Author's Notes: Thanks again to Panda and Ghost who are helping us with this arc! Hope everyone is enjoying so far.

Chapter 182

A Silent Ballet

Hedy, Alex and Andre were startled when high-pitched voices suddenly screeched, followed by banging. A moment later a small, dazed-looking bot rolled out the vent in front of them. The banging continued and Hedy was certain she heard Ruby cackling.

"..." Hedy stared at the little bot that stopped rolling almost at her feet. She tapped her fingers on her taser pen that she'd casually pulled out when everything went dark. She eyed the little bot.

"Nice to meet you."

The bot stilled as it looked at them, surprised Hedy was addressing it.

"I'm Hedy. You just met Ruby. Hope you weren't planning on killing them in there."

Alex stared at Hedy's exceedingly dry tone. How could she sound so bored with what was going on?!

The little bot blinked up at her and looked back at the vent where the screeching and banging continued without pause. There were no explosions yet thankfully. At least Ruby should be calmer after she got her frustration out.

"What's your name, hmm?" Hedy asked, glancing at the vent as Andre backed away, with Alex following but staying in grabbing distance of Hedy's chair in case of an emergency. Hedy wasn't sure whether their caution was from the bot or the noises.

It could be both. She was fairly used to Ruby's violence but she supposed that it sounded like quite a fight. The teen was sticking to just using Betty for the moment it seemed like so at least she shouldn't freak them out too much.

She focused on the little bot again who hadn't made a move to go back through the vent. Hedy didn't really blame her. Ruby wasn't kind when she used Betty. But there were no dents on the bot so that meant she'd figured out what force they could take safely.

She absently mused that it was probably somewhere between what the Toys and what Spring could handle. The Originals were pretty sturdy so they weren't a good comparison. Spring could take a fair amount of damage and she hated that she knew that. The Toys were fragile though. They didn't dent. They cracked.

She kept getting distracted. She needed to focus on the possible threat in the room.

Strangely enough, Afton hadn't mentioned this little one at all. Goldy hadn't mentioned her either. That was very weird. And she didn't like it.

Andre was staring at the bot like she was a Chucky doll. Which… fair. She was lucky that Ruby had mostly gotten over her clown phobia though. They were oddly designed and vaguely reminiscent of clown makeup.

The bot actually pouted at her, finally over the shock of a human speaking to her and whatever Ruby had done. Like she was upset her fun had been interrupted.

"Bidybab," she answered in a high-pitched voice after a moment. There was a pause as she considered answering Hedy's other questioning statement. "She's ruining our game. She's not playing right."

"Oh is she?" Hedy said, already a bit on edge at the mention of another fucking game. '"And what's this game you're playing?"

"Heds!" Alex stressed, moving forward again and gripping Hedy's arm, but she was ignored as Hedy calmly looked at the "Bidybab" like a scolding older sister.

What a weird air to put on after just meeting the creepy little thing.

There was a loud crash and Ruby loudly declared that whatever she'd done deserved double points. At least one of them was enjoying themselves.

The Bidybab crossed her arms, deciding to answer the human. Not like it mattered much anyway. None had tried to talk to her before, so she was curious. There weren't any rules against talking at all to the people who came to play. "We play with whoever is in the crawlspace. They have to keep us out, or else. But she's not playing by the rules."

She looked back at the vent a little nervously. Poor thing, Ruby was being fairly tame tonight. There still weren't any explosions. These bots had no idea of the potential nightmare they had on their hands if Ruby lost her patience.

"Ruby doesn't like playing by the rules," Hedy said. She leaned a bit closer. "I don't either." She said it kindly, but there was still a really off-putting thread of warning in the way she said that.

The little doll sized bot scowled at her and stepped back while eyeing the three of them. She then turned and scurried back into the vent. Moments later the other room fell silent except for the sound of tiny retreating footsteps.

Ruby stretched languidly and rested Betty on her shoulder. It sounded like all the mini menaces had retreated. They'd lasted longer than she expected but she was still disappointed by the game ending so soon. That was barely a warm-up.

She clicked her flashlight on and glanced around the room. She'd even limited property damage for the most part. Look at her having self-control for once. Hedy would be proud if she could see. There wasn't a way for Hedy to get into the little room, so she was just going to have to trust Ruby's retelling.

"I feel so much better now," Ruby sighed, rolling her shoulders and relaxing when the room remained silent and empty.

"Can I..." Afton's muffled voice came from the crawlspace. A moment later he pulled the panel open with a bit of difficulty, staring at Ruby in apprehension. "What on earth just happened?" He sounded lost, glancing around for where the voice had come from. He also seemed very confused for some reason, staring at the vents the little bots had come and gone through.

Ruby shrugged, torch turning in his direction. "Enthusiastic welcome I guess," she answered innocently.

A quick glance at Betty proved that there was no oil in sight. She'd estimated their tolerance pretty well. She could hit them with about the same force she could use on BB surprisingly. They were pretty solidly built.

"Itty bitty bowling balls," Ruby suddenly said, snickering to herself.

Afton stared at her in complete confusion.

"Thank you for your patience. It seems that the power system cannot be restarted automatically. You will need to restart the power system manually. Please return to the primary control module."

