Mable: Sorry this one was a little late, but I hope you still enjoy!
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Fifty-Four
Natalie and Scott walked into the security office to see that everything looked normal. Which was a relief, as Natalie half-expected to come in and see the monitors all smashed up.
"Alright, coast's clear. Back to work," she jokingly commanded.
"Yes, Ma'am. Right away, Ma'am," Scott replied. He was surprised he could joke considering what they just walked out of. Though once he dropped into the office seat, he let out a relieved exhale, as though finally shrugging off the pressures before going back to work. He leaned forward to click on the file he stopped on only to pause. "…This wasn't where I was," he realized. The numbers didn't match up to what he remembered.
By then Natalie had also noticed something else in the office had changed.
"And Smitty's gone…" she said. She looked around the other side before spotting him rolled into the corner. She dropped her arm in exasperation and strode over. "Never mind, he's over here. Smitty?"
The bot didn't respond at first. It wasn't until she tapped its shoulder that it suddenly straightened up, snapping to alertness. It then spun around.
Revealing a wicked grin stretched across his face.
Natalie gave a startled yelp and jumped back. Though almost immediately afterwards realized that the garish face that unexpectedly appeared on her assistant bot's face was drawn on with black marker. It was a wide wicked smile that almost somewhat resembled Marionette's with thick stripes scribbled down like tear marks, and little triangles on the sides of its eyes as though trying to replicate the Puppet's eye shape. On his chest were written the words, "Who's pulling your strings?"
It was clearly supposed to look like Marionette. Apparently, he had left an impression on Vanny, because Natalie had no doubt she was the one who did this. She didn't know her well, but this felt like a very Vanny thing, and it made too much sense considering what happened just the night before. Which was concerning as that meant she could've fooled around with more than just the security bot.
"Are you okay?" Scott asked.
"I'm fine. Someone just snuck in here and drew all over Smitty's face… Probably our friend the Easter Bunny," Natalie replied. She huffed and walked over to get some tissues out of a nearby box. "You're going to have to check and see if she deleted anything while she was in here," she forewarned before returning to the bot.
"She must've done something, because I don't even know what camera I'm on."
Natalie tried to wipe the marker off with the tissues, but it was a lost cause. It had already dried ages ago. She sighed wearily.
"Sorry, Buddy. I guess you're going to have to wear it until I can get some cleaning supplies," she said. He didn't even notice, and his confused noise suggested that he didn't 'understand the command'.
"So, uh, I need you to come over here and tell me if this is the basement," Scott said.
Natalie's brows raised and she hustled to him and looked over his shoulder. Sure enough, the image on the video seemed to be of a tight basement corridor. While she hadn't seen them herself, it matched the description Mike and Marionette had given.
"I think that's it. That looks exactly like what they described, a bunch of tight, dark hallways," she agreed. "But here's the million-dollar question: did she tamper with the footage?"
"We'll see soon enough," Scott assured. He began to fast-forward through it. Watching an unmoving and unchanging hallway depicted on a screen.
Then something rushed into the hallway. Scott reflexively clicked the pause button, and the screen froze on a small form. Both recognized it as Gregory, and it didn't take Natalie more than a beat to put two and two together.
"This is it!" she half-yelled into Scott's ear. "Because he was alone and then he ran into her! She put it right on the video!" She paused for a moment before adding, "…Which is concerning."
"Yeah. I'd say," Scott agreed. He took a deep breath and pressed the play button. "Let's see…"
They watched Gregory start to walk down the hallway before something shifted- the entire screen. Gregory stuttered and popped a step or two away. The screen tearing around his movement while the scene behind him seemed to remain still. Even as shadow movement showed that something was going on back there. Even the computer seemed to be struggling playing the video.
"Yup. Tampered," Scott deduced.
"Sort of. This is what she always does to the video… Look, he's looking at her!" Natalie pointed to the boy now turning around and staring at something at the end of the hallway.
The footage was still jittery and jumpy, but they could almost see the frozen square of the footage where she was supposed to be. Scott reached forward and traced it on the screen before tapping on the glass and pulling back his hand.
"This isn't even how Mari does it. It's like… It looks like she tampered with the footage, but I don't even know how you'd tamper with a video like this," he said.
"I know, and I'd believe it too, but this happens when she's on any camera. It's not usually this bad, usually it's just frozen, but she… And they're gone."
With little more than a blink, Gregory moved off from the screen and less than ten seconds later the footage suddenly cleared up. Now the hallway was empty once more.
"Fast-forward a little but stay on this camera. I know Mari confronted Vanny in one of these hallways," Natalie said. Scott nodded and did as told, fast-forwarding a little further. The camera briefly fuzzed over with static shortly afterwards.
"Mari," Scott said. Natalie nodded in agreement. Then the fast-forwarding continued.
It took a little longer but then the footage glitched out a bit like it had before only to then get fully obscured by static. This suggested that Marionette was there too. Then, out of nowhere, something drastic happened. The screen flickered in bright reds and flickering lines atop that static before the screen suddenly went black. Scott began to fast-forward further but from that point on the screen was black. The camera had shorted out.
"…It's dead," Scott said.
Natalie gave an exasperated huff. "Figures. I don't know why I was expecting anything else."
"…Well, hold on. We don't know it's a bust just yet," he said.
He clicked out of the video file and then onto the next one, quickly fast-forwarding to the same period. Nothing. He tried with a second video. With that one he saw static overtake the camera sometime before this confrontation. Marionette was passing through and, at his slower speed, likely with Mike and Gregory. Natalie leaned against one of the security panels behind him and watched as he continued looking for angles, scouring them, a man on a mission.
And then it happened. He wasn't expecting it, but he stumbled upon it while looking through one of the cameras out in the utility tunnels. He saw the static of Marionette coming in, the corruption of something following, the corruption of something leaving.
And then the corruption cleared up and at the very end of the tunnel, so far that he had to squint through his glasses to see, he spotted a figure in all white running away. He snapped his fingers and pointed at the screen.
"And there she is."
"What?" Natalie leaned in on the desk to look and gaped. "That's her. Scott, you got her! That's her!" she whooped in triumph. "I bet she didn't even think of these cameras! I can't even begin to thank you enough."
