'Gregory was a child'

"Wh-what?" you breathe. Sun picks himself up off the floor and plays with his wrist ribbons.

"Gregory was a young boy running around the plex after hours. He was there...that night. He had no ID, my facial recognizer didn't find any file on him. He came down the slide in a hurry. I tried to be friendly with him but he wanted nothing to do with me."

You take a seat on a square shaped cushion and place your notebook on your lap, pencil ready to write down everything Sun has to say about this Gregory.

"He was going on about getting a keycard from the employee desk but-but that place is off limits! Especially to children! So I tried to distract him! I tried to get him to color, to-to watch a puppet show, everything! But he went and knocked over my perfectly stacked drum towers! I was already on high alert that night because of Moon and so when he did that- oh it was impossible not to pick them back up and stack them again."

You frown, feeling sympathetic. Sun was going through a lot and add in an unruly kid? You could only imagine how stretched thin he was that night.

"While I was distracted, he managed to get behind the desk. I quickly told him he wasn't allowed but the little rule-breaker would. Not. Listen!" Steam comes out of Sun's faceplate in his frustration.

"He snatched the keycard and the whole daycare shut down."

"The lights turned off?" You gasp, "But how?"

Sun throws his hands up before bringing one to his teeth, wishing he could chew on them nervously. "I-I don't know! They don't work like that! It's like someone booby-trapped the security card!" 

Your heart drops in realization. This was the same thing that happened when you were in Parts and Services. The lights went out in there but the rest of the mall was lit. "The rabbit lady..."

"Moon came out and everything went dark. I was terrified Moon would hurt him. I-I should have done more to help him but-"

"Sun," you stop him from spiraling. "You did what you could. The kid sounded like trouble."

He tugs on two of his rays. "But-but-but I could have warned him about Moon! I was just so scared!"

"I think even if you did warn him, nothing was going to stop him from grabbing that card. And even if it did stop him, nothing was going to stop the rabbit lady from just shutting down the lights anyways."

Sun nods, avoiding eye contact. You were right. He wasn't at his best that night but he did what he could. You give him a moment to recompose himself before asking another question.

"Then what? You gained back control, right?"

The jester nods rapidly. "Yes-yes! Gregory had been able to power up the five generators scattered around the play area." You remember those, they were the ones you had to lug out with Tommy.

You smile, glad the kid was able to take care of himself. Then you shiver at the thought that the kid had to take care of himself facing against a virus riddled Moon.

"I came back in the middle of the jungle gym. Gregory was down below near the security desk speaking into his Fazwatch. But I...I was just so furious that he didn't listen that I threw him out! I called security hoping Vanessa would come get him but she never came, never acknowledged my alert."

 "Freddy was waiting for him outside. I was confused as to why but I couldn't leave the daycare, and that's when I learned our communications were off so I couldn't question it. I was just glad the rule-breaker was gone. He wouldn't have been safe with me anymore anyways."

So Freddy and Sun were the only ones in their right mind that night and Freddy was helping the kid. Maybe to get him out of the building? But if that were the case, why didn't he just bring him to Vanessa? She was the working officer that night.

"Then what?" 

"I-uh made banners that said 'banned' to make sure he wouldn't come back..."

"Did he?"

"No, no...I spoke to Freddy after everything and he told me he was able to safely get Gregory out at six am when the doors opened."

Your mouth hangs open. "He was trapped here all night!? While being chased by a crazed rabbit lady with the animatronics under her belt?"

You look down at your notes. Okay, okay. So Gregory must have been the last person the rabbit commanded to capture. But why? What did she care about a child having stayed past closing time?

But wait..."If he made it out okay, why were you so pushy to come out to tell me this?"

Sun's fingers fidget about. "Be-because Moon doesn't know about Gregory. I don't want him to." 

"Wait so he's blocked right now? You blocked him?"

Sun's voice box makes a hissing sound as he tugs on his rays again. "Y-yes. I feel so bad blocking him out but...Moon was extra aggressive that night. He hunted Gregory down at every top of the hour. I think he may have hurt him at some point."

You frown. "But I thought Moon knew most of what happened. The virus had some sick satisfaction showing off what it did."

"It-it did, yes, but sometimes it wanted me to watch instead."

Your heart drops. You had no idea Sun was forced to watch the horrors Moon went through. That son of a bitch.

"I don't want Moon to know he hunted a child down and hurt him. Children are his everything, they're all he has besides me and I can't bear to let him know he had a hand in hurting one."