"Back we go!" Ruby chirped, in much better spirits now as she headed for the vent.

"I'm somewhat concerned about that mention of 'oxygen' connected to the power," Afton said dully as he followed Ruby back, still trying to process what just happened. "We are underground after all."

Hedy pointed her flashlight at Ruby's face as she reappeared. "Get your frustrations out?"

Ruby gave her a sunny smile and squinted at the light. "I feel less likely to cave Andre's head in with Betty, so yes."

Andre glared at her, but it was hard to tell behind the glare of his own flashlight.

Ruby sauntered over to Hedy and leaned down to whisper. "They're experienced with overwhelming people with numbers. They've done it before."

Hedy nodded tightly, lips thinning in displeasure.

"Wonder why it couldn't automatically restart," Alex mumbled.

"We're about to get a crack at the power room and possibly the servers," Hedy said, pleased about one thing at least, but not willing to get too excited about properly shutting down the electrocution. It was too convenient. She didn't trust convenience.

"You will now be required to crawl through the Ballora Gallery using the vent to your left to reach the Breaker Room. It is recommended that you stay low to the ground, and reach the other side as fast as possible to not disturb Ballora. I will deactivate myself momentarily, so as to not create an auditory disturbance. Deactivating."

"Can you just stay deactivated?" Ruby wondered as the vent cover retracted. She cracked her knuckles, Betty having disappeared again before darting through the vent like a stray cat vying for freedom. She was spending way too much time with Kitty, even with the allergies.

She probably hated these rooms with limited exits. Ruby wasn't claustrophobic at all, but she did like having escape options if things turned sour. Hedy tried not to think too much about it, just grateful Mike wasn't there. His claustrophobia had gotten a little worse after Jeremy's stupid hazing.

Jeremy felt awful about it now, after he had time to adjust to Mike's presence and his subconscious didn't regard him as a threat to his sister. He was thinking clearer now, but he had yet to figure out how best to make it up to the younger man despite whatever guilt he was dragging into their interactions under the gruff older brother act. It was an act by now.

As for Hedy? It wasn't small spaces that bothered her, it was being trapped anywhere with locks she didn't control. This whole thing made her feel so vulnerable. She was guiltily grateful Ruby was there to protect her. Shitty and irresponsible as it was on her part, they both knew that was Ruby's role here. Protecting Hedy and protecting the bots. Unfortunately, it was seeming more like those two goals might conflict very soon if the previous encounter was anything to go off.

Hedy turned to follow the teen. She would need to use the door from the outside hallway, unfortunately. This entire place was a disaster in design.

"Wait," Afton said as she moved to leave, clearly alarmed at the idea of them being separated.

"Stay here," Hedy ordered, leaving the room to quietly go around through the dark service corridors.

"Hedy?!" Alex freaked.

"I need to stay near Ruby," Hedy explained, "And I have a computer science background."

"So do I!"

"Ms. Fitzgerald I really must insist..."

But Hedy was already gone. They didn't have time to argue and she didn't want to leave Ruby alone for too long. Alex wasn't fast enough to stop the door from latching and Ruby had the key, so they couldn't do anything as Hedy continued on. They'd be angry about that but she had other priorities. She absently sensed that Timmy was staying behind with the others. He'd keep an eye on things.

She shuddered, alone in the eerily silent hallway she was forced to use. It was suffocating. And dark. Her skin crawled and there was an uneasy pit in her gut, like she was being watched. She didn't believe that was really the case though. Just paranoia for once…She wasn't like Ruby, who was strangely intuitive about the accuracy of that feeling, nor was she currently a pseudo-ghost constantly tuned into the building like a weak late-night radio channel that would let her know if a cockroach was watching her. She banked on the logic that she was truly alone. The humans were accounted for and she would notice an animatronic. Only Mangle knew how to be stealthy and she hadn't had that advantage in a good while, unless Hedy counted that time Mangle broke herself down to scare the ghost hunters. The internal assurances didn't do much as her racing mind dragged other unpleasant thoughts out while she tried to just focus on getting to the door.

She remembered when she was younger—and had to turn out the lights for the house downstairs—and how she would need to hype herself up. She flipped the switch. She would scramble up the stairs to her bedroom on all fours, fleeing the darkness as if she would be any faster than the monster manifesting from the pitch black. There was nothing there of course. Lots of kids did that if they had stairs in their house and were afraid of the dark. Not all worked themselves into a panic like she had, trembling and hyperventilating under the bed covers. She would make that same mad scramble for the door if she could. But that was both impossible and unnecessary. Here it was completely normal, rational fear mixed with a hint of the irrational. She had a right to be a little paranoid, given the circumstances. That's what it was. Paranoia. Nothing more.

It was still a relief to reach the door and rap lightly on the surface. Ruby gave her a cheeky answering knock and Hedy suddenly wasn't alone. The teen unlocked the door and gestured through. The crazy girl didn't even have her flashlight on. The room beyond was just pitch-black darkness.

"She works on sound I think," Ruby murmured softly as she closed the door. She opened it again experimentally without needing the key, before closing it as she continued. "That's what I'm getting from Hand-Unit anyway. And what Baby said in the other room."

