You Don't Want Help, Do You?

Chapter Nine: New Friend

Maybe Gregory should have left.

He shook his head. He couldn't think like that! He helped Freddy, and Freddy helped him. He needed to get rid of Vanny and stop her from trying to hurt him and start her killing spree again. To do that, he couldn't have any bots on him. In fact, Freddy and Moon were bots who helped him a lot. Maybe Roxy and Monty would be able to help him, too, even though they were broken. Chica helped, kinda, with her spare voice box.

Freddy asked, "Gregory, do you remember what I said earlier? About Bonnie? You claimed to have met him."

Gregory nodded. "Mhm."

"He was more than my bandmate, he was my best friend. We did quite a bit together. I was terrible at bowling, but he insisted on teaching me. While he did not have a lot of interest in singing, he asked if I could teach him. He was kind and brave, though a little quick to anger. When we lost him, it was... terrible. I still miss him, sometimes."

"What happened?"

"I do not know. No one knows," Freddy said. "Monty claimed Bonnie was attacked by something, but we were unable to track it down. Rather than repairing him, they replaced him with Monty. Which, I like Monty, do not get me wrong. Monty is a good character and I believe he is my friend. I do not believe he would hurt Bonnie, no matter what some of the human staff might have believed. But that does not make me feel any better."

Gregory scuffed the cement ground beneath his foot, stirring up dirt and dust. "What did you do?"

"I grieved for him, but I continued performing," Freddy said. "We were given a short grace period after Bonnie's decommission for them to come to a decision and incorporate Monty into the band. Then we went back to performing as if nothing happened. It is hard, but life moves on and you must catch up. Let yourself grieve but know that you still must take care of yourself and your responsibilities."

Gregory wrapped his arms around himself. He knew for a fact Freddy didn't know him, didn't know what he went through and what he lost, but that didn't make the advice feel any less pointed.

* * * * *

Gregory knocked on one of the big double doors.

A few moments later, the door opened. Chica looked around and then down at him. "Gregory? What are you doing here?" she asked. "What happened to Moon?"

Oh, right. Moon probably told her he needed help. Gregory said, "I, um... I stayed behind. I want to put a stop to Vanny. That rabbit lady who's been chasing me around. But she caught me, and she tricked Moon into the garbage compactor."

Chica's eyes went wide, and she put a hand to her beak. "She–Moon–the garbage compactor? In the kitchen?"

Gregory nodded. "Yeah, she–"

Chica threw open the door and rushed past him. Gregory gasped and hopped back to keep from getting his foot crushed.

The door closed behind her.

Gregory followed without thinking. He struggled to keep up with her quicker pace and longer legs, though she did slow down on the stairs.

Chica ran through the atrium, down through the Utility tunnels, and back toward the kitchen. Oh, maybe she thought Moon was still in it.

Chica passed through the laundry room, opposite the direction of the kitchen. She stopped in one of the cramped storage rooms and shoved a door open and flew down a set of spiral stairs. Yellowed papers covered in crayons and print scattered over the ground and pillars and stairs. Halfway down the stairs into the silo was a small landing with a table ringed by chairs with various clothed S.T.A.F.F. bots frozen in some unheard conversation. He passed by it too quickly to see much, but the inactive bots' arms and bodies were in dynamic poses with dinnerware on the table.