Exhausting Job
Chica knocked on Roxy's door, winced, and then walked through without further delay and led him into the elevator. This one, thankfully, worked and got them to Parts and Service. The lights glowed and machinery whirred. He speed-walked down the steps and stopped in front of the computer. Chica followed, hesitating only for a moment in front of the cylinder once it was open before walking herself inside and lying down on the red and white chair.
The bot declared, "Welcome to Parts and Service. Please select your desired procedure." A list of upgrades showed, but the boy pressed the down arrow and it flipped to the next screen. Computer bot announced, "Scanning for irregularities."
…
"Scanning complete. It seems Chica's basic security protocols have been tampered with. A report to the main office has been filed. For liability reasons, Chica will now be disconnected from the main network until further notice. Rebooting in Safe Mode."
He looked into the cylinder. Chica's dull eyes glowed deep blue and she pushed herself up again. He backed off to allow her room to leave. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Different." She stared at the double doors opposite the cylinder for a few seconds before turning back to Gregory. "But in a good way. I don't know how to say it."
The time was two-fifty-five am.
"What?!" he gasped. "How come?!"
Chica waved for him to come closer and lumbered toward the double red doors. "Hurry, Gregory!"
Gregory ran after her. "You sure you're okay?"
"You need to hide in a recharge station," Chica stated, her voice firm.
"Well, you need to be in one!" he countered. "You go to yours, I'll hide in this one!"
Chica pushed through the doors, allowing him through. "I will go once I see you are safe."
Bells.
Gregory bristled and looked down the hall. Moon stood at the mouth of the hall just a few yards away, shifting from foot to foot, the bells on his wrists jingling softly as he moved. Chica stopped and turned to him. Gregory darted to the recharge station and hid inside.
"I told you to stay away from him, Moon," Chica stated.
Moon pulled his hands closer to himself and stopped moving. The bells stopped ringing. "I announced my presence this time, Chica."
Chica relaxed a little from her defensive position. "I know you did, but you should not be here."
"You need to recharge," Moon pointed out. "You do not look well."
Chica raised her head. Her head twitched and one eyelid followed the other at a delay when she blinked. "I will go to charge when I want to, Moon."
"You will hurt yourself, Chica Chicken. Please do not do so."
"I'm not a child, Moon," she chided. "I know how to look after myself."
"You are not a child," Moon agreed. "He is. It is past his bedtime. He must rest as well. Why do you insist on staying active?"
The time was two-fifty-six am.
"I promised to help Gregory," Chica stated, her voice again firm. She twitched again. "As long as I think he's in danger, I'll stay."
Moon wrung his hands. "I will not harm the child, Chica. I do not wish to harm you. I need to take you to a recharge station." He slunk forward a step and then stopped and crouched lower when Chica bristled and opened her beak. Gregory's hands whipped up to his head just in case, but he didn't cover his ears quite yet.
She closed her beak. "Thank you. Please leave, Moon."
Moon shuffled his feet. Then, he turned and darted around the corner in a brisk jingle of bells. Chica watched him go for a moment longer before turning back to Gregory. "Gregory, you'll be safe here, okay?"
Gregory nodded. "Then we can meet in–look out!"
Chica tried to turn around, but Moon launched himself from the vent in the wall near her, landing with his feet on her shoulders and one hand clamping her beak shut before she could fully do so. Then she was on the ground, limp and dull-eyed. He climbed off of her and paused for a long moment. "…I am… sorry, Chica," he mumbled to the animatronic bird that could no longer hear him. Then, he scooped her up into his arms, heaved her up, and struggled to push through the doors into Parts and Service.
The time was three am.
Gregory stumbled out of the charging station and immediately ran into the double red doors. His hand and forearm slammed into the metal with a hard thump! "What?" he wheezed. He grabbed and jangled one of the handles, but it refused to budge. A "4" printed at the top corner of the door. He checked his cards and found… three.
Three cards.
He ran around to one of the huge filthy windows flanking the door and flashed his light inside. Through a double set of windows, he could barely see the cylinder. No one else was there, yet. Moon had cleared out. Chica might not–well, she had to be. Where else would it take her? Gregory just couldn't see anything inside the cylinder from this angle, distance, and through the glass no one bothered to clean.
