"So our best bet is to get to the loading area," Mike explained once the group had crowded into the elevator. "The exit there is the one that is used by most of the employees so my badge should unlock it with no problems, but if it doesn't I should be able to override it and force it open."

"It's not going to be easy to sneak back past all those staff bots," Dipper said, readying his magnet gun. "Is there any faster way to get around them?"

"Yeah actually-" Mike began only to be interrupted by the elevator doors opening. A staff bot lunged forward at the same time, grabbing onto Dipper, making the man yelp in surprise and Gregory jump in fright. Dipper reacted by blasting the bot with his magnet gun, short-circuiting the bot, and knocking it onto its back.

There was a beat of silence as everyone took in the downed still slightly twitching bot before Mike let out a snort and had to smother the laughter that attempted to follow.

"Sorry," Mike said, barely containing his mirth. "I should have reminded you about the Map Bots, but you seemed to have the situation handled."

"It was a perfectly reasonable reaction to what I thought was an attacking robot," Dipper defended even as his face turned a little red.

"Wait… are you saying that robot wasn't infected by the virus or whatever?!" Gregory said in disbelief, kicking the downed bot for good measure.

"Nah, just some faulty programming we haven't been able to figure out," Mike replied with a snicker. "They're not even connected to the network because we're afraid that their programming could infect the other staff bots."

"While it is unfortunate that the staff bot had been damaged you can still make use of the map it was offering," Freddy informed Gregory, pointing out the map still in the bot's hand. "You can scan it and have its information added to your Fazwatch."

"Okay."

"So… what were you saying, Mike?" Dipper asked while Gregory scanned the map, trying to regain some dignity. "Something about avoiding the staff bots?"

"Right…"Mike nodded, focusing back on the task. "If we use the vents, we should be able to get down to the lower levels faster while avoiding more of the heavily patrolled sections. Freddy will not be able to follow us though as he's too big to fit in the vents."

"I don't want to leave Freddy," Gregory scowled. While he wasn't the biggest fan of the vents, he'd probably be fine using them if he was just by himself. But even though he was willing to work with these adults, the idea of being trapped in a small space with them made him hesitate.

"Don't worry Superstar," Freddy assured, patting Gregory comfortingly. "If you need me, you can still contact me through the Fazwatch and I will come to you if I am able to."

"Alright," Gregory reluctantly agreed, fingering the taser he was given. If he had to, he wouldn't hesitate to use it on these adults.

The group carefully snuck past the various patrolling staff bots and down to the main floor, approaching the vent next to the Salads and Sides restaurant. There was a bit of a whispered argument about the order that they would be traveling through the vents. Both Mike and Dipper wanted to have Gregory in the middle of them to protect him, but Gregory refused to be trapped between them. They eventually relented and let Gregory be in the back, Dipper in the middle, and Mike lead the way, leaving Freddy behind as they made their way through the vent.

The group was rather loud as they thumped through the vent, but even with all the noise, Gregory noticed that there was a small thumb behind him when there shouldn't be. Gregory immediately turned around as quickly as possible in the cramped space, shining his flashlight toward where he had heard the noise.

"What is that!" Gregory couldn't help but shout as his light showed there was some sort of small creepy spidery robot carrying a set of cymbals. Gregory swears the thing hissed at him before leaping at him, making the boy yell in fear and scramble backward into Dipper, who had stopped moving with Gregory's shout. Gregory tried to bat the thing off with his flashlight, but it was crawling fast and all over him.

Suddenly Helpy tackled the thing, sending both smaller animatronics tumbling back along the vent. Helpy was slightly bigger than the other animatronics, but Helpy wasn't nearly as agile, making them pretty evenly matched as they tried to destroy the other. Gregory pulled out his taser but didn't turn it on, worried about using it in a metal vent on a target that was moving so fast.

"Helpy! Move!" Dipper commanded, making the little bear animatronic jump back immediately. Dipper couldn't really twist around to aim with his magnet gun and he wouldn't want to risk either hitting Helpy or accidentally destroying the vent so that just left magic. Dipper's eyes, birthmark, and glove all began to glow as he thrust out his hand and said, "Contundito!"

A metallic crunch echoed through the vent as the spidery animatronic crumpled into a small ball of metal and sparking was a beat of silence as everyone took a moment to calm down after what just happened.

"Everyone okay back there?" Mike asked as he hadn't been able to see what had happened from his position.

"We're fine," Dipper replied, adjusting his position so he was facing forward again. "Just wasn't expecting an animatronic to be in here."

"There shouldn't have been…" Mike grimaced in worry. "And the fact that there was is not a good sign… we better get out of here as soon as possible."