Hedy listened for the lock and processed Ruby's words at the same time, absently satisfied they could leave quickly if needed. They could hear faint music playing in the room and Ruby shifted her stance unconsciously. She was still itching for a fight, for another game, so Hedy touched her on the arm to bring her focus back.

"Baby talked to you?" she asked, perplexed but still quiet in the darkness. They couldn't hear what else might have been said while Ruby and Afton were in the other room. Only the Hand-Unit came over the speakers.

She glanced around the room while they were talking, trying to figure out what they were dealing with. She couldn't figure much out yet though. Their lights didn't seem able to illuminate much beyond a few feet directly in front of them. All she could tell was that it was a disturbingly big room. And extremely dark. The vastness made the hallway almost appealing.

"Well, I assume it was her. She's described this as a scenario." Ruby paused.

She and Hedy could jump to the same conclusion. This was planned. At least somewhat. Maybe not for them specifically, but it was planned. Those little bots had experience, Ruby said. She didn't specify if they were on the level of the Toys or the Originals. Those were fairly big gaps in experience. As much as the Toys might argue, the Originals still… had a bit more practice with everything.

The teen continued after a moment. "Sounded like she was trying to help. So I don't trust it an inch." Ruby paused and tilted her head, gesturing slightly to the side where they could hear the music getting slightly louder.

They stayed quiet until the music faded, then headed toward the door on the other side of the room.

Hedy eyed Ruby, half expecting her to bang some pots and pans together and confront the bot. But she knew Ruby wouldn't risk putting her in danger. She'd run off across the room to do that if it was necessary.

But it didn't seem Hedy needed a distraction working in her favour at the moment, so the teen stuck close.

Her thoughts halted as the music suddenly got very loud and came at them head-on.

She quickly wheeled back, cursing the fact it was impossible to make no noise while in a wheelchair.

That's when Ruby took a couple of sudden, loud, steps away and raised her voice.

"Now which one are you? Ballora right?" she asked conversationally, the music switching directions after a barely-there hesitation.

Ruby grinned at Hedy and turned off her flashlight, plunging the room into darkness. She was just being dramatic by doing that. Or trying to even the playing field between her and the bot. The teen still mostly thought in terms of fair deals even when they didn't apply.

"Let's play keep away shall we?"

Hedy was a mix of grateful and annoyed as she glared right where she knew Ruby's face was. She wasn't truly worried about Ruby and the teen was better suited for this while she got to the power room, but seriously?

She moved toward where she memorised the door as Ruby kept speaking, both girls keeping a steady pace.

She could tell Ruby was getting a feel for the new bot's abilities. If she wanted to, she could go completely silent but she was keeping just out of reach at the moment. Testing Ballora, figuring out strengths and weaknesses. Hedy hated that she needed those skills right now.

"Silent one aren't you?" Ruby asked.

She was also avoiding an aggressive approach for once. Likely because of the suspected abuse of the bots. There wasn't any hostility in the girl's tone. That could change very quickly if things went south though.

Hedy startled and choked on a yelp as something very small suddenly crawled into her lap. It was less than the weight of Kitty. She jerked back as it lightly touched her face, but didn't utter a peep despite the squeak of fright that threatened to escape.

"Hello!" a girlish sweet voice chirped, inches from Hedy's face and clearly coming from something very small.

What the fuck?

"Hello!" The voices had that slight electronic warble accent that all the bots did, but more tinny, as if their speakers were the size of a coin.

"Another?"

"Another!"

"Another person to play with."

Hedy wasn't being stabbed by her unknown assailants at least. But she was worried that their definition of play wasn't exactly the same as hers. Bidibab had described what she was doing as "play" after all.

The little voices sounded curious. She couldn't tell how many were on her. At least they didn't seem interested in hurting her directly. She did pry away the little bots as best she could and tried to keep them away from her face, her hand searching for her taser just in case. She did her best to feel their general shape so she had an idea of what they looked like. They reminded her of the wooden artist mannequins she used during an art class years ago. There was rough bunched fabric around their tiny waist. Tutus, Hedy realised, made of a kind of tulle. Whatever they were, they crawled over her while chatting much too loud and she heard Ruby speak louder in an attempt to keep Ballora's attention on her and not Hedy.

But there was no way Ballora didn't hear the little chattering voices.

Hedy was almost to the door. So close…

"Are you going to try and kill me?" Ruby asked, sounding purely curious and causing the music to pause at the bluntness of the question.

Even the little ones crawling over Hedy faltered a little.

At least…

At least that was a hint they understood what they were doing…

"I like to know what I'm dealing with is all," Ruby continued conversationally, never standing still. "Not a total fan of surprises you see. So why don't we lay our cards on the table right at the start?"

Hedy pushed the little bots that were crawling on her off as gently as she could. Even so, one or two hit the ground with a clattery little 'oof.'

They felt fragile. Very light and thin. They definitely weren't like Bidybab. Hedy felt bad but she couldn't be more gentle without risking taking too long.

Hedy thought she felt wood in their frames, but she couldn't be sure. She was worried one would get under her wheels. She didn't need this complication right now.