He turned and ran down the hallway back to the lift. He stopped at the shutters, only to find a huge metal pole and a circular indention at the end of a ramp filling the room.
No, no, no! This is awful! Tears welled in his eyes and he clenched his teeth, shaking in the effort it took to keep his breathing level.
"Breathe, Gregory. We'll get through this. We just need one card."
Gregory stepped back and allowed the shutters to close. He tried to take a breath, but it came out as a hiccup. His legs hurt. His head hurt. His arms were sore. What he would do to just lay down.
But he couldn't do that, not with Chica in Parts and Service. Even if animatronics weren't allowed or able to work the machines, Moon could call over someone who could, as in Officer Vanessa. Who knows what damage Officer Vanessa could do to Chica.
Gregory slunk down the hall and turned to the one that would lead to the warehouse, education maze, place-thing. A pair of metal pincher-like hands grabbed him and whirled him around so he was face-to-face with Map Bot. The orange and white S.T.A.F.F. bot let go of the terror-frozen kid and held out a map. "Hi. Please take this map."
Gregory reluctantly took the map.
Map Bot stood up straight and faced away. "Thank you. Please enjoy."
Gregory glared back at the thing. "Ugh! I hate that thing!" he spat. He opened up the ratty, white-and-blue map. "…yeah, no, I can do better on my own." Still, he folded it and stuck it in his pocket beside the one he'd gotten in the atrium.
He hesitated at the end of the hall to let the shutters open. Gregory swept his flashlight over the cement room. Cement pillars rose out of the cement floors and threw shadows against the cement walls. A few laundry baskets and a forklift occupied the room. Aside from the mechanical broken parts strewn about, he was alone in the vast, empty room.
Well, at least none of the other animatronics were here. Heh. Imagine if he had to face off against Roxy or Monty again. Then again, Gregory was alone. If Vanny knew what happened, she could sneak up on Gregory. He eyed the singular buzzing light in the wall some distance away. He hadn't met Freddy here before, but Moon also hadn't attacked Chica before. Maybe they changed as the night went on, or when they saw the opportunity to strike.
Gregory couldn't get away from Freddy in that tightly packed maze.
Gregory turned a corner, passed some boxes, cement bags, and an orange truck, and walked through another garage door. Crates covered in orange tarps and tables of various shapes set in various positions filled the space, forcing him to move from side to side rather than just a straight line. There was one point he could walk in a straight line. An endoskeleton stood near the end of it, hunched over and limp.
Then, as Gregory approached, it pulled its head up and slid into a position to walk or run. Red lights glowed through hollow disks in its eyeballs. Gregory's flashlight whipped up to concentrate on it. He watched the thing as he walked around it and to the vent further down the hall. After a moment's hesitation, he looked away and climbed inside.
Gregory wrinkled his nose. Right. Spiderwebs. He fought through a few turns of spiderwebs before tinkling music drifted into the vent and then the clack of little metal limbs hit the vent. Cymbals crashed together. "Not again!" he whined and forced himself to crawl faster.
He threw himself out the other side, scrambling over a green case and tumbling to the ground. His flashlight and Bonnie stayed firm in his grasp, thankfully. The faraway sting of a cut on his hand demanded his attention as well as the new thump of a headache, but he decided the dusty cement ground was as good a place as any to lay and catch his breath.
"Gregory…"
I know, I know. Just a few minutes.
"You're cornered here. If anything decided to come over here, you'd need to escape into the vent, where that spider thing still is."
Gregory forced his eyes open. After a long, steadying breath, he pushed himself up to his feet. He started moving.
More clutter, including a whole cluster of vibrant trash cans printed with various characters' features, made his walk suffocating. He went through a set of garage doors.
He came face-to-face with a Moon plush sitting on a small stack of tires.
Gregory glared and swatted it with his flashlight. The thing tumbled to the floor at his feet.
On his right was a giant poster with an endoskeleton with a medkit kneeling before a hurt kid and applying a bandage to the kid's knee. A green checkmark was on it, but someone with purple spray paint crossed it out.
More importantly, the thin hall–made thinner by more clutter–continued further. Another poster with an endoskeleton was on it, but he couldn't see what it was. Halfway down the hall, he spotted a monitor with a cartoon version of Moon's head with his eyes closed and the Moondrop candy under it. What, were these endoskeletons some fans of the Daycare Attendant or something?