"It wasn't really him, Sun," you try to reason. You understand Sun, you do but, "But he shouldn't be left in the dark-"

"That night was hard on everyone. It was so bad it made management actually send people in to help fix everyone. I know the Glamrocks haven't fully recovered and...Moon already believes he's a monster...he won't talk to me about anything before you cured him. I just don't want that night to weigh him down even more."

Sun hangs his head, voice box fizzling out towards the end of his confession as if he's trying to hold it in. You approach him and wrap your arms around his chest, giving him your strongest squeeze.

Stunned, but only for a moment, Sun returns the hug, holding you tight and placing his chin atop yours, making sure his bottom rays are retracted. You feel horrible. These two have gone through so much. You should have been more aware of what Moon was going through. You should be helping them through this.

But Moon never seemed like anything bothered him. He was so aloof, unbothered. You thought he was coming out of his shell with you.

Instead, was it just a mask? How much pain is he hiding? How much is Sun hiding?

You squeeze harder.

"I'll help you two through this, Sunny. I promise."

~~

That night when you arrive home and after feeding Oscar, you whip out your laptop and begin typing in the search bar. Searching for just the name Gregory wouldn't get you anywhere, so you begin putting in different key words that might help.

Kid Gregory

Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizza Plex kid after hours

Kid left in the freddy fazbear mall

Missing kids in the area

The last search garnered some interesting results. The first link takes you to the local news with the front page putting out notices about some kids that went missing in the area. You spot Gregory's name and stare at the picture above it.

A scrappy young boy with unruly brown hair, brown eyes, and a bandage on his face. Apparently, he went missing from his orphanage three days prior to that night in the mall. You scroll down the page and find an update section.

So far, no children have been found or...recovered.

If Gregory made it out of the mall...where did he go? 

If he made it out of the mall, why was Chica's voice lines still calling out for him as if she was still programmed to look for him?

"All those poor children...such a shame, really."

You stiffen and groan at the small spike in your head. "Do you know what happened?"

You feel stupid trying to talk to the voice in your head but...you need answers and this thing always seems to be spouting something about plans and stuff.

It's quiet and you almost wonder if it decided to back off for once before the voice comes back, sugary sweet as it coos, "Why, my dear, have you finally decided to speak with me?"

The response it gives you fills you with dread. The realization that the voice really is talking to you as if it's a whole other entity and not just a figment of your stressed filled imagination.

"I..." you're at a loss for words. What does this mean? What do you do?

"My poor, poor coder. I can feel your trepidation. I know you want to ask, go on, I don't bite." You cringe at the tone of the voice. 

"The children...you sound like you know what happened to them?" A dark chuckle echoes within your mind as the pain slowly rises.

"Necessary casualties, nothing more."  It (he? now that you think about it) says so nonchalantly, making your stomach churn.

"But no bodies..." you trail off, scrolling the internet. Maybe you missed some reports? 

"Little bodies are so easily hidden..." You want to throw up, the pounding ache and disturbing comments not helping.

So the rabbit lady and this voice guy...are killing kids?

"But Gregory made it out! Why was Chica calling for him?" 

"Ah, such a scrappy one. The most nuisance child. He did make it out, yes." You let a sigh of relief out but freeze, feeling your blood run cold at his next words, "Vanny did well finding him in that alley way. Cold, dirty, hiding in a little box, so vulnerable." 

You cover your mouth in horror.

"As for your other inquiry...With you having purged my virus, we had to get a little...creative when reinstating it. It lead to a previous version, the one from that night as everyone seems to call it...hence the wrong name being called out."

Your breathing begins to quicken. 

"Though I suppose having them call your name is a bit of a moot point, seeing as I already have you in my clutches. You'll be helping me out in no time."

"I...I don't know what you want from me, but I'm not helping in whatever sick twisted game you're playing!" You shout and slam your laptop lid closed. Oscar, having been lying by your feet the whole time, startles and jumps, looking every which way for the commotion.

He only laughs, mocking you. 

You glare at nothing. "But...why?!" you cry. Why hurt these children?

"Hush now...you don't need to know why, just that we are."

You can only infer that the 'we' is Vanny and the voice. But how? You realize with dread that Vanny has to be the rabbit lady. It would make sense.

The voice said 'his' virus. So he created it? But the rabbit...Vanny puts it in? Is she the one doing his bidding while he hides behind the scenes? But how is he in your head?

Speaking of your head, it spikes immensely, almost as if wanting to prevent you from thinking too much about it anymore. You grind your teeth as you clutch it, groaning out. You stumble your way to the bathroom and clutch onto the counter, reaching over and turning on the cold water full blast.