"Don't worry about it," Scott said a little distantly. He was staring at that little white figure before snapping out of it and sending her a smile. "Sorry, I just zoned out."
He then began to click around to save the video file to the floppy disc he had brought. It might've been a huge security system, but it was just a lot of show. It worked closely to a regular computer.
"No, don't apologize! I can't imagine what this must be like for you. You were around during the last time, and seeing something like this… It's got to be rough. I really do appreciate you coming down here to do this," Natalie sympathized and thanked.
"Don't mention it! Look, as insane as this all is, I rather be down here contributing to help stop the problem than hiding away at home waiting for something to happen. At least now I can say I tried," Scott assured. A tone of optimism on his voice, and though it might've been a little forced it didn't really sound like it. "…I mean, I wish the whole Chica crushing thing hadn't happened. Heavens knows if Fazbear Entertainment catches wind I was here then they're going to think I'm some kind of angry former employee who broke in and vandalized the place… And they technically wouldn't be wrong, but it's not that cut and dry, y'know?"
"Don't say that. First off, you didn't vandalize anything. I wouldn't even call what happened vandalizing. Secondly, you'll be protecting Freddy's in the long run with this evidence," Natalie laid out. "…And thirdly, don't act like you're just some irrationally angry ex-employee trying to get back at the company that fired you. You would have every right to be angry after what happened, and especially because they're not taking it seriously."
"They're not… and I am, but don't spread it around. I don't want the others knowing how upset this all has got me. I've let Ennard and Baby in on it, but even then, I try to downplay. Not to hide it but just because I don't want it hanging on me. It's just not in my nature."
"I understand," Natalie assured. Deep down she knew that she really didn't. She understood it in theory, but she couldn't in practice, because if what happened to him happened to her, she would've been unabashedly furious. She could only imagine she would be.
But Scott didn't want to be like that, and she couldn't help but respect that. Maybe that was something he learned from going through it.
"Okay!" Scott announced. He flexed his fingers and returned his hand to the mouse. "Let's get back to work."
Unfortunately, that wasn't the only cryptic note left to be found.
While Natalie and Scott had still been riding to Parts and Service, the small group of Foxy, Gregory, Marionette, Charlie, and Baby started making their way back towards the daycare. Foxy had plucked Gregory up and perched him on his shoulders, to no complaint of his, and did his best to fill in for Freddy's absence. It worked like a charm. Charlie and Baby walked together behind them while Marionette led the way.
As they entered the silo Baby let out an audible gasp. Her eyes slowly raising up to look at the number of stairs that lay between them and escape.
"Sooo many stairs," Charlie agreed.
"Why would they even put that many stairs without a lift?!" Baby cried with exasperation.
"That's… actually a good question, but it's not like this is the only questionable decision in this place," Charlie remarked. She turned to Baby and reached out to pat her on the shoulder with a playful smile. "Don't worry. We'll just take them one step at a time."
Baby slowly turned her head. Charlie could just feel the incredulousness from the look in her eyes.
"One more joke like that and I will make you carry me," she threatened.
"It might be worth it if I think of a good one," Charlie said.
"You aren't up fer that challenge, Lass," Foxy chimed in.
Baby snapped her head over with a look that could've struck him dead. From the look he sent back, paused and second-guessing, it was clear that he hadn't even considered what he was implying before he said it. Charlie was quick to jump back in and diffuse.
"You'd be surprised. I might not look like much, but underneath this plastic is a wall of muscle I've been building to take on any challenge," Charlie proclaimed. Then she quickly tacked on, "I've been doing sit-ups."
"Trying to get back your girlish figure?" Baby asked flatly. Her eyes sliding back over to the Security Puppet before giving her a noticeable once-over. Her voice shifted lower as she said, "There really is no point. You've still got it."
Baby began to roll ahead after Marionette leaving Charlie standing there with a bewildered look.
If she didn't know any better, she would've thought that was a flirtatious comment. From the tone to the look, to the little shifting sway as she sashayed away, it all read like a come-on. But Charlie knew Baby better. Maybe she just thought it sounded like that but in actuality it was likely that Baby was just tossing her a compliment because she had stepped in and made one at her own expense to shield her pride. That was the more likely suggestion.
…
…No, Baby had definitely just flirted with her, unknowingly or not. Charlie could just tell from the look on Foxy's face and how quickly he looked away- with a chuckle, as though it wasn't obvious enough. Charlie stood there- she would've been blinking if she could've- before following along so nobody got the idea that something was wrong.
Marionette had acknowledged part of the scene as he made his way to the stairs, but then found his attention diverted when he noticed a colorful piece of paper on one of the steps. It was a sticky note.
He had seen scraps of paper here and there amongst the trash. He had even saw another sticky note, though that one had been so soggy that it had been impossible to pick up, let alone read it. This one seemed mostly dry but what was odd was that it wasn't stuck to the stair but instead face down. A little bit of dirt collecting on the once sticky adhesive strip. This meant he had to pick it up and turn it over to see it.
He thought maybe that it had tracked from somewhere and had already been here when they passed earlier, that he had just missed it, but the writing on that quickly confirmed that wasn't the case.
They know you're here!
The ominous message almost chilled him. Just the way it was worded filling him with immediate discomfort. He looked out around the room as though for the leaver of the note, even though it was obvious they might've left ages ago. He saw no one.
"What's that?" Foxy asked as he trudged up.
"Warning message. Might be for us, might not. Might be from Jake," Marionette vaguely answered. He showed it to Foxy while trying to downplay it, not wanting to scare Foxy or Gregory, but the giveaway was that he was still looking out as he said this.
"That right? Hmm… Let's get movin' then," Foxy said. He scanned over the room before readjusting Gregory and calling back, "Lizzie, Lass, wouldja like to go first?"
"No. I would rather go last where people won't have to watch me," Baby replied, back to pouting as she looked at the stairs.
"Aye, then I be headin' up. Watch yer head, Lad. There might be a low ceiling."
"I'll watch out," Gregory agreed.
"Go on ahead," Marionette gently ushered. He then went back to looking out, tucking the note in with the stuff he had gathered and then resting that now freed hand on the railing. His fingers tightening around it.