An empty doorway he hadn't noticed broke off on the opposite side of the TV. The hallway was short and connected back into the main one, though.
Then Gregory approached the door at the end. An endoskeleton holding a red balloon stood before a girl with pigtails standing in front of a male parental figure. She held the endoskeleton's hand. Another green checkmark was on this wall.
Near the wall was a Freddy-head-shaped button on a thin pedestal. As he did with everything in life, he pressed the big glowing button.
He looked up as the "poster" hissed and the entire section of the wall rose. Now came the true danger–endoskeletons stood beyond this door and the mess of conveyor belts.
He moved into the now winding hall flanked by unmoving conveyor belts. Some boxes and a yellow Chica plush sat on there. There was probably a Bonnie plush on top of the boxes, but it was high up and he wasn't certain the color was actually blue.
Gregory stopped. An endoskeleton, fully awake and staring straight at an inactive S.T.A.F.F. bot, stood in a once colorful room with a rainbow and another endoskeleton "poster" on one wall. This one was of an endoskeleton chasing a child. A red X was painted on this one.
Another TV trying to sell Moondrop candy sat before a kid's table and set of chairs, sending white and blue light over the surrounding area. He walked past the endoskeleton and a couple of inactive friends. A button on a pedestal sat beside the TV. He had to turn his back to press it, but only for a second. The endoskeleton didn't properly turn around.
Gregory watched it as he scooted by. Unfortunately, he couldn't go down the next hallway backward as there were a couple of corners. Besides, what if he tripped over something? So, after a second of watching the endoskeleton, he bolted. He ignored the plush walls and toys and steam coming from pipes and a couple of giant colorful blocks with another Moon plush on them that he decided to smack off as he turned another corner.
He slowed down and walked through a set of open chain link gates. An inactive endoskeleton stood near the gate. Gregory discovered a second one next to it as he passed. At the end of the hall, "PARTY" spelled in silver balloons attached to the wall. A S.T.A.F.F. bot leaned forward, but Gregory couldn't see anything from the shoulders forward from around a corner.
The hallway expanded a little bit after the corner, showing the S.T.A.F.F. bot leaning over a table. Its decapitated, mangled head with a cone hat sat by a slice of cake.
…
Gregory inspected the poster wall. It was another endoskeleton, of course, this time with a birthday hat. He pressed the button opposite the poster wall and hurried through. He could hear the endoskeletons he previously passed activate.
A short hall lined with chain-link fences and large machines with steam hissing out met him. A mangled S.T.A.F.F. bot lay propped against the fence at the end of the walkway before a bend. The poster wall to the left of him was an endoskeleton with a party hat at a table, flipping the cake on a plate over and causing the little girl sitting at the table with a party hat to turn her head and raise her arms in defense. Another X was painted above it. Gregory decided to take a right turn.
He passed an open chain-link part of the fence. Another Moon plush–that he had to knock over, of course–sat on a box and this time at the end of the hall was a full portrait of Moon, his eyes closed, and head tipped to rest on his hands. A shiver ran through Gregory at the sight. The left side of the fork in his path was a door, the right side was more hallway with another two endoskeletons on it. Gregory walked down that hall, past the endoskeletons, and into a small room with another button, this time before a painted poster of Moondrop candy.
He pressed the button.
The two endoskeletons behind him came to life.
Gregory, his flashlight on them, walked around so that his back faced the wall in which he'd arrived.
…
Gregory bolted in the opposite direction of the endoskeletons, who immediately gave chase. The poster door on the other side of the mangled S.T.A.F.F. bot was open, and Gregory wasted no time in racing through it. Another endoskeleton whom he'd lost before spotted him as he went and decided to give chase as well.
The next bit of hallway was cement, but the walls were mostly covered in drapes and a rug ran through and a few plastic kiddie benches sat to one side–all, of course, themed with blue. The benches had red tops that housed another Moon plush–he didn't watch it fall as he ran–and sat across from a TV advertising Moondrop candy, shedding more blue light over him as he went.