You breathe heavily as you cup your hands to drink, the iciness refreshing your dry, hot throat. 

The pain only increases.

Your white-knuckle grip on the counter top slips as the pain drags you down. You bite your lip hard enough to draw blood as you land on the floor. The water runs but you can't hear it anymore, not with the ringing in your ears. 

You smack them a couple times, hoping, praying that it'd stop. The one thing that breaks through is the cruel laughter of the voice.

The pain, the ringing, the laughter. It doesn't stop. It melts and blends all together to create a horrific symphony of agony.

You try to focus on your breathing but it's much too quick to catch even a small breath. The wet nose of your dog suddenly breaks your trance as he nudges it into your open palm. Your hand immediately finds purchase on his head, scratching and petting.

The soft fur calms you a little as the ringing finally teeters out.

The pain is still there but it's dulled down into a normal headache. The laughter faded out, too. Still breathing heavily, you grab and pull Oscar into your chest, stuffing your face into him and letting out a sob, squeezing your eyes shut.

So much has happened in so little time, your brain can hardly process it. 

Sleep...

You open your eyes. Yeah? Yeah. Sleep sounds good. Maybe you should get up and get in bed. Though you really should tell someone about what you learned. Someone has to know there's a killer prowling around the Pizza Plex!

Oscar whines as you let him go. You palm your knee as it bends as you lift yourself up off the floor. Your vision hazes over, the ache in your head focused right behind your eyes this time. Your phone... Where did you put it?

You stumble out of the bathroom, keeping your left hand on the wall for support. Oscar curiously follows you, letting out small little whines.

Hand still on the wall, you put your other one on your forehead, brain feeling foggy all of a sudden.

Just go to sleep...

Sleep. Right. You need sleep. Sleep off this horrible, achy fog. You can tell someone in the morning...

You find your bedroom and instinctively make it to your bed in only a couple of steps, flopping down on top of it. That's the last thing you remember.

~~

"-? Hellooo?" Tambra waves her hand in front of your eyes, her lips twisted into a pout. You suck in a large gulp of air and blink your eyes. 

"H-huh?" you say, lifting your glasses to rub your eyes.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out with us tonight? Us handlers are going to a super cool bar that opened up recently." 

You quickly put on a smile and nod. "Yeah, sure! I'm not a handler, though," you chuckle, albeit awkwardly as you attempt to joke.

Tambra blows a raspberry and waves her hand. "Ah who cares! Everyone likes you so you're invited." Her Fazwatch beeps, interrupting your conversation. "Shit. I gotta go, Monty's acting up." Tambra jabs her thumb behind her shoulder.

"Uh-okay! Maybe you can text me the details later?" 

You begin to pull your phone out but stop when the red-headed woman tells you, "No need! Got your number from Nate!" She gives you a cheeky smile before running off.

"Ha-ha okay! See you later!" You call back, grinding your teeth as you trail off with a grimace. As soon as she's out of sight, you turn around and place your hand against the wall.

"What the fuck? What the fuck what the fuck!?" You use your other hand to grip your hair. Your chest heaves up and down as you attempt to breathe normally.

When did you get to work?

Hell, when did you wake up this morning?!

You close your eyes and try breathing through your nose. In...out.... Okay, calm down. You take out your phone and check the time. It's only a few minutes past your starting time. So what happened before that?

You try to think, closing your eyes to try and focus.

You went to bed last night after a particularly bad headache. Then what? "Why can't I remember?!" You go to bite your lip but recoil and hiss when you bite into the previously bitten spot.

You bring a finger up to your mouth and delicately touch the wound. Your finger comes back red. You must have opened it but when did you bite your lip that hard? This time, it's your watch that beeps.

It breaks you out of your stupor and you instinctively bring your wrist up. It's a job notification. A Map Bot's sensors have gone on the fritz, causing it to run into things since it can't identify them in its way.

You rub your forehead, muttering, "Shit..." Better not keep the Map Bot waiting. Since they're important for being out in the common area and dealing with guests, it's a high priority task. Which means you need to get a move on.

"Alright..." you tell yourself, "Calm down...do your job..." You try not to let it get to you.

You're just stressed. Surely.

You were probably so tired this morning you were running on auto-pilot. It wouldn't be the first time! You've had your fair share of 'zombie' days where you shuffled around, barely lucid, after a night of non-stop coding.

You smack your cheeks. You're fine! You got this. Do your job, get Chica her anti-virus, then maybe hang out with Sun. You still want to show him your designs.