"Not many have that much of an idea," a soft voice drifted through the room from the direction of the music. Female. She didn't sound as young as, say, the Toys. But she also didn't have the same world-weary maturity that Goldy and Puppet had. Maybe closer to the Originals? Possibly. It was very difficult to judge with bots without spending a lot of time around them.

Hedy flinched as the music shifted closer, the mechanic only hesitating a moment before she continued rolling toward the wall. Or where she thought the wall was… It better be there. She was a liability to Ruby in the room right now.

"Well, you're not exactly the first bot that did the whole hunt me down thing," Ruby answered carefully. Hedy could tell that she was pleased at the response though. She preferred it when the bots talked to her. It was why she provoked them so much. She liked seeing what reaction she'd get if she pushed all their buttons.

Ruby waited, but Ballora didn't verbally respond to the implications of other bots. Was she surprised? Confused? Did she care at all? Neither Hedy nor Ruby could tell.

"I'm Ruby, nice to meet you Ballora."

The entire time she was talking, they both kept moving. Like a slow, calculated ballet in the dark.

Hedy's chair bumped into something. A wall. She ran her hands around the surface, looking for the door while her other hand tried to keep the little ones out of her face. They were very persistent but oddly gentle.

Ruby and Ballora kept up their game with Ruby calmly talking as they went. The teen wasn't pushing for information, she was just keeping up a stream of chatter now. Hedy recognised that strategy too. It tended to distract most from looking too closely at what the teen was actually doing.

"You know, these games tend to be quite a workout, but they're all different. What kind are you guys offering? Exciting chases? Adrenaline fuelled cat and mouse? Or do you prefer hide and seek?"

"How curious," Ballora said, cutting though Ruby's words but sounding a little bit shaken. The teen had that effect on people. She reacted just off enough that it made whoever she was facing uneasy. Ballora probably wasn't used to adapting to something new.

And Ruby was very new. One of a kind actually. Thank fuck for that.

"You are… strange," Ballora sounded tired and a tiny bit uncertain. It made Hedy worry about how the electrocution affected them. Bonnie had once explained that getting shocked (a safe amount) tended to make them tired. Not dangerously so, just made them want a nap. It must be worse for the bots here.

"This is new," Ballora continued, voice evening out again to neutrality. "Most don't speak. Most haven't encountered anything like us before. Most don't know I can respond. It does confuse me. Did you inflict pain on these others who hunted you?"

Hedy flinched just as she found the door. That was a very loaded question and Ballora didn't know what can of worms she was poking at.

Ruby still felt terrible about losing it with Springtrap that last night. She'd been a lot more careful with her roughhousing with the bots ever since.

There was a long beat of silence before the teen answered. "I have. I could say I only defended myself but that wasn't always the case. I've hurt a lot of people and I can't say I'm sorry for all of it. Some of it, yes. But not all of it. I won't lie and say that I'm a gentle little saint. I'm a bitch and I'm mean. But I don't do… torture. Not unless someone touches one of mine."

Hedy stilled, swallowing hard at the truth in Ruby's voice. The teen would go very far and cross all but one of her lines if it would protect someone she cared about from being hurt.

One of hers. Like Hedy. Just another reason to stay safe she supposed. She couldn't lie and say that she hadn't noticed Ruby being more protective over her since the Springtrap incident. They hadn't outright discussed it. The guilt yes, somewhat, but not the way Ruby made sure to always know where Hedy was, as discreetly as she could.

These bots didn't know the darkness the night guard carried and Hedy hoped that they wouldn't have to experience it firsthand.

She'd been the one to fix Spring up. To still be fixing Spring up. She knew very well now that torture wasn't a line Ruby had set in stone. It was a line, but much more flexible than her no-killing one. Like a line of chalk that Ruby was more than willing to wash away if she felt she had to, although she tried to redraw it again when she was done…

Hedy didn't want even more traumatised bots, and she didn't want Ruby to carry more guilt than she already did.

"I didn't press the shock button," Ruby's voice broke into her thoughts. "My friend didn't either. And we don't plan for it to ever be pressed it again. It's wrong and I'm sorry you've had to deal with that. I'm sorry that I can't promise to be kind and gentle either. That's not me. So please, don't give me a reason to hurt you."

It killed Hedy that she could recognise the thread of desperation in Ruby's voice, something she'd learned to listen for. Ruby wasn't threatening Ballora. She was warning her. Almost pleading. Because Ruby wasn't the nice one between them and being gentle wasn't the reason she'd come along.

Hedy closed her eyes and tried not to think about the pleased quirk to Ruby's lips when the Toys had stopped flinching away from her. The teen enjoyed fear, that was an unfortunate fact. But not from those she cared about. And bots tended to find their way into that select group very quickly.

Ruby would do what needed to be done. And she'd probably enjoy it. That was who she was. She wouldn't enjoy the consequences though, even if she'd accept them.

Hedy wanted to skip that all if possible though.

It was quiet for a moment and the mechanic held her breath, wondering if Ballora would accept the warning and back down.

Hedy could hear the slight difference in echo and clarity as the speaker turned to face Hedy in the void.

"Who's by the power room door?"