Who was 'they'? Vanny was likely one of them, but who else? Wight, he guessed right off the bat. Wight's feigning ignorance could only go so far, and it was just a little too coincidental that all his shortcomings were in places that might've exposed the dark underbelly of the Pizzaplex. But were they working together? Likely not, he guessed. It seemed more likely that Wight was simply covering out of necessity. If this got out it could ruin Freddy's barely salvaged reputation.
Someone had been looking at him earlier. He had been sure of it; he had felt it. There was no doubt in his mind that it was whoever left this note. So, he continued watching as the others headed up, and only followed once he had to.
Baby had gotten a little faster on stairs, though that was because her new method of climbing them was to give up any pretense of normality and just climb on her hands and knees. Or that was, with her hands and the stoppers on her skates. Clearly it was something she didn't want anyone else watching, but she got up the stairs relatively quick. Though if anything it was much less embarrassing and instead borderline unsettling- or would be for anyone seeing it who wasn't used to the peculiar movements of animatronics.
Marionette made his way to the front so he could make sure the coast was clear, which it was. The chain length divider's gate was closed but when Marionette tried it, he found it unlocked. Likely Moon had shut it on his way through.
He pushed his way through to look around, feeling paranoid after finding the note, only to snap his head in the direction of unexpected movement coming out from a nearby doorway. Only to relax when he saw it was just Jake coming out of a hallway.
"Hey, it's just me. I just wanted to…" Jake's voice trailed off as he looked down at the clump of merchandise in his arms. He blinked for a moment before looking back up to Marionette's subdued smile. "…Oh. I guess the cat's out of the bag. Or the rabbit."
"He ain't the only one," Foxy suddenly chimed in. Jake looked over in surprise as Foxy all but strode up into the conversation and up to the masked animatronic. He stuck out his hand. "Ye must be this Jake I've been hearin' so much about. The name's Foxy, but I'm sure ya already knew that," he said with a friendly chuckle. "Thanks fer bein' quick on the draw with those directions earlier."
Jake seemed a little startled, but he put his control panel under one arm and shook his hand with the other.
"Oh, uh, hey! No problem. I'm just glad to help," Jake replied in a friendly tone. "I'm guessing it worked out?"
"We got 'em. Freddy an' some o' the others are shoving off fer Parts and Service with Chica and we're headin' for the daycare basement to spray down," Foxy explained. He pointed his hook up above his head. "An' get this one here some grub."
"Hey, Jake," Gregory greeted with a wave. He was a little more quiet than usual, Jake noticed, but that could've been from tiredness, hunger, or both.
"Hey, Gregory!" Jake replied. He tried to portray his smile through his voice. "And Charlie, Baby."
"Hello again," Charlie greeted wearily. "Let's roll."
Jake was about to ask about Baby when she suddenly climbed to her feet and quickly skated over, brushing down her skirt. One look at the gunk on her legs and he was genuinely surprised that Moon had gotten by without his programming kicking in.
"Good idea. Sooner we get back to the daycare, the better… Uh…" They just started to walk along, or Foxy was just starting to walk off in leading the way, when Jake quickly caught up with him. "So, I know you know about me from Charlie and Mari, but would you mind not telling Freddy about me? See, that would put him and us into a bad situation. It's just easier if he doesn't have to know. Normally I wouldn't even bring it up, but I know you two are friends and I don't want it to accidently slip out."
"Hmm. Well, if ya say so, Lad. I won't tell him," Foxy agreed. Jake was relieved only for a second. "But I think he already knows."
"Doesn't he visit you guys all the time?" Gregory asked in confusion.
Jake was still reeling when posed with that question. "Only Sunny in the daycare. The only time he's ever been up to our room was the other night and I don't think he saw me," he answered. He then looked back to Foxy and asked, "You didn't tell him already…?"
"Nah. Just call it a pirate hunch," Foxy said.
Marionette knew a 'pirate hunch' could've easily been code for, "Freddy told me," but decided to keep it to himself.
"Oh, okay. Good!" Jake said, relieved again. "Because that could be trouble."
"I'm no snitch, but I'm tellin' ya now I think he knows."
"Right…" There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Jake suddenly changed lanes. "By the way, I saw that no-drugs commercial you did! That's really cool of you."
"Err, well, thank ye," Foxy said. Suddenly feeling about twenty times less cool remembering it.
"Can I see it?" Gregory asked. The edge of something, perhaps mischievousness, sliding into his tone.
"…Later."
For a while the walk was relatively quiet with just some small talk that turned into Charlie telling Jake about what happened in the basement, with Baby and Foxy chiming in every now and then. Marionette stayed mostly quiet. He was almost afraid that if he opened his mouth he would say too much, so he bided his time. Preparing to wait until after they got to the daycare and he tended to Gregory before asking about the Staff Bots or Bonnie, or the dozens of other red flags he saw strewn about.
They made their way through the kitchen and back to the elevator, and soon arrived at the door leading out into the Atrium. Foxy cracked the door open to peak out and make sure nothing was lurking about.
It was then that Marionette caught something in Charlie and Jake's conversation.
"I just don't understand how they're still able to move when they're that broken. It's crazy, first they come up with robots that cook and mop, and replace human staff entirely, and now they've made ones that can't shut down. They must be haunted by something."
"Maybe, but the Alpha Staff Bots were always on the strange side. They could last all day on the same battery," Jake replied. "They just couldn't stick to a job for that long."
Jake knew what they were, and he knew enough about them- and their behavior- that he had seemed largely unsurprised by how they were acting. Normally, this wouldn't be too surprising, but that could suggest that he had seen them while they were overloaded with whatever the crazed heat was. He had to ask him, he needed to take his chance while he had it.
"The coast is clear," Foxy murmured. He leaned down so that Gregory wouldn't bump his head as they went through.
"Foxy, if you don't mind," Marionette began as he quickly came up beside him. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Would you mind going ahead with Baby? I need to speak with Jake in private… Semi-private."
"Going to get some answers outta him?" Foxy asked.
"Hopefully yes," Marionette replied with a little smile.
"Consider it done- Oiy, Baby! Wanna do somethin' stupid?"
