Security Breach - Sequin

Climb The Walls

 Care couldn't see where she ran, but that didn't matter. She just had to run. Run and get away from the killer robot. Her thoughts raced as fast as her feet.

It was Freddy's fault.

But he tried to help.

He didn't do enough.

There was nothing he could do.

He could have done better!

How?

He-... he should have stopped that rabbit person!

The rabbit person killed him, not Freddy.

That doesn't matter!

You're angry, Care.

Care bared her teeth, "Shut up, Case!" she snapped.

Her brother's voice calmly responded. You've been cut. Don't bleed on others who don't deserve it.

"He does deserve it!" Care hissed, knocking over a STAFF bot holding out a map.

Tell his story.

'Tell his story'. Care's jaw clenched. Every time Case prompted her to do that, she talked herself out of being mad. It was an infuriatingly effective way to get her to see the other person's perspective.

But Freddy wasn't a person. He was just a robot. A really advanced and human-like robot, but still a robot.

Tell his story.

"Shut! Up!"

Something screeched close by. Care realized she'd need to hide; less chance of a killer robot finding her. She found a big red tube with a blue lightning bolt on it and wrenched the door open, slamming it shut behind her.

She thumped her back against the rounded metal walls. Her hand lifted to scrub at her eyes, spotting the watch on her wrist. Heat built in her face.

Ignoring her throbbing fingers from punching Freddy, Care clawed the watch off and threw it against the wall before sitting down with a huff and burying her head between her knees.

Cry it out, encouraged Case's voice. For someone who never cried, he always told Care to. He never said why.

Care hugged herself and let the tears come. If she needed to be an angry crybaby for a few minutes, so what? There was no one there to judge.

It didn't take long for Case's stupid voice to prod at her again. Tell his story.

Care gripped the front of her shirt, trying to tear away the vise around her ribs. She hated crying; it made her stomach hurt and her head buzz.

Care. Tell his story.

She grabbed the small pendant around her neck. Fine. Fine! Freddy tried to help Gregory and ended up letting that rabbit person—Vanny, right?—kill him.

What else?

Freddy kept Gregory's dead body! He let it just rot away inside him for weeks!

And?

And he had no right to!

And?

Freddy could have done more. He could have done better to protect Gregory. Now he's gone forev-... forever!

And?

I... I miss him.

Ah. There's the source.

'Source'. That was another word Case always used.

Care held back the sobs.

It wasn't Freddy's fault. It wasn't even Gregory's fault.

It was Vanny's. Vanny and whatever the evil purple thing was. They caused kids to go missing. They made everything go wrong.

They killed Gregory.

Care could imagine Case's patient but smug grin. He always smiled like that before saying "Did you bleed on anyone?"

Care felt her face heat up. She bled on Freddy. He never hurt her, but she blamed him for her pain.

She inhaled deeply, then sighed. She repeated the process a few times, finally able to stem the angry tears.

She glanced at the watch. Slowly, she picked it up, accidentally bumping her hand. A spike of pain burned through her fingers. Care squeaked and held her hand to her chest.

Right. She'd punched metal earlier. A bruise started forming across her right pinky and ring finger. It even spread down the side of her palm. Did she really hit that hard?

Now cautious of not moving her fingers, Care pressed the call button on the watch.

"I am here," came Freddy's muffled voice from outside the tube.

Care's heart jumped. How long had he been there? How had she not heard him?

Freddy's voice directed at the tube, "May I... open the door?"

Care swallowed. "-es," she rasped.

The door cracked open. Freddy knelt on the other side.

Care forced herself to look into those yellow eyes, "'t's not your fault. 'm sorry."

"I forgive you," said Freddy softly. "If you are willing, I can still take you to... take care of Gregory."

The bear held out a hand. Care took it with her uninjured one and let him lift her to her feet.

Hand in hand, the two retraced their steps through the halls.