You droop your shoulders and let out a deep sigh before putting on your best customer service smile, psyching yourself up for the inevitable customer interactions you're bound to get while in the main atrium.

You hurriedly exit the employee tunnels feeling as if you're forgetting something important.

~~

The path you took spit you out on the bottom floor of the atrium next to a salad bar station. The Map Bot you're looking for is up the escalators and in front of the main elevators. 

Before you could even take a few steps away from the employee door, you hear a nasally, "Excuse me!" 

You almost jump out of your skin at the exclamation before putting on your best customer service smile. "Yes?" you ask the lady.

She's holding a plate of salad in one hand with the other holding her fork, pointing the utensil at you. You cringe at the piece of soggy lettuce dangling from the tines.

"Yeah, do you guys have non-fat blue cheese crumbles? I looked and couldn't find it. Only regular fat. But I need non-fat."

Your eyes flicker over to the salad bar. Then down at your shirt, wondering if you were wearing something that made you look like you worked in a kitchen. Nope, just your normal technician garment.

You can only trail an "Uhhh..." in response. The lady huffs impatiently so you quickly come up with something to placate her. 

"Of course, Ma'am, uhm... There's usually a section for low-fat items." You really hoped there was. Fazbear Entertainment may be cheap but they're extremely pandering.

"Are you calling me fat? Only fat people eat low-fat foods!" Your eyes widen as sweat starts to form. "I said I wanted NON-fat! It has to be NON-fat because of my medical condition!" Your hands by your sides flex with anxiety.

"I-of course not, Ma'am! May-maybe you just missed it, then?" You eyes automatically catch sight of something moving behind the lady, approaching her back. You almost sigh in relief, thinking it's either another worker (one who actually worked at the salad bar) or her husband or something.

It wasn't either.

Instead, that shadowy figure lurks in the background, gaining distance. Your eye twitches. "Uh..." you mutter, disbelief cracking your resolve.

The lady snaps her fingers in your face. "Hello? Ugh! Can never get help around here!" She saunters off in a hissy. As she moves, the figure disappears.

Trick of the lighting. Surely.

You hurriedly move to the escalators and step onto them, immediately getting uncomfortable by the heat radiating off the other people aboard.

"It's mine!" A child's shriek invades your eardrums. You slightly turn your neck to see two of them just one step behind you, tugging on a Monty Gator plush.

"No, mine!" Their harsh game of tug-of-war causes one to pull too hard and crash into your legs, right into the inside of your knees, causing you to buckle and fall forward into the person in front of you.

"Oof!" You get a face full of smells. Body odor, pizza, and vanilla frosting. You ignore the man's indignant shout, trying not to vomit into your hands at the revolting stench.

The kids look on in shock for only a split second before going right back to arguing and pulling. The adult behind them, most likely the parent (you could only hope) ignores the whole situation, scrolling their phone.

The escalator ride couldn't end sooner and as it does, you quickly turn and grab hold of the railing, leaning over and trying to breathe fresh air. As much as you could in a place like this, that is.

As you regain your bearings, you happen to glance down at the bottom floor. You heart stops at the sight of the dark figure. It just stands there; you can almost sort of tell that it's looking up at you.

You shiver and look away, turning around to find that Map Bot.

Thankfully, it wasn't too hard to spot. A small crowd had gathered around it, phones up and recording the poor thing as it shamelessly kept bumping into a round bench with two fake palm trees in the middle.

You sighed, feeling bad for the bot as you nudge your way through the crowd. Some heckle it while others laugh. They then 'aw' as you kneel down to help it. You roll your eyes and pat the bot on its hip. It stills, turning its pole-like neck to look down at you.

You assume it scanned and identified you as it doesn't put up a fuss as you dig around its wires. You don't notice anything out of place so you sit and think for a moment. It must be a software issue instead of a hardware one.

Which means you need to take it back to Parts and Services. "Alright big guy," you start as you lift yourself up from your squatting position, "let's get you back to parts and..." You trail off after you stand up and turn around only to find, pass the crowd of heads, the shadow figure in the distance.

You keep your eyes on it while you pat the Map Bot's side. The figure doesn't move so you hesitantly glance down at your watch to manually draw a path for the robot to follow. You finish the path and look back up. 

The majority of the group has dispersed, minus some straggling teenagers as they laugh at their videos they took. Your eyes subconsciously try to spot the shadow but it's gone. You breathe a sigh of relief, ready to go meet the bot underground when, out of the corner of your eye, movement catches your attention.