"You mean other than falling into the garbage?" Baby retorted tiredly.
Foxy chuckled and then bent down in a running position on his knee. He reached up and pushed Gregory back, the boy giving a confused and startled noise before sliding down onto Foxy's back. The pirate holding him with his handed arm behind his back to catch him.
"Race ya to the daycare," Foxy challenged. His tone low and eager.
Baby was much less amused. "I am not doing that."
"Aww, come on, Lass! You oughta be fast on those skates," Foxy insisted. "Unless yer afraid I still be the fastest in the family. Don't worry, I'll give ya a head start."
Baby didn't take the bait. Instead, she narrowed her eyes questioningly before looking over at Marionette and bluntly asking, "Is there a reason he is provoking me, or has the stress finally gotten to him?"
Marionette returned a lopsided smile. "I'm looking to get Jake alone so I can ask him a few questions," he explained.
"Oh. That is a different story," Baby said. She looked back to Foxy. "…Must I race you or can we just walk ahead?"
"Where's the fun in that?"
Baby looked less than impressed at that answer. Yet she sighed and didn't protest it, instead getting into position herself. One skate turned in preparation to push off with.
"Just know now that if we get caught, I will be leaving you behind to deal with it," she warned.
"Fair enough! Charlie, ye want in? We'll see if those sit-ups be workin'," Foxy called over.
"What?" Charlie finally noticed what was going on as she came through the door and gave a confused look.
"We're racin'. You in?"
"No thanks. I think I'm just going to stay back," she said.
"Suit yerself. Barrelman Gregory, count us down," Foxy instructed.
"Okay, sure!" Gregory agreed, just glad he hadn't gotten dropped to the floor and out of the action. "Three… Two…"
"The fastest," Baby snuck in with a scoff. Just in time to return that challenge Foxy had presented. He accepted it gladly.
"One… Go!"
Both took off surprisingly quickly. Foxy with Gregory on the back running in a full sprint. It took Baby a moment to gain momentum on her skates before she was after him. The two zipping down the expanse of the atrium outside of the snack bars, closing in on Kids Cove. Marionette only realized now that they hadn't exactly gave themselves a stopping point. Perhaps the real challenge was going to be who could get through those security doors faster.
"Good thing Vanessa's not around to see that… Oh, wait… I guess she already has seen you all," Jake said warily. He looked back and added with an apologetic little sound, "That's a problem."
"It's not. The truth is she's a plant," Charlie admitted. Jake looked to her with a tilt of his head.
"A prickly desert plant. I believe they call them succulents," Marionette chimed in. Charlie now looked to him and fought the urge to groan at his sly smile.
"Wait, what do you mean? You mean she's working with you guys or she's like a spy for the higher ups?" Jake asked.
"She's our friend. She works at Foxy's with us, and she only took this job so we could keep an eye on what's going on here," Marionette explained more seriously. "With the history of these businesses… we had to take precautions." He hugged the merchandise tighter.
"That explains a lot. Or that explains why she's not reporting anything that goes down here. Not that even the real staff would want to get caught up in all this," Jake partially joked. They started to walk along. "But that's good to hear. Sunny was really freaking out about her. Got a bad feeling and started coming up with all these theories, but this? We can handle this."
"Jake, is it alright if I ask you something?" Marionette asked. His shift in tone, growing further quieter and serious, tipped him off to the change in subject. Jake stole a look down to the items in his arm.
"…Sure. Shoot," he agreed.
"I hate spring this upon you so suddenly…" Marionette tapped his fingers on the plastic mug in his grasp tentatively. He turned his eyes down towards them before lifting them to Jake's mask to pose his question. "What do you know about the Staff Bots in the basement?"
"Oh! I thought you were going to ask about…" Jake trailed off.
"Bonnie?" Marionette guessed, tapping on the Bonnie face. "We'll get to him soon enough. But first thing's first, do you know why they abandoned those bots down there? Was there something wrong with them?"
"Well, they were the first model, so they didn't have all the kinks worked out yet. They were called the Alpha Bots, or the Alpha Series; you might've heard me tell Charlie that," Jake explained. Now he shrugged a little as he looked between both puppets. "They had a few issues. Fazbear Entertainment decided they were a risk, so they dumped them and replaced them with a slightly newer model fresh off the factory line."
"Which doesn't make any sense. Maybe they couldn't fix them, but they could've at least recovered them for parts," Charlie pointed out. She had the same suspicion Marionette had, that it might have some connection to how they were acting.
"I'm not sure what they were thinking. I know they did try to fix them at first, but once things got too… They decided it was better to just scrap the whole thing and start over from the beginning," Jake struggled to explain.
Marionette looked to Charlie. Both shared looks of questioning and suspicion respectively. Jake looked between them before looking down at his feet. Just in time to avoid when they both looked back at him.
Marionette looped around to Jake's other side. "But what did they do? What was so concerning that they would discard the entire line?"
"There were a few things. They had trouble taking commands and had trouble sticking to them. They got lost all the time…" Jake trailed off.
Though Marionette's face didn't show it, he had a feeling the Puppet wasn't buying what he was saying. He certainly knew Charlie didn't since she had voiced as much earlier. He looked down at the floor, tracing a finger around a button on his control panel.
Charlie's mouth was a tight line. She knew Jake was holding back. She exchanged a quick look with the other puppet before her gaze slowly slid back to Jake, Marionette's own following.
"Jake," Charlie began.
"There was an incident," Jake confessed right away.
He tilted his head up slightly to peek at their reactions through his mask and saw surprise on both puppets' faces. Charlie was more surprised that he had just been so forthright while Marionette's fell to a grave look shortly after. Funny enough, his was the look that got him talking again. Jake sighed and took the plunge.
"So… There was a lot of little stuff. The Alpha Staff Bots had trouble taking commands that weren't direct. You know how you can tell these Staff Bots to clean an area and they'll do it? Those ones you would have to basically tell them what motion to do, give the exact area, and even then, they still might get lost and end up stuck somewhere. They also had trouble recognizing faces, so they would come up and just stare at people. So yeah, a lot of kinks to work out… Except one night there was some sort of 'failure in communication' and they, uh… Ended up taking apart an animatronic they weren't supposed to."
