You Were Found

/w
     He slammed his fist on the table. "How the hell is he doing this!?" Glamrock Freddy agonizingly yelled in frustration. Gregory, at that point, walked in.

     "Uhh... Freddy?"

     "Oh- Gregory! Have you gotten the level five security pass?" If Michael was a human at that point, he was sure he'd be smiling, no matter how fake it would have been.

     "No- no, we're not going to just ignore that. What was that about!?" Gregory demanded.

     "No, oh, noth-"

     "Don't even try with that! Freddy, what's going on?" Gregory walked over to Freddy, glaring him down demandingly.

"Gregory..."

"Freddy..." Freddy gave him a mock-glare at the boy.

"I'm so tired..." Freddy said after a few moments longer of Gregory staring him down, putting his hands on his face. He was acting oddly human, more so than he had ever before, Gregory noticed. The boy's face softened, and his voice grew timid.

"Freddy, what's going on? What do you mean?"

"Gregory... do you recall ever hearing about... the Missing Children?"

"Well... there have been a few missing children cases around here, probably. I can't think of any important ones, though." Gregory's face turned up for a moment after hearing what he said. "I probably could have said that better..."

"Right, we're not in Hurricane..."

"What do you mean? Isn't that the town, like, 13 miles over? Why do you know about that?" Gregory tilted his head a bit to the side in curiosity.

Just then, Glamrock Chica's voice started it's eerie echo of search, Gregory's name creepily put into the lines the recited. Glamrock Freddy opened his stomach hatch and Gregory jumped in quickly. Heavy, sluggish footsteps made by what could only be metal came and went, and Gregory jumped out again.

"Okay, now what's the deal with Hurricane?"

"Okay, about... what is it, 50? Jeez, how long has it been? Anyway, about 50 or so years ago, six children went... missing. They... this is complicated. D'you... really want to know?" Gregory noticed Freddy's dialogue start to change. He still had his Glamrock Freddy voice, but he shortened his words and spoke like a person. As if he were getting lost in memories that Gregory had no idea where he'd even get.

The boy gave a clear nod and verbally confirmed it with a strong, "Yes."

Freddy sighed. "This'll be a long one, kid. Come, Superstar, let's go somewhere a bit more secure." Freddy led Gregory to a place the boy had never seen before. It was under the PizzaPlex. It was a room, a living room. It had some sort of basic holding some sort of butter on an old television, probably only 45 inches. There was a sofa; and a bucket of popcorn; and a lamp; and a small table; and a sun decoration; but most noticeably, there was odd paragraph on the wall. At least, Gregory thought it was a paragraph. It was coded if it was, in unreadable letters to Gregory.

"Why is this here? What does that say?"

"It says, break and mend, I built the breath. They hunt now, drawn to life. Not Real, still keen. And Frit and Fraught with thought and zest and gest no blunt woes. Dodge, duck, flash, shoot, crawl, run, crush the vile band. Cry not, try not, do not hold out, hope no. Your life, your aim will save those with soul."

"What does that... even mean?" Gregory asked, confusion leaking into his voice accompanied by a  small laugh bumbling, stumbling through. He chose not to question the complete change in demeanor or language that happened to Freddy, despite desperately wanting to.

"You'd... have to understand what I'm... apparently about to tell you."

"Then tell me." Freddy glanced away. "Come on, Freddy, it's not that hard!"

"Sit..." Glamrock Freddy said after a moment. Gregory obliged quickly.

"I... am not me."

"What do you mean Freddy?" Gregory asked, a worry-filled venom overtaking his normal, sarcastic tone.

"I am not me. Gregory... have you ever heard of the Afton family? Or the story of any other Fazbear pizzeria?"

"The name sounds familiar, but I can't remember too much. They're... all dead, I think? And I think one of the pizzerias burned down a couple of years ago. Why? How is that relevant?" Gregory's eyebrows furrowed.

"Gregory... I am not me. I'm not Freddy Fazbear, not exactly. I am- was a person. Kind of."

"What do you mean kind of? How can someone be kind of a person? Especially a robot?"

"I think you're crossing the line between human and monster a bit when your abdominal organs get scooped out and your skin turns a deep purple, Gregory..." Michael would have been smiling at that point, again, but it would have been more genuine. Gregory gave a blank stare, which quickly morphed into a deeply confused, worried gaze. Michael picked off where he left off. "Gregory, I... My only name is not Freddy Fazbear. I... have many aliases - and, technically, my legal name is Fritz Smith - but... I am Michael Afton. I was a human, Gregory."

     "But- how!? How are you here? Didn't you say you died?"

     "Yes, I did. Here's the thing, kid; the original animatronics, if you will - well, really most of the Fazbear Franchise animatronic - were made to kill. They were made to kill children." Freddy gave a small pause. "In the 1980s, several children went missing. One of them was named Elizabeth Afton, my sister, and the other were a group of six children. Jeremy; Fritz; Susie; Cassidy; Charlotte, known as Charlie; and Gabriel. My... father murdered them. He stuffed them into the suits, and they possessed them. They got freed, and killed Father. Father went on to be stuck in a room for 30 years, get burnt several times, get burnt with me, my sister, some other animatronic, and his old partner and best friend, and is now here. In the basement. I'm here, too."

"What- I- that's a lot." Gregory paused, trying to search through his cluttered brain and sort through the metaphorical files, trying to make sense of something and form something coherent to say. "You- you were a human. And your father killed people who possessed animatronic and then killed him. And now your father is living in the basement." Freddy gave nothing more than a nod, until a few minutes later.

"There's more that doesn't need to be covered right now. The clock is ticking, and you need to get out of here. Come on, Superstar. Let's get you out." Freddy would have been smiling again, but Gregory did it form him. The boy stood up with a small, saudade smile painted on his face. Freddy's eyes returned the favor enough.