It was the shadow, moving at breakneck speed and gunning for you. Your eyes widen and you take a step back. You cry out as it gains distance. No one else pays it any mind, you think it might have even gone through some patrons.

You're frozen in fear, unable to do anything but watch in horror. When it gets closer, closer, you throw your arms up and cover your face, screaming out in fear as it lunges at you. When nothing happens for a good few seconds, you swallow the courage to move your arms.

Those same teenagers whisper to each other, pointing at you and chuckling. Your eyes wildly look yourself over. The shadow is gone. It...didn't do anything to you? Anxiety grips your heart as embarrassment heats your cheeks and your ears tip red.

You pant and lower your head, quickly making your way to the elevators. They take an agonizing long time to arrive as people still talk about you behind you. 

A few teens gather around one as the person in the middle holds their phone out. They giggle at the video of you in your terrified trance. "You should post that to Tik-Tok!" one of them says.

"Yeah, yeah! Title it 'Freddy Fazbear's employee freaks out at nothing!" another chuckles.

Thankfully, the elevator holds no other humans and you take the moment to catch your breath. You pull at your hair and lean over. Your lungs struggle to expand from your growing anxiety. 

You rub your sweaty forehead and laugh lowly and shakily. "I'm going nuts!" you tell yourself. First the voice and now the shadow figure. It wasn't just a hallucination, some stress filled, lack of sleep thing, it's a recurring and upsetting problem. One that is causing you to question your sanity.

No doubt it's making you look insane, too.

Your walkie beeps, startling you. Your pale hand unclips it from your pants and brings it to your mouth. Your lips shakily open as you stutter out, "Yes?"

"Daycare Maintenance is happening right now and Sun won't stop bothering the workers. They're so fed up they told me they won't work unless he leaves them alone." Vanessa's monotone voice fizzles through without so much as a greeting. Though, that's pretty normal for her.

"Umm." You attempt to reply back but you're cut off as the walkie spits out static. You let go of the button to let the blonde's voice through.

"I need you to get over there and distract him."

The elevator finishes it's trip and the doors split open. You confusedly murmur, "Huh? What about Ben?"

Vanessa sighs loudly and groans irritably. Somewhere in the back of your mind realizes she voiced her annoyance to you purposely as she had to physically hold down the talk button to speak.

"Ben's a little bitch." You splutter in surprise at her bluntness as she continues. "And Sun asked for you personally, so."

Well you're certainly not going to complain about spending time with Sun during work hours. However... "I have an active task. I gotta repair a Map Bot, it's waiting for me down in P and S."

Without missing a beat, Vanessa immediately relieves you. "Forward it to Rivera. He's doing all of the S.T.A.F.F bots that work in the Daycare repairs. Just get over there and placate the damn babysitter."

You tell her, "Okay, on my way." She doesn't respond and you figure that's that. You take a deep breath through your nose, hold it for a few seconds, and let it go through your mouth. 

Hang out with Sun, fit Chica with the firewall, hang out with the handlers, t̵͔̠̟̜̻̆͂͛̿̌̌ṛ̴͋́̀͝ỳ̷̯͌̓͝͝ ̸̣͔͕͇̭̽̀̄̎̆͐͜t̴̨̨̰̩̳̞̓̍̈́ō̶̘̞͉̦̂̈̅̉ ̴̢̝̭̌̿͘r̴̠͜͝e̷̡̖̤͑̆̓̅̋͝m̷̝̖̳̥̞̥̂͗ẹ̷̣̜̐͑͒m̸̙̳̤̞̼̈̆̎̎̑̇b̷͚͉̠̒̐̀̿̑͌ͅẹ̶̦͇͚̔͗ṛ̸̲̔ ̷̟̑l̷̨̦̣̭̋̈́̀̀ạ̶̎s̴̛͉̬̥t̷̫̀͠ ̷̡̡̛̖̲̝͛̆͌n̷͙̈́̀͆̇̃̀ȉ̵̘͖̠g̸͚̈́͛ḣ̷̤̈́t̷͍̍͌͌ and go home.

You can do this. Just don't think about it. Don't think about that tingle. Don't think.

D̵̫̐͠o̴͚͋̄͑͆ņ̶̱̠̮͓̙̓̌̋̕'̵̣̺͓̑̈́̑͗̊t̵͙̼̖̟͛͋̏͌̇̽ ̵̡̲̩̗̫͚̾t̴̪̬̭̞̘̃̅̇̈̚ḫ̶͎̰̹̉̓͛̆i̶̡͉͉̜̯̖͊̀̀̊ṋ̶͑k̵̨̧̯͓͚̩̑͑͑̕.