"What!?" Marionette blurted out.
"Yeah… Big mistake."
"How does that happen?" Charlie asked in equal confusion and horror.
"The Staff Bots are built to deconstruct animatronics, at least the alpha bots were. I think it was so if they had a malfunctioning animatronic, they could just pull the shell off, plant it on another endoskeleton, and move on."
"Was it Bonnie?" Marionette asked quietly.
"Ah, no…"
Charlie noticed his hand tightening on the edge of the control panel, and in looking down her eyes just happened to ghost over his leg. She suddenly put two and two together.
"Nobody's really sure what happened to Bonnie. I'll tell you what I know, but don't expect him to be hiding out in the daycare," Jake half-joked.
"It was you," Charlie suddenly guessed.
The suddenness surprised them both. Marionette looked to her with a start while Jake slouched a little before looking to her as well.
"…Yes. It was me," he confessed.
Somehow this hadn't crossed Marionette's mind as he looked shocked and utterly aghast by the revelation. He looked to Jake in surprise, looked him up and down, and then his eyes too landed on that endoskeleton replacement leg, and his face fell with sympathy. He wanted to say something, but Charlie beat him to it.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just blurted it out like that. I wasn't even thinking," she quickly apologized.
"No, it's okay! It was a long time ago. I'm doing much better now," Jake reassured. "It's just, uh… Just don't bring it up in front of Sunny, okay? He took it a lot harder than I did."
"I won't, I swear," she agreed.
"That's why he's always so overprotective. I know you probably already figured that out."
"But Wight said you were vandalized," Marionette gently said. "Was he lying?"
"…No. Technically I was," Jake said, stretching out his words. He considered his words before saying more. "…The Staff Bots, even the Alpha Staff Bots, don't do something unless they're commanded to. They just got a bad command."
"That's terrible. I'm so sorry," he sympathized.
He couldn't imagine it… Or, he could. He started to put pieces together again.
"…Did you find out who gave that command?" the Puppet asked, his voice lowering a touch. Because he certainly had one suspect on his mind. A rabbit shaped suspect with similar motives to the last nasty rabbit who used to tamper with bots.
"It's a long story. It's old news, don't worry about it. What happened to me was just a lot of… bad timing is all," Jake said almost defensively.
He didn't want to talk, and Marionette resisted the urge to press at how desperate the other sounded. To know what happened so he could fix it or protect him.
After a long moment Charlie gave a noise that was a cross between 'throat clearing' and a ring.
"At least you have this now," she said. She tapped on the control panel. "Now you're the one in control. I know that doesn't change what happened, but you can make sure it doesn't happen again."
Jake was eerily quiet.
"…Right?"
"…No, I had this already. Sort of. The early version of this- the Alpha version if you get my drift, before I modified it to have all the extra stuff. Back then it was pretty much just a remote with a speaker and a button. Hold it down, give a command, release, and hope they follow orders… And they did that time. Funny enough, since they had such a hard time doing anything else," Jake said. His words so hurried that they ran together.
The anxiousness was a tipoff right away. In all the time that Charlie knew Jake and in all the times they have spoken, she had never heard him sound so nervous. He simply wasn't the nervous type. Even in the event where Moon was damaged and their confrontation in the daycare theater, he always kept a level head. Yet here he was, twitchy and tense. She could've believed that he was terribly afraid.
It wasn't until she saw the heart wrenched look on Marionette's mask that she suddenly realized she missed something. It was in that moment that she realized what it was, and it was only by looking past how Jake was acting and back to what he said.
Jake had control of the Staff Bots the whole time.
Including when they disassembled him.
Neither could speak, and Jake, becoming even anxious, started to rattle out more explanations and more excuses to cover up what he had just said. Though that didn't change anything. It didn't matter how many times he made empty comparisons between the Alpha Bots and current Staff Bots, it didn't erase what he had let them in on.
Though it wasn't until he suddenly tried to cut the conversation short that Marionette found his voice.
"But we should get to the daycare. The basement's huge, so I'll need to show them where to go," Jake raced out. He then started to hurry his footsteps but didn't get far before Marionette caught up to him.
"Wait! I…" He struggled for words for a moment. Pupils lit and darting down and around, trying to think of what to say, and finally just devolving into apologies. "I'm so sorry, Jake."
"Why are you sorry? I'm the one who did it," Jake fumbled back. He was trying to joke about it, but it came out strained.
"No, I don't mean-… I mean for pressing. For pushing you for answers."
"I'm the one who pressed. I'm the one who made that stupid comment about the control panel," Charlie apologetically interjected.
"No, that wasn't stupid!" Jake protested. He turned back to Charlie as Marionette's resolve broke. "You were just-."
His voice cut as a long arm suddenly hooked around him and pulled him back into a tight embrace. It almost knocked him off his feet. A few of the Bonnie-themed items dropped out of Marionette's grasp and to the floor, but he spared them no concern.
Just from Jake's posture alone it was clear he was surprised by the motion, but he didn't pull away. In fact, he patted Marionette's arm before resting his hand on it, taking in the comfort. Expecting the puppet to pull back, which he did not. At that point Jake looked to Charlie who gave a little smile and a shrug. She dropped her arms, only to lift them back up and step forward, making sure Jake was alright with it before joining in the hug.
It felt weird, but it felt nice. Jake couldn't deny that. It had been so long since someone had hugged him who wasn't Andrew. He hugged back, around the control panel as best as he could, accepting this temporary fate.
Marionette only drew back when it became apparent that if he didn't wipe the purple paint off Jake's cloak or coat it was going to drip down and get somewhere it wasn't supposed to. He wiped off his own tears with his hand, knowing it wouldn't stain.
Charlie gave a last squeeze and pulled back as well, and Jake did too, somewhat lost in the moment but quickly getting his mind back in place. Along with his mask that he readjusted.
"I'm okay. Now, I mean. I'm doing a lot better, so you don't have to worry about me. I just went through a rough patch," he assured them. Most of the anxiousness having left his voice and returning to his normal tone.
"You don't have to explain yourself," Marionette assured. He barely managed to even out his voice before saying so.