Fuck. Hedy winced as she quickly searched for the stupid doorknob. The bot chose wrong.

"New friend!"

"Long hair."

There was a series of giggles as something tugged her hair. Something else brushed it.

"Funny chair.

"Funny chair with wheels."

"Wheeee!" That one trailed off into giggles.

"Why friend sitting down?"

"My friend," Ruby answered calmly, tone devoid of emotion now. "And I'm sorry, but if you attack her I'll stop you like I stopped all the others. And it won't be pleasant." She did sound slightly apologetic though.

Hedy's hand brushed slick metal and she quickly shoved the door open, nearly blinded by sparks and bright pops of electricity. She wasn't expecting the light and panicked, knowing she was now a clear silhouette for everyone else in the room and the loud sparks certainly gave her away.

Ruby abruptly showed up behind her and pushed her in, closing the door behind them.

"If they start a game, I'm going to finish it," the teen murmured.

"I know," Hedy sighed. It seemed inevitable at this point. "At least you'll be too tired to annoy me at the hotel room then."

Ruby snorted in surprised amusement and Hedy looked around the strange little room they were in. She also checked herself to find no sign of any mini bots. They must have run off when she opened the door.

"Are we in the right place?" Ruby asked hesitantly.

"Motion trigger: Breaker room."

"Yep..." Hedy said, looking around and trying to pick out details with each flash of light. She startled a little at a silhouette standing by a tangle of cables across from them. A couple of flashes later and they could see who it was.

"I'm guessing that's Funtime Freddy?" Ruby asked after running through the names Afton and Goldy had mentioned. "Afton really needs to work on his names..."

"Can we focus on the fact Funtime Freddy's across the room from us rather than his name for a moment?"

In between the flashes of light, Hedy could see Ruby maturely stick her tongue out.

"Says the one who named the Toys while they were actively trying to kill her."

"Ruby."

"Hypocr—."

"You may now interface with the breaker control box. Using the interface may disrupt nearby electronics. If you feel you are in danger, feel free to disconnect the interface temporarily until it is safe to reconnect."

Hedy stiffly turned a tablet toward her. She recognized a layout map covered with warning signals. It reminded her of the camera controls back at the pizzeria.

"...It wants us to restart everything room by room," Hedy said carefully, glancing at the silhouette. She struggled to see in between the flashes of light but there seemed to be something wrong with the bear's hand. She couldn't even tell if he was on or off. Was he looking at them? That was creepy if so.

"Of course they do," Ruby sighed, moving closer but keeping an eye on the bot.

"Buuuut," Hedy said cautiously. "We aren't going to do that quite yet." She pressed and held a button, watching some sort of counter tick up. She released it before it was done. Okay, she knew how that worked now. Stupid system. She frowned at a label on a button near the bottom of the tablet. "Ruby. Mascot Response Audio. What's that?"

The teen frowned. "I don't know. He didn't mention anything like that. Maybe the company added it like the stupid Hand-Unit?" she leaned closer. "Let's press it."

Hedy did, wincing a bit as if expecting something bad. To be fair, it wasn't a stretch in this place. She pressed the button.

A soft, but scared-sounding voice spoke up. They were both a bit startled by the unfamiliar female voice and searched for the owner as their eyes were continually assaulted by little sparks that momentarily lit up the small room.

"It's nothing! Go to sleep."

What?!

Hedy pushed the button again.

"Hey Fred, how about you calm down and go sit?"

That was definitely a female voice and they noticed that the bot moved back a bit. They hadn't noticed him moving closer as their eyes adjusted.

"Hello?" Hedy asked but they got no response.

"Okay…?" Hedy said, looking at Ruby. She handed over the tablet. "You push the button and restart the oxygen first. I'll look for the system that handles the electrocution. It's not on there."

Ruby nodded, eyes flicking over to Funtime Fredbear every so often. She was on high alert at the moment.

Hedy slowly moved to what looked like another power box. It was very hard to do in a wheelchair with all the cables in the way. She was almost to another panel when she saw some movement in the corner of her eye and froze, looking at Ruby. The bear seemed to look at her, though it was very hard to tell.

Ruby was eyeing the bot, suspicious and curious at the same time while she did what Hedy asked her to.

Hedy noticed the bear tilt its head and take a step toward her as she reached to open a panel. One of his hands seemed to wiggle weirdly, almost panicked? In the next flash of light, the girls caught a flash of blue and two long rabbit ears. And a pair of big pink eyes were staring at them with a frightened expression on a face that looked quite a bit like Bonnie's but plastic-looking like Toby's.

Ruby's eyes narrowed and she glanced at Hedy before nodding to the button they'd pushed earlier with a thoughtful expression. She was being surprisingly restrained tonight. But then again, maintenance was Hedy's field and Ruby always deferred to her in these cases.

Hedy nodded sharply as the bear shifted a bit closer. It was a small space. If he decided to be fast it would only take him a couple of big steps to be able to grab her or less for Ruby. The button and the voice seemed to do something earlier. Without the bear talking, she had no idea what else to do and doubted Ruby did either.

Ruby pressed the button and again that frightened voice soothed the bear into backing up again.

"Freddy, there's no one there! Let's go back."

