's new vessel gazed contemplatively at Gregory and Vanessa, but no, there was no knife present to use. The taser could work but the other person would wake up during the execution and catch her at it. No, she couldn't kill them now. She will wait.
The new ghost rabbit slunk out of the room; her hell-born gaze fixated on a destination beyond her visual. She made sure to take a tunnel as far from the repair ward as possible, then slipped into a vent. The little white rabbit found her hole again and escaped- leaving none of her prior companions none the wiser. Gregory and Vanessa merely snored on, and Bonnie was too busy directing his friends and camera feed to hear her.
Indeed, Bonnie was a problem... again. He'll always interfere it seemed, and now she also had his friends to contend with on the side. She'll have to fix it like she did back then. The question was how. But Vanny was a patient rabbit; she will find a way.
That was an absolute.