"This is the first time I've really been able to talk about it. So, don't feel bad about it coming out… But can we keep this between us? I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me. Well, anymore sorry than they already do."
"Nobody feels sorry for you! I mean, if they do it's only because you have to listen to that daycare music on a constant loop," Charlie lightly joked. Jake chuckled a little, loosening back up.
"Am I the only one who likes it?" Marionette asked as he bent over to gather up what he had dropped.
"Jessica does."
"That's because she's a woman of taste," he said, shaking a rolled-up poster at her while straightening up. He slipped it back into his stash before addressing Jake. "And of course. This stays between us… Though I should maybe mention it to Mike. He was very worried about you. He won't tell."
"That's okay. He doesn't seem like the gossipy type," Jake agreed.
"Thank you."
Jake gestured a hand down the way and Marionette gave a nod. They continued to follow along after Foxy and Baby. The mood was different now. Jake was feeling significantly better, but both Marionette and Charlie had a lot of feelings they were putting aside. Especially the former who realized that he had to put his feelings aside for the moment. He needed to be strong for Jake, Charlie, Gregory- practically everyone currently in the Pizzaplex. It could wait until he got home.
He wouldn't dare ask Jake why he did it. He didn't need to know; he was sure of that much.
"…Bonnie was going to be getting a big makeover."
Marionette turned to him instantly. Jake continued to explain.
"At best he was looking at a paint job to match the new design and at worst he was going to get fully replaced. It depended on whether they wanted the new Bonnie to be a girl or not. But he was confident about the whole thing. It seemed like he was looking forward to getting a fresh coat of paint. He said it would make his stars stand out. Which, no, it wouldn't. Yellow on white doesn't work like that," Jake laid out, then sighed. "And then one day he was gone, and nobody knew what happened."
"They took him to be renovated and never brought him back?" Charlie asked.
"No, he just disappeared. They really looked for him, but they couldn't find him."
"Do you think he left the Pizzaplex?" Marionette asked. He hoped that was the case.
"I don't think so. The Glamrocks have so many rules programmed in; I don't think they could walk out of the building even if they wanted to. Sunny maybe, because he's a security bot and he's got this protocol to escort kids out of the daycare if there's a fire, but everyone else? I think they're kind of stuck here… Which means Bonnie's probably still in here somewhere," Jake said. He didn't sound too terribly concerned; Marionette noticed.
"Do you think he's hiding somewhere?"
"Oh yeah, I'm sure of it. This place is huge. You could just get lost in Moon Bounce, not to mention all the tunnels under this place. He's around here, I'm sure of it…" Now Jake's voice fell. There was the uncertainty hiding underneath.
The conversation petered out shortly after that. Neither Marionette nor Charlie felt right pressing and even if they did, Jake didn't seem to know anything else. At least, he wasn't saying anything more, and considering he had boldly offered up that first amount it didn't seem likely that he would be withholding anything else. Things fell quiet as they made the rest of the walk into the daycare.
They headed through the Kids Cove entrance. The bouncy music of the daycare broke up that ominous silence and took a little of the tension away. As they approached the daycare, Marionette tried to slip himself into his caretaker headspace. Treating the daycare like if he was heading into the pizzeria.
He spotted Foxy, Baby, and Gregory waiting outside the wooden door into the daycare proper. Gregory no longer on Foxy's shoulders and now sitting at a table while Foxy and Baby stood nearby.
"What took you?" Baby asked innocuously.
"I dropped some things," Marionette excused. Of course, they were both pretending that they weren't aware. "Who won?"
"Ehhhh, Baby," Foxy said.
"Not really."
"What happened?" Marionette asked in confusion. Reading Foxy's groan alone, something clearly happened.
"We crashed," Gregory replied.
"Into each other?"
"No, it was- eh- I was comin' under that there door and I leaned down real far to get under faster, forgot me weight was shifted, and kissed the floor. Second time tonight if ye believe that!" Foxy explained.
"I didn't want to win like that, so we agreed to call it a truce," Baby said. "I want it to be very clear when I win."
Marionette chuckled and turned back towards Jake. "Do you know where there's any disinfectant cleaner or…?"
"Behind the security desk and the front desk," he replied.
"Perfect! Alright, Gregory." Marionette turned to the boy with a smile. "Why don't you give them your shoes and we'll head inside and see what Sun left you."
Gregory furrowed his brows. "We're not going into the basement?"
"I think they can handle it on their own," he assured. He looked to the others. Charlie nodded and Foxy gave an 'aye'.
Gregory slipped off his shoes and handed them over to Charlie. Marionette then took his hand and began to lead him to the stairs, which confused the boy further.
"Where are we going, up to the slide?" he asked.
"Yes!"
"But the door's right there."
"But the door's not as fun," the Puppet chirped. "I'm sure Sunny won't mind."
Gregory had a feeling that Sunny would mind, since he was technically still banned from the daycare and the only reason he was getting let inside was obligation. The idea to sneak and do it anyway was awfully tempting, so Gregory agreed.
Marionette waved to the others before leading him away while Jake led the others to the rounded doors leading into the daycare theater.
It wasn't until they were upstairs and heading past the party rooms to the slide that he noticed Marionette was still holding his hand. It was kind of weird. Not in an uncomfortable way, but it made him wonder how old the puppet thought he was.
Soon they made it to the front desk. Marionette finally released Gregory's hand and went around to the other side where he searched until he found some cleaning wipes. Leaving the merchandise he had found in the trash on the desk, he quickly wiped down his legs, arms, and hands while humming a little tune.
Gregory watched him as he did. "So… Do you work in a daycare too? A daycare at Foxy's place?" he asked. He guessed so because of how soft he was and the whole handholding thing.
"Close! I work in the Prize Corner where I exchanged tickets for prizes, but I also perform and attend birthday parties," Marionette explained.
"That sounds fun."
"It is. I make plenty of friend and get to be a part of many happy memories. Plus, I get to be around a lot of cake!" he said. He returned to Gregory and knelt down before beginning to use the child-safe cleaning wipes, he checked, to wipe down Gregory's legs.
"You can eat?"
"No, but I can taste and smell. A little dab of icing goes a long way," he said with a chime.
"…You know, I'm not a little kid," Gregory said, slightly perturbed at the treatment.