Ruby watched with raised eyebrows.

Hedy blinked, frozen where she had been studying the breakers and cable labels. "Ruby, push that button again and hold it for a moment..." She was starting to feel a little lightheaded now. Was Ruby able to get the oxygen restarted with a distraction like that?

Ruby followed her instruction, keeping an eye on the bot.

Hedy glanced at Ruby, unsure about being so forward. "Hello? Is that a recording or is someone talking?" She didn't entirely expect an answer.

She didn't get a reply and the bot started moving a moment later in their direction. Frowning, Ruby pressed the button and the voice came again.

"It's just a funny rat Fred," the voice said quickly and in the next flash Hedy could see the rabbit looking at her with wide focused eyes.

"Uh Hedy...I'm starting to think someone messed with a bot's voice box," Ruby growled lowly. It was a sore topic after what Michael did to BB. It was just as bad as what Mangle went through, but in a different way. At least with Mangle it was negligence. Michael had been malicious. This felt malicious.

"...Keep pressing that button if he gets close," Hedy said. Her voice almost dipped into a hiss but she kept it as even as she could as she sorted through panels and wires. "And get the oxygen back on."

Ruby followed the instruction without even a grumble. Which was more than Hedy was expecting when they were planning to come here. She'd still been expecting the teen to go running off headfirst into danger. And winning, like usual.

It made her uncomfortable. It wasn't like she knew what she was doing (beyond some tech stuff) any more than Ruby.

"B-Bon Bon, l-let's go say 'hi' to our f-friend-d-d!"

She startled at the strange toned voice that came from a different direction than the rabbit and looked up from the wires. She turned back to the panel with a stiff spine. Ruby would keep him away, one way or another. She quietly and stiffly opened another panel, ignoring the bot shift closer as she ran her finger down the switch labels, trying to figure out the abbreviations.

Ruby pressed the button whenever the bot started to get too close and that frightened voice always managed to coax the bot back.

Hedy listened to the going-ons with half an ear as she used her flashlight to follow a set of wires from one server to another panel.

She was going to have an aneurysm with the mess. The cables were everywhere. There was no organisation whatsoever. No self-respecting computer engineer would actually wire a server system like this. What kind of idiocy was going on here?

She unscrewed a panel, despite the fact she could barely see what she was actually unscrewing. Unlabeled switches instead of a digital panel like Ruby was holding was her reward. She kind of expected that. But there were massive high voltage cables connected to the servers that she followed the wires from. It was hard to tell because of the twisting mess that reminded her of Bonnie's spaghetti insides before she sorted them out. However, those cables were relayed with switches from that server and snaked up the walls before disappearing into the ceiling to other parts of the facility.

The next question was just why were these cables there? She was under the impression there was some wireless signal that told some device inside the Funtimes to shock them. This implied they were tethered directly to the building with a wire or...

Hedy glanced at the floor. It was metal. Ballora's room they just passed through was also metal, despite the painted tile look. She glanced at the severed cables that were dangerously sparking and casting the flashes of light. She really hoped Ruby was wearing rubber-soled shoes. She was also thankful Andre didn't try to be smart and mess with the shock button while she and Ruby were passing through the room.

"How's it going, Hedy?" Ruby asked mildly, getting the oxygen restarted and keeping the bot a good distance away. She was probably itching to get more confrontational but she was holding back thankfully.

"I think I found the electrocution controls," Hedy said. "I think it's not connected to the bots but to the room itself. It shocks them through the floor and the stage. Breaker switches."

Ruby paused and looked down at the floor for a long moment. "Okay… Great. Well I'm wearing shoes with rubber soles. How would your chair fair?" she asked calmly.

Hedy wordlessly lifted her feet up off the stirrups and shifted so she wasn't touching anything metal. With a glance at Ruby, and a worried one in the direction of the bear, she quickly shoved all the switches in the opposite direction, hoping they were the right control and there wasn't some back up that would react in retribution. She needed the power cut off before she could pull out any wires.

Ruby tensed as well, eyes darting around anxiously.

There was a moment of nothing and then the sparking wires stopped. Maybe the people who built this didn't think anyone would try and turn off the electrocution system? It didn't seem like more than one person was supposed to do this part of the… "scenario." If they were busy restarting systems and keeping the bear back, Hedy doubted they had time or the presence of mind to poke around like her.

Hedy waited a few seconds before going for it and twisting the wires around her hand, making sure she picked the ones that went to the relays. She struggled to rip them out for a moment before snipping them with her pliers like she should have, cursing when she couldn't find her voltmeter to be safe. She wasn't electrocuted or anything. It took longer than she wanted though.

"We good?" Ruby asked after sending the bear back a few steps again. The bot hadn't changed his behaviour at all since they arrived.

"No more 'controlled shocks," Hedy said proudly with a quick thumbs up. She sounded more relieved than she had since they first arrived.

"Thank goodness," Ruby sighed. "What about the Hand-Unit?"

A voice spoke up in the darkness with terrifically awful timing.

"We're sorry, there appears to be a problem with the power distribution to critical facilities. Please continue to restart all systems while we attempt to reroute power."