Three inactive endoskeletons slumped in a corner with soft blue walls and more blue rugs. Red curtains pulled back in an empty doorway that opened into a small room. A few TVs, a couple of which were turned on to show Moondrop candy while others were either off or showing static, and more Moon decorations scattered about, including a plush that immediately faceplanted on the floor. He pressed a button on a pedestal beside the Moondrop TV and kept going.
Static and a television shed quite a bit of light on this button. He froze after he removed his hand from it.
Blood.
Blood smeared over the button. He turned his hand over. A gash ran over his palm.
"Gregory, that activated the endos! Come on!"
Gregory shook his head, but that did nothing but make him dizzy and confuse his thoughts further. Blood. Focus. Endos. Maze. Get out. Card. Chica. Moon. Focus.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a hand. Another kid his age, maybe a little younger, stood down the hall opposite the endos, in the direction of where he needed to go. Something was held in his arm out of Gregory's sight. He waved for Gregory again.
"Wha–who?" Gregory called and ran after the kid. He turned and ran, leading Gregory.
The halls stopped being completely Moon-themed, though they had a lot of kid's stuff and another Moondrop poster. After a bend, he saw a poster wall. This was the same endoskeleton with a medkit and crossed-out checkmark as the one in the beginning.
Passing Moondrop candy painted on the wall, they got to a slightly more open space with a giant open doorway on the right. The boy flitted inside without hesitation.
As soon as Gregory entered, the yellow-and-black-striped doorway closed with a giant metal door.
Inside the room were soft walls and soft floors like some sort of weird copy of the Daycare. Except, there wasn't a play place, a ball pit, or even a place leading to a naptime room. There was a short wall of green interwoven bars like the wall of the play place structured at the end of the octagonal room. One would think endoskeletons–or anyone, for that matter–obsessed with an animatronic meant to put children to sleep would have at least one bed. But nope. Instead, this room was decorated with endoskeletons all along the walls and a security desk. The security desk sat on a cement square lined with black and yellow striped tape.
Gregory turned to the kid. "Who are you? Why are you down here? Is Vanny after you, too? Vanny, the white rabbit lady with the blue bow."
The boy's previously unreadable expression became thoughtful. Now that they were standing still, Gregory could get a better read on the kid… and how Vanny must have a type as the boy was almost identical to Gregory–save for his nearly black, brown eyes and straight, ear-length hair. Even his shirt was similar, though black with one silver stripe rather than navy blue with two pale blue ones like Gregory's. Though somewhat scruffy from stress, he looked way too well-groomed to have been in the Pizzaplex all night. He even had his own little toy–a yellow Freddy with creepy black eyes and a purple bow and hat. The boy finally said, "You should help your friend. You both need to sleep. Then…" The boy paused again and chose his words carefully. "Then you should get the help of the other bots."
"I figured as much," Gregory admitted. "What do you know about them? Did you manage to befriend one of them? Chica's nice! I managed to put her into Safe Mode. The others are infected by a virus!"
The boy nodded grimly. "I know. My friends are trying to help. My b…" The boy swallowed back whatever he was going to say. "Take the card, save your friend, get some sleep, and then help the other bots."
"Your friends? There are others here?" Gregory looked back toward the door. Bonnie, I don't remember seeing any signs of other people the last time we were here!
"…me… neither… Gregory, something's not right about this."
Gregory stiffened and pulled Bonnie closer to himself. "What do you mean?"
The boy looked at Bonnie curiously. An entirely new look crossed over the boy's features, something less tense… something younger. "Oh. You have a special friend, too."
Gregory nodded. "Yeah, uh… Bonnie… yeah. Bonnie's my best friend. Who's that?"
"Fredbear," the boy said automatically as if asked the question often. "He talks to you, doesn't he?"
"Yeah. Does Fredbear talk to you?"
"Sometimes, yeah. Not much now, though."
Gregory hummed and said, "That stinks. Bonnie can't move on his own. So, I take him where I can, even if people think I'm a little baby about it. But babies aren't the only ones that can have toys. My name's Gregory. What's yours?"
"I'm Evan." The boy hesitated and looked at the door. "I'll talk to you later," he stated stiffly and ran at the metal security door.
"Wait, Evan–!" Gregory yelled and then stopped as the boy ran straight through it. "…what the fuck?"
"I told you something wasn't right about that kid. That was a spirit."