"Oh, I know, I know. I'm sorry if I'm treating you like one, I just don't want you getting sick from that mess in the basement," Marionette said. That wasn't all Gregory meant but decided he was too tired to go on about it when someone was being nice. "But you're never too old for the daycare! I love this place. If only we could have something like this at Foxy's, but pirate ship themed, with blue and turquoise balls in the ball pits and netting to climb. Maybe someday."
He quickly wiped off Gregory's arms and checked his clothing before throwing the wipes away. "Now that that's done, let's go see what Sun left you."
"We're not going down the slide together, right?" Gregory asked.
"Oh no. I'm going first," Marionette playfully replied.
He then all but pounced at the slide. Landing on the floor on his hands and transitioning into a summersault before promptly dropping down the slide legs first, spinning as he went down the tube.
Gregory had to admit that it was a little cool. He slid down after him and into the moat of balls. Just in time to see the Puppet burst out of the balls like he was popping out of his box. He let Gregory get out on his own and the two made their way to the kitchenette.
Inside the mini-fridge, Marionette found a takeout container with the words "Eat me!" and a smiley face drawn on the top. He pulled it out and opened it up to see that it stuffed.
There was a crustless bologna sandwich with cheese and mayonnaise cut in two triangles and wrapped in plastic, a juice pouch with a picture of a cartoony Sunny on it, a plastic wrapped fork, and three separate cups. One was a little cup of yogurt from the label, but the other two were unknown, with only the words "Heat me!" written on the side of one. Looking inside showed that they were a glob of potato salad and what looked like fried Brussel sprouts.
"Clever," Marionette thought with mild amusement.
He turned back to see Gregory dragging over one of the little plastic tables. He began to unpack the container on the table while Gregory dragged up two chairs and sat down. Sparing a quick thanks as he started to tear the plastic off of the sandwich. Marionette's face softened at how quickly he went at the food. It wasn't too strange to see children eating so ravenously, but it held a different meaning in this case.
"Now then, you dig in," Marionette began, poking the straw into the juice pouch and setting it beside him. He plucked up the Brussel sprouts cup. "And I'm going to go heat this up. I'll be right back."
"No, wait!" Gregory instantly stopped him. "I'll just eat it cold."
"Are you sure? Sunny has given me strict directions," he said, tapping on the cup.
"I'm sure. I don't care if it's cold," Gregory insisted. He tried to sound nonchalant but by then the Puppet had already figured out that he didn't want to be alone.
Marionette gave a nod and sat down. Now since Gregory had been kind enough to bring him a chair it only seemed polite to use it. Which was easier said than done considering that the chair was for a child smaller than Gregory. He was pretty much kneeling on it with his legs resting on the floor on either side of it. He was glad Mike wasn't here to see this.
But he did very much wish Mike was here right now.
But Marionette didn't show it. He folded his hands on the table and began with, "Has Foxy ever told you about the time-?" and went off into a variation of stories about his and Foxy's adventures together. Not their made-up adventures for the cartoons, Gregory would never believe those, but stripped-down real-life stories. Like the time he and Foxy went exploring and dove into a ditch running away from their own friends. Or how he and Foxy both fell into a kiddie pool full of plastic balls. Or how Foxy once fought an angry robot wolf.
It was a good distraction for them both and it didn't take long for Gregory to finish the sandwich and the yogurt cup. After which he attempted to put the rest into his backpack, only for Marionette to stop him, wrap them up tightly in the leftover plastic, and then carefully pack them into the lunchbox Gregory still had where they were less likely to get jostled and knocked over.
"There we go! That should be much more secure," he assured, zipping up the bag and setting it down on the table. "So!" He turned to Gregory, propping his head on his hands. "What would you like to do now?"
Gregory was sipping at the pouch when his eyes wandered off to the side towards the play structures. He considered it a long moment before releasing the straw to speak.
"Well… I kind of want to explore the tunnels. I haven't been up there since the lights were shut off and Moon was chasing me around. Before I found out he was just a big weirdo," Gregory said. Marionette gave a chuckling chime. "Do you want to come too?"
"Sure! I haven't seen the whole thing for myself," Marionette agreed.
He let Gregory go first and the boy wandered around a little before choosing his point of entry- running up into one of the slides. Marionette quirked a brow with a smile before following him inside.
He felt good. He felt like he was helping, like he was taking care of Gregory, giving him memories that might help cover up the horrors of tonight.
"And then when that gets boring, we can, uh… I don't know. Spin around in that desk chair. Sunny would hate that!"
That sounded significantly less safe. Hopefully Gregory would forget about that idea before they came down.
Washing up had taken a while. Largely because Baby had to be very thorough with both rinsing and drying while Foxy had to go at his arm with a scrub brush. Neither of which Charlie saw much of since she stayed out with Jake perched on the industrial washing machines as they waited for Gregory's shoes to go through a wash cycle. Something that took about as long as the siblings in the room.
Which was a good thing, because as much as both hated asking for help. It was easier asking for help from a sibling who for all intent and purposes was in the same boat. Two animatronics and only two truly viable arms to work with.
But once they were finished, they returned to the daycare. Foxy headed into the playground to join up with Gregory and Marionette while Charlie continued to hang out with Jake for a while. She wasn't just spending time with him because of what happened earlier, but it did encourage her to spend a little more one-on-one time with him. Then they got into talk about her robotics class and off-topic, and the next thing she knew she had spent nearly half an hour talking about classmates and teachers she would never see again.
That was when she had noticed that there was someone who had been noticeably quiet. So quiet that Charlie only noticed during a lull in the conversation that she had excluded herself from the group, and that was Baby.
"Have you seen Baby?" she asked.
She and Jake had sat at the same table Gregory did when they first came in. Not the most comfortable chairs, but Jake had expressed a sort of excitement hanging out in an area he usually wasn't able to without Sunny hovering over him.
"She's over there, in the gift shop," he said. He pointed past her, and she looked over her shoulder at it.
Sure enough, she caught sight of Baby in the back of the store looking at the merchandise on the wall. Normally she wouldn't think much of it, but Baby secluding herself made her take a little more notice. Especially when she noticed how sluggishly Baby was looking around. Likely not looking but just staring, thinking. She knew how lost in her thoughts Baby could get.