"I don't think it can reroute anything if I physically cut the wires," Hedy said.

She pulled out her flashlight and pointed it at the bear, searching for the owner of the other voice that ushered him back.

The bear just looked back at her with a goofy smile that slightly creeped her out. He didn't seem malicious though…

"Okay… I'm going to ask this once and only once...why do these bots have a subtle clown motif going?" Ruby asked. "As if I don't have to deal with one at home already."

"Ask Afton," Hedy said. Because they both knew Puppet wouldn't answer in a million years. Probably. Her flashlight landed on Funtime Fredbear's hand again and she frowned at the rabbit hand-puppet now that they got a better look.

Ruby frowned as well. "That's new..."

The weirdest part was the puppet was looking at them and waving its arms. Its mouth was open like it was trying to say something. It seemed to be moving independently. They were expecting it, but it was still a little odd to see.

The bear lifted it up to speak to it. "W-we should say hi B-Bon Bon!" He seemed disappointed.

Hedy reached over Ruby's arm to push the button, watching the rabbit.

"Let's go back to sleep," the rabbit said in a happy sing-song voice and disregarded his request. Quickly she looked at Ruby and Hedy. "Youtwoshouldgetoutofherebef-" Her voice cut off as an unknown timer ran out.

Ruby blinked a couple times and then shrieked. "Female rabbit! Finally!"

The puppet gave her a very confused look while Ruby fist-pumped triumphantly.

"That's screwed up," Hedy said, displeased when the tablet wouldn't let her push the button again so soon after. "The button thing, not the girl rabbit thing. What kind of monster makes it so she can't talk for some stupid… I don't even know what this is."

"Hi!" Ruby waved brightly at the rabbit who looked even more confused. When Ruby wasn't threatening new people, she tended to confuse them instead.

Surprisingly the bear waved back quite happily while the rabbit stared at them.

"Okay?" Hedy asked, a bit concerned about the bear still. She still wasn't entirely sure if he was dangerous. He seemed friendly. Overly so. There had to be a reason the rabbit was keeping him back from them.

Fredbear seemed to take Ruby's wave as an invitation to come closer and stepped off the barely raised stage with a large and happy smile, making the puppet panic. She pointed at the tablet in Ruby's hands frantically.

Ruby pressed the button and the rabbit frantically talked the bear into stopping and backing up a bit before her voice cut out again.

"I don't like this..." Ruby muttered, looking down at the button.

"We… should leave," Hedy said, watching the puppet nod enthusiastically. "Did you restart all the other things yet?"

"Yeah," Ruby didn't look keen on leaving. She raised her voice for the pair across the room. "We're leaving now, but we're coming back. We're sorting out this mess," she said to the little Puppet. "We're not leaving you all to suffer here."

Hedy nodded as Ruby docked the panel again. She navigated around the wires to get to the door.

Ruby glanced back, not happy about leaving them. But they didn't really have a choice. At least they'd stopped the shocks.

The rabbit waved hesitantly at them as Hedy let Ruby hold the door for Ballora's room open for her. The teen glanced back one more time at the bots before stepping through the door, hand on the knob as she held it only a few inches open in case she and Hedy needed to retreat suddenly.

The teen was on high alert as they listened for Ballora. She stayed close to Hedy for the moment though instead of running off.

"Great job! This completes your tasks for the night. Please proceed back through the Ballora Gallery with care, and we'll see you back here tomorrow."

Ruby glared up at the ceiling. "It's like he's trying to get us killed..." She wasn't even joking. Loud noises in a room with a bot that functioned mainly on sound.

"I'm starting to think that too," Hedy said as she stared into the darkness, glancing behind them at Funtime Freddy and Bon Bon, who didn't move. They were just…watching. And the room was too dark to see anything besides the glow of eye lights that looked too dull for Hedy's liking. She couldn't hear Ballora. It was completely silent.

She moved away from the door as quietly as possible, not straying more than an arm's reach away until Ruby was through and had checked that the power control room door was securely closed behind them, shutting the bear and rabbit pair behind.

She held her flashlight in her lap between her legs in immediate reach if she had to grab it quickly and started moving.

It was eerily silent now as they made their way back. Occasionally they heard soft little footsteps but they were most likely the little bots they heard.

Hedy felt Ruby bump into her a couple of times from misjudging her step as they blindly retraced their way to the exit that Hedy needed to leave from. It was difficult because the door wasn't straight across the room like the vent.

Why was there even a stage if they "rented" these bots out? What parent in their right mind would bring their child down halfway to hell? Hedy supposed it was an interesting experience for some people. But she was leaning toward Ruby's theory that this was a "zoo" for some reason.

Hedy froze as something poked her leg, but what she assumed was one of the tiny things moved on and left them alone.

She sucked in a breath to stifle a yelp of pain as she ran into the door at an angle a little too hard and pinched her arm between the door and her chair.

She tapped the door lightly to let Ruby know she'd found it.

Ruby resisted the urge to ask her if she was okay until they were out of here. It wouldn't do to give away where they were just because they were almost out.

Hedy stopped as she tried to open the door. It was… locked? But she was sure they left it unlocked when she came in earlier. They hadn't heard it latch automatically like the other door did.