Neither of the other two argued, both were more than ready to leave the vents after that. They crawled through the vents until they came to a slope and slid down the rest of the way. Mike landed solidly on his feet with Dipper doing the same though a bit more gracefully than his brother. Gregory, though he had been warned about the drop after the slope, would have face-planted if it weren't for Mike catching him.

"I've got ya, kid," Mike assured as Gregory landed in his arms.

"I would have been fine!" Gregory huffed as he was placed back on his feet. "And don't call me kid!"

"Sure Greg," Mike smirked, chuckling a little at Gregory's affronted look. The three of them left the room they had ended up in, sneaking through back corridors, only to get spotted by Chica. They bolted into the nearby security room and Mike immediately slammed his hand on the door's controls, making the heavy metal door shut just as Chica lunged for them.

"The door isn't going to be shut for very long as it doesn't have a lot of power," Mike grimaced, looking at the power gauge as Chica pounded on the door. "And I don't know if the virus has messed with her attention span or not."

"Freddy, are you there?" Gregory said fearfully into his Fazwatch. "We're trapped! Chica found us and there's only one security door!"

"How unfortunate," came Freddy's voice, loud enough that everyone could hear it in the small room. "But I have good news: It looks like you can access the Fazbear online pizza delivery system through the console on the desk!"

"What?" Gregory questioned in disbelief. "How is that supposed to help?"

"Chica loves Pizza!" Freddy informed cheerfully.

"Unfortunately true, I've had to clean out cheese from her gears more times than I'd care to count," Mike said with fond frustration. "And that is a good idea, but this might be a good opportunity to try and clear out the virus from her systems. Dipper, open the door on my signal."

"Right," Dipper agreed, standing against the wall next to the button with his magnet gun ready just in case.

"Now!" Mike commanded, making Dipper slam his hand on the button. The door opened just as Chica went to pound against it again, making her stumble inside and an easy target for Mike's electrified hand. Chica shrieked as her systems were shocked and fell forward to the ground stunned.

"Activate emergency shutdown!" Mike said, keeping Chica down. "Mike Pines, authorization code: GR003-GC."

Chica screeched one last time before going limp as her systems were shut down, getting a sigh of relief from everyone. Mike waited a few moments to make sure the shutdown indeed was successful before turning away from the robot to get his tablet from his belt. The moment he did though, Chica's eyes flared with magenta energy and her fingers began to twitch as she was powered back on. Mike didn't notice these subtle movements, but Dipper and Gregory did.

"Mike look out!" Dipper shouted, pushing Mike aside just as Chica turned around and lunged at Mike, barely avoiding injury. Dipper and Mike immediately got into ready stances and were about to attack back, but Gregory beat them to it. He lunged forward with his taser and couldn't help but smirk as Chica shrieked as electricity raced through her systems again.

"Take that you stupid chicken!" Gregory taunted as Chica once more fell to the floor, her limbs twitching.

"Good reflexes kid," Mike praised, before grabbing his arm. "But that won't stop her for long! Let's get out of here!"

Gregory didn't argue, letting Mike lead him along through the various hallways while Dipper watched their back. They soon burst into the Loading Dock area and made a beeline for the exit's controls.

"The security clearance has been messed with, requiring a far higher level than even I have," Mike scowled as he typed. "I can hack it, but doing so the normal way will take too long."

"Mike, are you sure…" Dipper asked concerned, knowing what Mike was thinking. "Your systems might have the best antivirus software we could get and program, but this…"

"I know," Mike grimaced, letting his thumb open on his animatronic arm to show a computer cable. "But it's the best chance we have to get the kid out. If there is even the slightest hint that something is wrong, I want you to disconnect me from the server immediately."

Gregory was absolutely shocked by what was going on. While he didn't understand exactly what was going on as he was missing a lot of the details, he did understand that Mike was putting himself in danger just for a better chance to keep Gregory safe. He just couldn't wrap his head around it as every adult he had known before would never do something like this. It was easy to accept the kindness Freddy was giving him because Freddy was a robot and programmed to look after children, but Gregory struggled to accept the kindness from Mike. The man and his brother hadn't even known Gregory for an hour but they had shown more care for Gregory than all the other adults had done in his lifetime. (Gregory would never admit it, but there was a part of him that didn't want to leave Mike and his brother and the care they showed him.)

Mike extended the cable from his hand as plugged his animatronic thumb into the computer and opened a panel in his arm to reveal a keyboard. Mike began typing furiously, the others watching him work in tense silence. Mike had been so close to getting the door open when the computer screen glitched, turning black with a magenta rabbit symbol. The second the symbol appeared a surge of energy traveled through Mike's systems, making him stagger as his eyes flashed magenta and a hauntingly familiar voice echoed in his mind.

Did you really think I'd let you go so easily my rebellious heir?