A/N Hello again. Alright, I hope you all are ready for a new chapter. I'm going to get this thing started the best I can and get ready for the rest. This chapter is mainly going to be exposition, so don't expect anything big right away. Hope you enjoy, anyway!

Vanessa's house may have been a bit more impressive than Gregory or Freddy were really expecting. It was a two-story house with a simple white paint job in an area some ten miles from town. The inside was decorated with hardwood floors, moderately priced furnishings, and enough electronics to keep one happy. The upstairs was where some memorabilia was stored and photos were hanging from the walls. There were 3 bedrooms total in the house and the one Gregory stayed in had bunk beds. He was a bit surprised that Vanessa bought all of this herself, but given what he had read about her position in the company, he had somewhat expected it.

The real marvel, however, was the basement. There were multiple rooms down there as well. There were 2 more bedrooms, a room full of computer screens, which Freddy assumed were for programming, and a room that could only be described as a mechanic's paradise. There were enough jacks, rachet sets, and other tools down there that would keep a metal worker occupied for a year. This was also where the bathroom was along with Freddy's charging station. Not exactly the most comfortable place for the bear to stay the night, but he was not picky.

At the end of the hall in that basement, however, was a contraption the likes of which could have only been found at the Pizzaplex, if at all. The room had a massive console with a screen at the wall opposite the door, and from the ceiling connected to the console were a series of mechanical arms that each seemed to serve a purpose, from grabbing to welding and carving among others. There were also two conveyor belts that ran from the console along the side walls, bringing the idea of things being made in a factory. All of this surrounding what appeared to be a giant dentist's chair in the center of the room, reminiscent of the one at the Pizzaplex's Parts and Services section.

Gregory was definitely overwhelmed by everything that was in the house, and a bit suspicious of how Vanessa got all of this, but it was home to him for the past month after so long not having one. Freddy also noticed the boy's unease at this situation and tried to comfort him as best he could, though with the information Vanessa was giving them, he'd be a bit remise if he didn't feel a bit overwhelmed too. As promised, Vanessa told the two everything she knew about the company. There was intrigue to be had from her stories for sure, but they were definitely not for the faint of heart. Child murders, technological advances, lawsuits; Fazbear Entertainment was one screwed up company.

Freddy in particular was wondering why Vanessa was giving this information in the first place. While she did lose her security guard position, she was contacted by the higher ups to continue working in the tech offices, so she still had a lot to lose if this information got out. Not that he would have said anything, because he was supposed to have been destroyed. Plus, who would have believed an 8-foot-tall animatronic bear anyway?

The one thing Gregory wondered about though was the 'former' security guard's fixation on this Afton guy. Sure, he was one of the founders, but it seemed like he was involved in so much more than he should be as a company's CEO. This could be considered a good thing, but the creepy things that he was supposedly doing according to Vanessa is enough to make one think otherwise. Despite this, though, Gregory was at least glad that she was at least being honest with them now, and was maybe beginning to warm up to her.

Things did take a weird turn one day, however, when she entered the living room speaking to someone on her phone. He was watching TV at the time, but could not help but listen when she spoke in an agitated manner with the person on the other end. Eventually things seemed to settle down, but the boy's intrigue was peaked when she ended the call with "Don't hold that over me. I'll keep it professional from now on" and hung up after some half-hearted goodbyes.

Gregory turned off the TV and turned to Vanessa. "Who was that?" he asked.

"My boss," she replied, "He's just a bit upset that I decided to take a vacation on short notice, like a million people haven't done it before."

"I was wondering why you did not go to work this morning," said Freddy, "but why take a vacation now? You have only just returned to work one month ago."

"Well Freddy it's not really out of pleasure but more of necessity," she replied rubbing her head.

"A lot of people could say that," said Gregory with a smirk.

"It's true!" she bit back half-heartedly, but she had to laugh with the boy. As much as she hated to admit it, Vanessa had grown closer to him over the past month, but only just.

"Seriously, though, there's some business I have to take care of that I'd really prefer the higher-ups didn't know about," she continued.

"Of what kind?" asked Freddy.