Ruby frowned at her pause. "What's wrong?"

"Locked," Hedy whispered. "Keys?"

Ruby pulled the keys out of her pocket. "I didn't lock it behind us," she muttered, keeping track of any noise behind them in the room.

"I worried you were going to say that," Hedy said, shuddering. She grabbed Ruby's arm and guided her hand to the lock.

Ruby had to reach over her to get to it, but Hedy didn't want to move from the door and lose her bearings if they had to get out fast.

"I don't like this," Ruby muttered, the sound of tiny feet running by making the hair on the back of their necks stand on end. "I hear the babies but I don't hear momma."

"Me neither. And you choosing the creepiest way to say that doesn't help," Hedy said. She paused at the sound of the lock clicking open and on instinct shoved the door to open it.

She screamed a little in shock at the weight of someone on the other side holding the door closed and pushing for a moment before the pressure just disappeared. She nearly fell out of her chair into the hallway as the door swung open. Hedy jerked back from the other kind of darkness, as if her head was moments from being bitten off by whatever that was. She scrambled to pull herself back into her chair and regain her balance.

Ruby had Betty out in a moment, on high alert and ready to get violent if needed. "What?" she demanded in a hiss. It wasn't easy to get Hedy to scream after all.

Unless there were surprise plushies involved. Mangle could be a bitch with her pranks sometimes. She sewed leftover plastic vampire teeth from Halloween into a plush of Chica (Amelia claimed plausible deniability and had no idea where Mangle got the needle). Even Ruby had scolded Mangle for that, but she'd taken the toy home with her too and called it Count Cluckula.

Hedy fumbled with her light and shined it out into the hallway, even with the risk of the black room behind her. "There was someone leaning on the door," she hissed back, her other hand on the taser. She shoved the door open wider so Ruby could get past her, still listening for movement in Ballora's room.

The hallway was empty down both directions.

Ruby was tense for a long moment, rapidly weighing their options. "I'll go through first and check. You've got your taser if Ballora ends up remembering she's after us," she decided. They didn't know what the new threat was but they did know some information about Ballora. So if they got attacked from both directions, it was better for Hedy to deal with the one they knew.

Hedy nodded, manoeuvring so she could follow Ruby through the door as quickly as possible.

The teen slipped past, looking down the hallway with her torch. Betty glinted in the light as she listened carefully.

Despite how Ballora should obviously be able to tell where they were with the light giving them away, Hedy still didn't hear anything. It was weird.

It was a bit of a stupid risk, but Hedy pointed the light into Ballora's gallery while listening to Ruby's steps behind her.

Her heart jumped up to her throat and she froze as her torch beam landed on the large animatronic, offering her more than just a shadow to look at.

Ballora was on the stage right across from her, clearly not offline. She was tall, oddly humanoid, purple and dark blue over white. She had a tutu built into her torso.

Hedy just stared, trying to take in the details; these bots were definitely more mechanically complicated than hers.

Ballora was facing Hedy (and Ruby through the door) but her eyes were closed and her head was tilted. Like she was listening to them and their whispering.

Hedy couldn't see any of the little ones. No scratch that. She saw two.

They were standing on either side of the ballerina and dancing quietly without any music. Spinning in slow, slightly unsteady pirouettes. It was creepy.

She froze as Ballora shifted, swaying a bit, still facing Hedy.

Hedy didn't say anything and just waited for Ruby's all clear, ready to back up out and slam the door if the animatronic made a move to hop off the stage toward her. She glanced behind her at Ruby, shuddering.

Something was in the hallway, she was sure. Something had locked them in and tried to hold the door closed. Where did it go? There was only a service hallway and nowhere to hide.

"Whatever is was, it's gone now," Ruby muttered in annoyance. "Let's go before ballerina lady changes her mind about chasing us."

Hedy nodded, backing up through the door until Ruby closed it in front of her and locked it.

"I swear there was something," Hedy said with a frown, glancing around as she tried to figure out where whatever it was could have gone.

Ruby scowled. "I have a feeling that we're being played with. Don't you think it's weird that Ballora didn't chase us?"

"Trying not to think about it outside-here in the open- any longer than necessary," Hedy said tersely though it wasn't directed at Ruby. "She looked like she was waiting for something."

"Something isn't confined to the separate rooms like everyone thinks," Ruby muttered as they started heading back to the control room. "Something bigger than the little bots."

"It's at least as heavy as a person," Hedy said, just as quietly, "And...fast apparently."

Ruby mentally ran through the bots that Afton had mentioned and frowned. "I don't like this."

Hedy nodded. "Something's off."

They fell silent as they both went through the dark service hallway Hedy had initially travelled on her own, set on rejoining the others. That desire to run clawed back to the front of Hedy's mind, along with that unease that maybe was a little more real than she initially assumed.

"All eyes on me," Ruby murmured, tone a little sing-song. It made Hedy shudder. "Just the centre of attention everywhere I go."

"Don't be creepy," Hedy muttered.

Ruby shrugged. "We're being watched."

The back of Hedy's neck burned. Was it really paranoia if they were actually out to get you?

They both felt like they were being watched, right at that moment.

They were right.