Chapter 3
By the time they made it back to the Security Office, Cassie was already sitting on Eclipse's shoulder. They had been deeply involved in planning all the activities they would do together. Vanessa glanced up at them and smirked quietly to herself; the girl had a knack for befriending animatronics. It was disarmingly simple; treat them like people. To her chagrin, she recalled treating them like disposable servants; no wonder most of them hated her. Now with Cassie here she had at least a fighting chance to make it up to them.
"Okay, here's the plan," she began as they all gathered around the map table, "Sanjay and Cassie take Eclipse home with you for repairs."
"Can't wait!" said Eclipse brightly as they gently lowered Cassie on the ground.
"Dad, can we take Roxy too?" she wondered.
"Sorry Pumpkin, not enough room in the van," he replied sadly.
"It's okay Champ," said Roxy patting her shoulder, "Vanessa needs me here anyway."
"That's right," said Vanessa pointing to the map, "We need to get Parts and Services up and running again."
"So, who are we going for next?" wondered Freddy.
"You," she replied simply.
"Me?" he wondered, lost.
"The Prototype Freddy, specifically," she explained, "Think our resident surgeon is up to performing a head transplant?"
"That's a new one," admitted Sanjay with a grin, "But I think I can manage."
"You're a lifesaver," said Roxy admiringly. Like all other the Faz Technicians, he had flown under her radar for years, but now she could see that he was actually really talented with machinery. Was she really that blind long even before losing her eyes?
"That's great!" exclaimed Gregory picking up Freddy's head, "What will do first when you get a new body?"
"I'll give my Superstar a big hug of course," said Freddy warmly. Gregory nodded, blinking back tears.
Vanessa folded her arms and smiled at the scene. She was glad for this band of humans and animatronics she was assembling, but at the same time felt like an intruder. She didn't deserve any happiness after what she had done, but they certainly did.
After giving Roxy a goodbye hug Cassie followed her dad and Eclipse out to the van. Back at the house she led Eclipse up the front steps into the house and up the stairs to her bedroom. The entire time the Daycare Attendant had to stoop low to avoid hitting the ceiling.
"Is this your room?" they asked, "How wonderful!"
The room was covered with posters of all the Glamrocks. but naturally there were twice as many of Roxy as any other character. In addition, the bed was shaped like a crimson racecar with the familiar wolf pictured on the front and sides. But there was also a Sun mobile dangling from the ceiling and a Moon nightlight plugged into the wall. Cassie set up an easel near her desk and handed Eclipse a paintbrush.
"Want to do some watercolors?" she wondered.
"Of course!" they replied cheerfully.
The next few hours flew by: watercolors, then pottery, followed by origami. By then she had changed into a pink nightgown with a pattern of black stars.
"I doubt you remember me," admitted Cassie as she was folding a paper crane, "There were a lot of little kids in the Daycare."
"No, I remember you," they replied gently, "You always followed the rules."
"Really?" she said surprised, "Well, Dad had to work a lot of hours so I guess I stayed there pretty regularly."
"What do you want to do next?" wondered Eclipse.
"I'm kinda tired actually," admitted Cassie stifling a yawn, "Sorry, but can you do me a favor?"
"Anything," they said.
She went over to the door and flipped shut off the light switch, plunging the room into darkness except for the faint glow of the nightlight. She then crawled under the covers.
"Can Moon come out and sing me to sleep?"
"Of course," they said. Fluidly the sun rays retracted into their head and the remains of the costume shifted in color entirely to yellow stars on a blue background. Both eyes were now glowing crimson.
"Only naughty children stay up past their bedtime," rasped Moon, "Good children go to sleep." Cassie reached out and touched their face.
"I'll be good," she promised, "I always slept better after you sang to me."
Moon nodded and pulled her covers up to her chin.
Hush little baby don't say a word
Moon's gonna buy you a mockingbird
And if that mocking bird don't sing
Moon's gonna buy you a diamond ring…
After she fell asleep Moon shifted back into Eclipse and crawled down the stairs on all fours into the basement. Sanjay was working on setting up an operating table.
"I'm ready," they said.
After an hour of work Sanjay made a call on his cell phone.
"I'm sorry to bother you this late Miss Vanessa," he said, "But I've got the schematics on display now.
"Not at all," she replied calmly, "I asked you to call me. Now what can you tell me about Eclipse's wiring?"
"That's the weird thing," he explained, "This is the only animatronic I've seen with one memory chip but two personality chips; usually they only have one of each."
He was staring at a diagnostic monitor connected to a rat's nest of wires plugged into the butt end of the Faz-Wrench, which was inserted into a slot of the back of Eclipse's head, which was rather disconcertingly sitting severed on a stand on the table.
"Furthermore, they're connected to a light sensor," he added, "It looks like the ambient light levels acted as a toggle switch between the two personality chips. But now since Cassie rebooted him, there's a circuit bridge between them."
"Can you disconnect the light sensor and allow them to freely toggle between the chips?" asked Vanessa, "I mean seriously, controlled by a light switch?"
"Of course," he replied, "That would allow them to freely shift between personalities then."
"Good,"she added, "In particular we'll need Moon for the next mission." Sanjay frowned a little.
"Aren't you concerned about his…peculiarities?" he ventured tentatively.
"No doubt," Vanessa replied evenly, "But I think Cassie can be convincing."
"No one can deny my little princess anything," said Sanjay with a chuckle, "I know that from experience."
"Thanks again for all your help," she added, "I'll let you get back to work."
"One last thing Miss Vanessa," he wondered, "Will we really be able to help them get back their Mega Pizzaplex?"
"Yes, I already have a couple of irons in the fire," she replied confidently, "I'll ask for your assistance when the time comes. For now, let's focus on getting all their friends back."