She took a deep breath and walked over to the couch, adjusting the flannel shirt she was wearing over her T-shirt as she went. As she sat down she finally mentioned, "Well, I guess at this point, I've pretty much told you guys everything except about Vanny, huh?"

The boy physically tensed. "Oh boy," he said, "I was wondering when we'd get to this."

"I'll keep it as short as I can," said Vanessa, "It's not something I really like to talk about either, and to make matters worse, it involves Afton again."

"Wait!" Gregory interjected, "Didn't you just say last week he was dead? How would he have something to do with Vanny?"

"It's probably easier if I just tell the story," she said, and she did just that:

"One of the last jobs I had as a tech was beta testing this VR game the company had commissioned to dispel the bad press they were getting from the 'rumors.' Things were going pretty much as you would expect at first, and it was kind of a crappy game to be honest, but I started noticing these glitches popping up in the weirdest places. Since I was testing the game, I had to look into it, despite management telling me not to, but in hindsight, I kind of wish I'd listened."

"It looked like some character that was lost in the code had somehow made its way into the game somehow, but soon I started getting headaches that wouldn't even go away after I stopped playing. Eventually I realized this thing was trying to control me. I don't know how, that shouldn't even be possible, but somehow it made its way into my head. I heard a voice when it finally did, and when I realized who it was, . . . well I was horrified."

"What do you mean?" asked Freddy. "How could you know who the voice was, and how could it effect you directly from just playing a game."

"First part's easy," Vanessa replied. "I never told you guys my last name, did I?"

Gregory's eyes instantly widened, "You don't mean . . ."

"Yep," she confirmed. "My full name is Vanessa Afton. I'm William's daughter, and I hated every minute of it."

The two sitting beside her had shock evident on their faces. How could this woman that looked over the two of them so well over the past month be related to someone so shady? The woman who seemed to care so much more about her own business than getting involved in someone else's. She was raised by that creep?

"Y-Your kidding!" Gregory managed to get out.

"Well, actually he adopted me," Vanessa explained as she noticed their shoulders relax, "He took up some time as a foster father to help boost his image when the company was going under. I was the only kid he took in, and he treated me well at first. Eventually he said he just had to adopt me, and he did. That's when everything turned south. He had three kids before, two sons and one daughter, and basically, he wanted to make me into a carbon copy of his daughter. He shoved her old toys in my face and made me play with them, and if I wouldn't, or if I misbehaved in any way, he'd lock me in the basement for the whole day."

Freddy couldn't believe what he was hearing. Who would do that to a child? "It-It never went beyond that, did it?"

She turned away from the bear, "I don't want to talk about it."

That told the bear all he needed to know, and while he didn't say anything, he was silently fuming.

Vanessa went on, "Things finally ended when he won a custody battle with his ex-wife. He died about a week or two after that, and I was put in another foster home."

Gregory was still clearly confused, "Okay, well that doesn't really explain how he could have come back as code and taken over your head."

"I don't know either," she admitted, "Technology is a fickle thing, and there are advances I probably don't even know about yet, and probably don't want to know about."

Freddy had heard enough on that subject, "Well, getting back to the topic at hand, what does this have to do with Vanny?"

"Basically, Afton underestimated how hard the human mind can be to control," she explained, "Once he figured out I could willingly go against his orders, he made me get another host for him to control, only this one would be something he was used to controlling, something mechanical. So, I made him one, . . . Vanny."

There was a good five second silence.

"Huh!?" yelled Gregory. It was clear his brain was about to fry. "How is Vanny mechanical? She moved and acted like a human!"

"Well, you're talking someone who was raised by a major innovator in robotics," she continued. "We made her based on plans he had for animatronics that could pass as humans on the street, and he used what I learned without him to improve on it. Vanny might just be considered his crown jewel. She has the same bodily functions as a human, the same thought patterns. She can even bleed."

The boy was horrified, "Why would anyone plan to make something like that?! This guy's insane!"

"I should say, though," Freddy interjected, "That is probably why the others at the Pizzaplex and I were so advanced. I remember the mechanics saying something about using older designs as inspiration for our current models. I think they may have used information from that as well."

"What makes you say that?" asked Vanessa.

Freddy hesitated slightly. "Did you know we can dream?" She shook her head with a concerned look. "It still happens to me sometimes when I'm charging. I thought it may have been a glitch in our personality chips, but it seems a bit more than that now."