"Let's… get out of here." He walked straight to the security desk, where he found a Freddy head Security Badge holder on it. A Moon plush sat behind it. A black Security cap sat on the other side, in front of a computer filled with static.
This alarm… what did this trip? Hopefully, it didn't summon the other animatronics.
While Gregory waited for the head to open, he smacked the Moon plush off the desk.
"Got it!" Gregory exclaimed as he pulled out the security badge. "I can open Parts and Service now."
The roughly dozen endoskeletons in the room hissed and their eyes glowed red.
"Oh, come on!" he yelled and darted out of the now-open door. The medkit endoskeleton door opened.
Gregory escaped.
They followed him outside of the gate that they opened. Gregory weaved back through the clutter, hopped onto the green box below the vent, and crawled inside.
The little metal spider thing followed him again, but Gregory crawled quickly and threw himself out the other side. He stumbled out, barely managing to not hit the ground by hitting the wall on the other side with his shoulder. He looked down to find more blood on his pants where he'd stepped on the handprints he'd left in the vent.
Gregory looked up, chest heaving, but the endoskeleton that was once here was gone. Gregory still inspected every shadow with his flashlight as he walked. Maybe it went back and joined its brethren in trying to kill Gregory. That would be just wonderful.
He contemplated stopping but banished the thought. He was so close. He'd go to Chica and then sleep in her greenroom for years and no time at all would pass.
Gregory slunk through the cement hallways, sidling between the giant boxes and forklifts, running his flashlight over the walls and objects. He hesitated in front of the few sets of shutters in his path. He winced at the sting in his palm when he grabbed the handle of the double doors but pushed them open nonetheless. The second set opened just as easily as the first.
The time was two-fifteen am.
Great, a time change. This didn't bode well.
He stumble-ran up to the cylinder. Chica lay still on the bed, eyes staring at the wall. An arm held her on her side as a panel on her back had been flipped open and a thick cord plugged into her back. Confusion and dread fell into the pit of his stomach. He set Bonnie down on the computer terminal.
The bot announced, "Welcome to Parts and Service! Please select your desired procedure!"
Gregory pressed down through the panels, careful not to get blood on the keyboard. Finally, he got to "cancel procedure".
"Are you sure you wish to cancel the charging procedure on Glamrock Chica? Her charging cycle is not yet complete. Any malfunction that occurs due to insufficient battery caused by employee recklessness will be subtracted from the employee's paycheck and disciplinary action will be advised."
Gregory hesitated despite not being an employee, but pressed "yes", anyway.
"Disconnecting Glamrock Chica from the charging terminal."
The arm holding her raised back up to the ceiling. A few moments later, Chica sat up and got to her feet. Her dark blue eyes fell on Gregory and she immediately stepped up to the cylinder's door, which opened achingly slow.
Gregory snatched Bonnie and his flashlight and stepped away from the terminal.
The time was two-thirty am.
Why was time flying now of all places? Was Parts and Service cursed?
"Gregory! Oh, I'm so glad to see you're alive!" Chica knelt in front of him. "How are you? Oh no! You're hurt!"
"It's nothing, really. It doesn't hurt much, anymore." Gregory tightened his grip on his flashlight to muffle a noise of pain as he waved her off. "I'm glad you're okay. I thought Moon hurt you."
Chica shook her head. "Oh, no. Moon wouldn't hurt any of us. You don't need to worry about me. Come on, we need to get this cleaned."
"Can't I sit down first?" Gregory couldn't help the whine in his voice.
Chica shook her head. "I don't want this to get infected. How about I carry you? Would that be okay?"
"I'm not a baby, I can walk," Gregory responded immediately. He hesitated and looked at Bonnie.
"I know you're not a baby," she reassured him, her tone even and calm. "You're a big kid! But even big kids get tired, hmm?"
"…okay," he muttered and nodded. He looked up at her. "How far away is it?"
"Not far!" Chica got up and hooked one arm around his back under his arms and then another under his legs so she could pull him up without throwing off his balance first. He turned off and put away his flashlight and then, hugging Bonnie but being very careful not to rub blood on his fur, leaned into her. Her cold, dirty, plastic case pressed against his already abused skin and tried hard to suck the warmth from his little body. He'd at first expected to be bumped along with her as they walked, like he had with Monty. But she leaned into each careful step, gently rocking him from side to side and running thick, plastic fingers over his tangled, greasy hair.