"I bet this whole thing was pretty rough on her," Jake sympathized.
"It was… I think I'm going to see if she wants to hang out for a while," Charlie said.
"Good idea. She really shouldn't be alone."
Charlie got up and started to head towards the gift shop. Now closer to her, she could see that Baby was looking at items on the wall while absentmindedly trailing her fingers across the merchandise. She hadn't noticed her approaching either; definitely lost in thought.
Charlie had almost reached the gift shop when she suddenly had an idea. One mostly inspired by how Baby was looking at the little trinkets in the gift shop. It was a mere pittance compared to what she knew would be up in the Prize Counter.
It would be a risk, but maybe it was worth it to pull Baby out of this assumed funk before she got in too deep. She was still thinking it through as she turned around and hurried back to the propped open wooden doors, meeting up with Jake who was heading inside.
"That was quick," he joked.
"I just have to run something by Mari," she replied then headed in.
She had heard Foxy and Marionette playing around with Gregory inside the daycare. Earlier she had seen Foxy diving into the ball pit and assumed the next progression was him trying to climb into the tunnels. Needless to say, they were having fun.
This wasn't the fun she expected to find.
There was Foxy and Gregory goading on the sidelines as Marionette spun around as fast as he could in an office chair behind the security desk. It was shocking that the chair hadn't tipped over yet, probably only held up by Marionette's will alone.
For a few seconds Charlie and Jake could only stare at it before a voice called out.
"Well, hello you two!" Marionette called. His voice surprisingly stable considering his position.
"'Bout time you two showed up! Come 'ere and watch this," Foxy invited.
"How long's he been doing this?" Jake asked. His voice somewhere between awe and concern.
"Eh, not that long. 'Least, not that long going so fast," the pirate said with a chuckle. He waved him over and Jake went to join him, funny enough, outside the counter like they were preparing to take cover.
"I just came by to ask you something, but if you're busy I can come back in ten minutes," Charlie quipped.
"No, no. Ask me! I can focus," Marionette assured.
"How?"
"Somehow."
"Oookay, anyways… So, I noticed that Baby's looking down. I'm sure she's still upset about earlier," Charlie began, her voice softening up. Though it then grew more determined as she announced, "I think I'm going to take her up to the arcade. Show her around where I got chased, just get her out of her head and somewhere else."
"You mean upstairs to- Hold on, I need to stop for this. Stay back."
Charlie would've quirked a brow at his warning if not for the fact that Marionette's chair almost tipped over the second he tried to stop it. It wobbled on its wheels before he spun out of it and into the air in front of her, leaving it spinning off behind him.
And then he promptly took a sharp dive into the screen on the right. She reached out to grab him by the shoulders as he started sliding towards the floor, feeling his levitation pulling in the wrong direction and watching his lit pupils repeatedly sliding to the side. Foxy quickly came around the counter right as Marionette gave up on the levitation and just slumped to the tile floor. His eyes finally starting to recalibrate themselves.
"You okay?" Foxy asked, hunched over with his hands on his knees.
"I feel fantastic! I didn't even know I could still get dizzy!" Marionette chimed. Foxy started to offer him a hand, but the Puppet waved his dismissively. "I think I'm going to stay down here until the room calms down."
"That's probably a good idea," Charlie agreed.
"But about the arcade. You two going up there alone after last time… Are you sure that's safe?" Marionette gently asked.
"Asks the guy who was just spinning around in a chair at warp speed," Charlie pointed out. He sent her a sheepish smile and she returned one. "We'll be extra careful. I just need to get her away for a while."
Marionette's soft smile shifted into something slyer. Something much more like what she had seen down in the basement. Still looking up from the floor.
"I don't trust that smile," Charlie remarked.
"Well, Lass, I be leaning into Mari's feelings, but if yer careful ya might be fine. Freddy's walked me all over this place and we've only ran across his friends, eh, once er twice," Foxy said. He pointed to her with his hook, "Just remember: if you hear anything, hide. It ain't worth tryin' to sneak around 'em, just let 'em move along."
"I will, but I'm not worried. Chica was the problem last time and… I don't think she's going to be this time," Charlie said, her tone shifting awkwardly. She gave a little wave to Jake and Gregory. "We won't stay gone long! I'll radio if anything comes up."
Jake gave her finger guns and she decided that it was excellent timing to get away for a while.
Charlie found Baby where she had left her, still moseying around the Lucky Stars gift shop looking as lost as ever. She only looked back from a wall of balloons when she heard the door opening and saw Charlie coming in, dropping her claw as soon as she did.
"Finally found me?" she guessed.
"Were you hiding?" Charlie asked in confusion.
Baby gave her a funny look. One hard to read.
"Never mind. Find anything good?"
"Mmm, in a sense," Baby half-agreed. She watched the puppet walk up beside her before looking back to the keychains. "So many pretty little trinkets with his… face on them. It makes me think."
"Of?"
"How many little trinkets my face must've been on at some point. Or I suppose not, we weren't open that long."
"Well, they make merchandise in advance, so maybe. We should look it up when we get out of here and see," Charlie suggested. Baby gave a half-hearted hum, too deflated to be that interested. "…Unless you want to see some real merchandise."
Charlie shift to a coy tone surprised Baby. She looked to her and tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"What do you think about taking a little adventure together?" the puppet suggested.
"It depends. Where?"
"To where I had my last daring exploit, El Chip's," Charlie joked. She then counted off on her fingers, "And the arcade, and the Prize Counter."
"…We shouldn't. Not after what's happened already," Baby declined. Though both from the way her tone and eyes fell it was clear that even she was disappointed saying it. She rubbed over her arm and freshly cleaned claw.
"Maybe not, but when's that ever stopped us before?" Charlie tried. Baby didn't reply, so she laid a hand on her shoulder. "We'll be careful, we'll take it one step at a time. Just you and me. What do you say?"
She removed her hand so she could hold it out to her. An assuring smile on her face. Her face and voice as sure as could be.
Baby's resolve snapped the moment she looked at her. She released her own arm and took her hand.
Just she and her. What a curious thought.