Gregory was one of the few kids in this world that grew up without electronics, so he could not be blamed for coming to the conclusion that technology was terrifying. This was evident on his face as Freddy finished, but the bear sensed his discomfort and gave him a reassuring look as to tell him, 'You're safe with me.' And after everything the two had been through, it worked, and Gregory got close to his friend once again.

"Well, either way," Vanessa continued, "as you can tell, Vanny was a success. We actually made two models of her, one as a child and one as an adult. Afton spent some time in her head in her child form before he felt like she had the capabilities to carry out his deeds in his adult form. So, yeah, they're definitely the ones behind the whole ordeal at the Pizzplex."

This was all clearly a lot for Gregory to take in. "Okay… Well, that still leaves me with two questions. One, why would they do all of that, and two what does this have to do with your vacation?"

"I'm taking this vacation because I'm trying to find out why," she explained. "William may have taken over my head for a bit, but I still never understood what he was trying to do, even after looking into all the things he was involved in with this company. Or at least what they want us to know."

"You mean there is possibly more that you haven't told us?" Freddy asked.

"Yes," she replied. "Most of what I know was what William told me, and what the company allowed the press to cover. But, in light of recent events, Josh Feldman, the CEO, has gotten in contact with me. He said that there were some private company files not to be released that information on the Pizzaplex was going to, and I think that may be where I find the rest of my answers."

"Well, where is it?" asked the boy.

Vanessa was visibly uneased. "It's at the location where this whole company started. A place called Fredbear's Family Diner. It's been shut down since the 80's, but it was used as a business office for a long time. I'm betting that a whole host of information on the inner workings of this company are there, and I think that may be the key to find out what William's doing."

"I see," said Freddy. "Forgive me for asking, but you seem a bit apprehensive about going there. Is there something else happening at that place?"

She swallowed. "After the offices shut down, they started using the basement as storage for scrap. They keep some of the older animatronics for fabrication and parts, but I'm afraid some of them might still be functional."

The look on Gregory's face said it all. "Yeah, that's a problem."

Vanessa took another deep breath. "Either way, I have to start looking there if I want to find out what's going on. I know it's going to be dangerous, but I have to take the chance."

She began to walk off, determined to get to the truth now more than ever, but stopped when the animatronic bear touched her shoulder. "If this will be dangerous, then you should not go alone," he implored. "I can be there to protect you if the need arises, and I should be able to guide you through any technical blocks you may encounter."

Vanessa knew she would need to be the rational adult here. "That's sweet of you, Freddy," she said, "but William adopted me. This is my problem, not yours."

"Maybe so," he replied, "but after the past month I feel like I owe you this. If there are problems with this company, I would like to help fix it if I can. Maybe even find a way to get my friends back."

"I'm going too!" Gregory interrupted, standing up.

"Seriously?!" yelled Vanessa. "You're ten!"

"Well, who said I deserved a reward after spending the whole night almost getting killed at the Pizzaplex?" he retorted. "I think you pretty much said I can handle myself just fine. Plus, should be able to store all the information you need on the Fazwatch." He pointed to the device on his wrist decidedly.

The blonde woman sighed. "Freddy, are you seriously going to go along with this?"

"While I hate for Gregory to willingly put himself in danger again," he replied, "he does have a point. The more of us there are, the more we should be protected."

Vanessa took a pointed look at the boy. This kid was so stubborn! He's willing to put himself in danger for a woman he couldn't stand a month ago? How crazy do you have to be?! But she still remembered the six hours he evaded her, and pretty much everyone else at the Pizzaplex. She thought for sure he would have been dead meat once she found out Vanny was there, but he just pushed past everything and came out alive. Maybe she didn't have to do this alone.

She sighed. "The place is just about 30 minutes away. I need to get dressed before we go. Be ready by eleven o'clock."

A/N And that's that. Like I said, mainly exposition, but the next chapter is where we will really get started. I'm going to try to update once a week, but I am working full time outside of this. So please be patient with me. Also, I really appreciate the positive feedback I've received so far, so read, review, and please keep it coming. Once again, thank you all for reading, and I'll see you soon.