They stopped in the elevator. It jolted and whirred. "For your safety, please steer clear of the doors," the bot over the speakers said.
Gregory tried to keep track of their surroundings. However, he was barely aware of the elevator stopping and various doors opening and changing of scenery. He heard voices and Chica stopped on occasion. He was tempted to wake up, then. But that only lasted a few minutes before they went through another set of doors and silence reigned save her footsteps. Whatever danger there might have been had passed. So, whatever.
Chica stopped. "Okay, Gregory, we're here. I need to set you down, now, to treat your hand."
"Five more minutes," he mumbled in response to the voice coming directly from her upper chest, close to her throat, rather than her beak. Animatronics were weird.
The chicken chuckled. "No, I'm sorry, not five more minutes. Come on, let's go."
Then, she was leaning down, and one arm was lower than the other.
Gregory opened his bleary eyes and lifted his head. He slipped out of her grasp and looked around. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his injured hand and bit back a yawn. He held Bonnie by the arm with his other so he could hold it by his side rather than keep it up by his chest. When his eyes refocused, he found himself staring at the First Aid Station where he'd treated his arm and hidden from Officer Vanessa after meeting Monty that first night.
Chica pulled the curtains back and shuffled through the supplies. Gregory, too tired to complain, sat down and, when prompted, held out his hand.
"You're such a brave kid!" she cooed after washing out his hand and bandaging it. Unfortunately, the gash was a little large for a colorful bandage and thus needed gauze. She still pecked it to "kiss it, make it better". "You handled that like a champ!"
Gregory, who'd squirmed in his seat and held his hand in a fist on his lap, smiled. "Really?"
"Yes, really! Now, how about that rest I promised you?" Chica stood up.
Gregory escaped the station on his own. "Yes! Er, please. Yes."
"Do you want me to carry you again, or do you want to walk? It's okay either way. You're a big kid, and I won't think any differently. …and I won't tell anyone I carried you here either, if you don't want me to."
Yes. Please. Gregory hurt. His whole body ached, from time running and standing and from his crying and the constant fighting and injuries he'd sustained throughout the night, and from his time outside as a little vagrant because he was an ungrateful gremlin. But he couldn't force himself to ask. He couldn't say those two stupid words.
Chica held out her arms and cocked her head. Gregory looked up at her and then Bonnie and scuffed the ground with one dirty shoe. He slunk up to her and set his head against her side. The glamrock gently scooped him up and, once he was settled, turned around and left. Her head tipped up when she climbed up the stairs. She hesitated in front of the doors but eventually pushed through with her shoulder.
Half a second later, he escaped her grasp, slowly landing on something soft and springy with an equally soft back. He blinked open his eyes and looked up at a world of pink and green. Chica's greenroom, right.
"I don't have a blanket," she admitted. "I hope that's okay. I'll go look and see if one of the engineers may have left one of their jackets behind."
"Okay. Thank you," he called after her.
She stopped by the door to the maintenance room. "Oh, you're welcome, Gregory. You get to feeling better. You must be exhausted after all that running around. You're not a robot like me, you know; you can't just recharge at one of the stations." She chuckled to herself. The door shut behind her.
Gregory lifted his head and tried to look outside. However, the neon light from inside Chica's room glared off the greenroom window, making it impossible to see into the dark hallway. He could still see the faint outline of boxy shapes from the scant neon lights outside, and thankfully none of those outlines moved. He lay his head back down on his arm again, as there were no pillows–just a tall and sheer couch arm–and shut his eyes again.
The door opened again. He jolted and opened his eyes but relaxed upon seeing Chica.
Chica sighed, "There are no jackets or spare clothes or blankets. I'm sorry about that, Gregory."
"That's okay. I'm fine here," he reassured her and snuggled into Bonnie. Curled up on himself with his back to the couch, the cool air wasn't as much of a bother.
Something giant and semi-squishy like a tough pillow landed gently on the couch beside him. "Wha…?"
"It's a corndog pillow," Chica explained. "I always keep it on my couch. It should hide you in case anyone comes by." She leaned over the pillow and ran her hand over his head. "I'll see you in a little bit, okay? I need to go recharge."
"Okay."