"Sounds good," he said, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Sanjay."
Across town in a darkened apartment Vanessa hung up her cell phone. Her long hair falling free to her shoulders and wearing gray flannel pajamas, she was sitting on a couch that had been turned into a makeshift bed with a pillow and blankets. She stood up and walked over to a small kitchen nook and took out a Fizzy Faz from the refrigerator and took a sip. Even in the dark, her apartment looked bland and generic, with all neutral tones and few decorations. The one hint of color was the hand drawn picture of Freddy Fazbear on the refrigerator door. She crossed over to the bedroom and quietly opened the door.
Inside was a single bed with Gregory curled under the blankets, fast asleep. On the nightstand stood a charging station with Freddy's head resting on top of it, his eyes closed.
"Couldn't sleep?" he said softly, startling her.
"No, you?" she replied quietly.
"Sleeping is something I cannot do," he explained opening his glowing golden eyes, "What is troubling you, Vanessa?" She was silent for a long time.
"Why did you and Gregory save me from Vanny?" she asked.
"Because you were as much a victim as we were," said Freddy, "And you were worth saving."
"I'm not so sure of that," she replied tearing up a little, "But it's sweet of you to say so."
"Believe in your goodness, Vanessa," he pleaded, "You have given us a home and now you are helping us rescue our friends."
"I'm not a good person," she reflected bitterly, "I'm just a coward trying to undo the damage I did."
Freddy sighed.
"I have faith in you, even if you do not," he said eventually.
"Thank you, Freddy," she said turning to leave, "I promise you'll be back on that stage one day soon."
The next day Cassie led Eclipse back into the Mega Pizzaplex. Her Dad could repair their foot, but couldn't replace the face or costume and simply removed the wire frame of the ruined pants leg. Suddenly they could hear piano music drifting through the empty echoing cavernous spaces. It was soft and slightly sad, nothing like the bouncy upbeat music she was used to hearing here. She made her way up to the second floor; inside El Chip's she saw Roxy sitting on a table, her eyes closed as she played on her battered green keytar resting on her lap.
"Clair de Lune," said the animatronic without opening her eyes, "I've been programmed with over 250 tunes, but I never got a chance to play this one."
"It's beautiful," breathed Cassie. Roxy opened her eyes and gave her a slightly unnerving toothy smile.
"Thanks Champ," she said simply, "Let's get to work though." She stopped playing and stood up, carefully placing the keytar on the nearby counter. They made their way over the black and red checkerboard tiled floor past the neon lit cacti back in the balcony overlooking the Atrium. From there they went down to the first floor in front of the entrance to Fazer Blast. Everyone else was waiting there.
"Cassie saw Prototype Freddy last in here," instructed Vanessa briskly, "Roxy and Moon will retrieve him, preferably intact." Roxy groaned.
"Not Moon," she sighed.
"Please Roxy," said Gregory earnestly, "Freddy needs a new body."
"I'll go for Freddy, not for you kid," she said testily.
Vanessa looked over to Cassie expectantly. She took Eclipse's hand.
"Do you want to play a game?" she asked.
"Sure do," they replied cheerfully.
"Good, can I ask Moon to play hide and seek?"
Eclipse hesitated a moment and then shifted into their Moon form.
"Who is playing?" they rasped.
"You and Roxy need to find Freddy's body in there," she explained, "It hasn't taken a nap in a long time and is being very naughty."
"Naughty children get punished!" they growled and sprinted through the door into Fazer Blast.
"Hey wait up!" yelled Roxy and ran after them, "Stupid jester!" She ran after them and found herself inside a dark twisted maze of dark metallic panels that had once been lit in neon colors. STAFF Bots wearing goofy green alien helmets were strewn over piles of rubble and fallen rocket ship and flying saucer models. The stained blue carpet had cute little outlines of the Glamrocks dressed as astronauts with bubble helmets.
"Moon!" she called out angrily. She heard a crash of falling debris and saw a silhouette of a hulking figure appear out of the nearby gloom. It had the same burnt orange body as Freddy but minus the head and a shattered torso that looked like jagged teeth. It had the same maroon leggings and matching shoulder pads, with black spiked wristbands. All the casings were cracked and crumbling, exposing the endoskeleton underneath.
"Bring it on," she muttered. After the stinging defeat against the Mimic, she was itching for a win.
The Prototype opened is chest cavity like a mouth and made a roaring sound. Roxy dove to its right and rebounded off as wall to deliver a flying kick that sent it careening into a rocket ship model, snapping it in two. She then punched it behind the knee, knocking it down to the ground. It blindly flailed and grabbed her ankle and tripped her. She rolled out of the way as it brought a foot down on the floor.
That's when she saw two pinpricks of red light in the darkness of the dome far above. Moon dropped in from the ceiling on a wire and landed nimbly in front of the Prototype. It swung its fists at them, but they nimbly dodged every blow by ducking or sidestepping. Moon proceeded to land blow after blow to each of the four limbs.
"Nap time!" they hissed. Roxy punched it in the neck, sending it flying backwards on the floor. Moon shot up to the ceiling and came down hard on the Prototype's shoulders and hips using both their hands and feet, making a sickening metallic crunch. It feebly struggled but found it couldn't move any of its limbs.
"Intact enough," sighed Roxy, "Not bad for a freak, Moon."
"Now good children will go to sleep," rasped Moon, as rays emerged from the rim of their head.
"Goodness me, what a mess," said Eclipse glancing around, "Do you need help cleaning up Roxy?"
"All I can get," she said with a shrug, "Grab an ankle."
Together they dragged the Prototype Freddy down the hallway into the darkness.