Help Needed

Chapter Fourteen: Unrecognizable Friend

Gregory hopped out of the recharge station, laughing. "Wow! You really told him off!"

Chica turned around and chuckled. "Well, I do believe Moon needed a stern talking to. Sometimes, the kindest thing you can do is be firm. And good news! Only five more hours until the front doors open!"

Gregory nodded. "Five hours. This is crazy." His smile fell away, and he glanced back toward the Daycare. "That rabbit lady appeared and turned out the lights in the Daycare. She turned on the garbage smasher, too. What if she does that again?"

"We'll stay away from the garbage compactor," Chica stated and held out her hand. Gregory took it without thinking and they walked toward the exit shutters. "Back then, was I with... did I do what she said? If she did that to me, I didn't matter to her. But that doesn't mean anything."

"'Cause she thinks you're just a bot," Gregory summed up. "But you're not! You're Chica! ...and, yeah, you were under her control. Monty picked you up after that and I disconnected you from the main network and put you in Safe Mode in Parts and Service. You were better after that."

They stopped at the shutters leading into the main entrance before going to the right elevator. Chica glanced at Gregory. "Monty must have trusted you very, very much. If just anyone had called and told him someone else pushed me into the trash compactor, especially if they were in your position, he would think they were lying." She tapped his glasses and he ducked with a muffled laugh. "And these prove it, Mini-Monty!"

Gregory straightened out his glasses and tapped out of the CAMS tab. "Well, we'd been working together a while and I did help him in Parts and Service before that."

"Aw! Well, we can get Parts and Service running again soon. We'll need to get you a few badges first so you have the right permissions to use some of the equipment and open some of the doors."

The elevators stopped and the doors opened. Gregory stepped out and yelped as an orange S.T.A.F.F. bot with glasses and a safari hat grabbed him and spun the kid around to face it. "Hello. Please take this map." It released him and held out a map of the atrium. "Take a map."

Gregory snatched the map. Map Bot stated, "Enjoy." The thing straightened out and swiveled its head back and forth in its search for new victims.

The kid wrinkled his nose and stuck the map in his pocket. "Ugh, I hate that thing."

Chica clicked her beak. "Gregory, that's a strong word to use."

"It's true, though. Monty said so."

"Just because Monty says something doesn't make it true or okay." Chica threw a look at it. "But Monty might be kinda sorta right. Anyway! You have a map of the atrium! There are two security offices I know we get to easily–one by the kitchen in the first-floor basement and one by the Prize Counter on the third floor. There is one in Fazer Blast and Monty Golf, which we will definitely find Monty there. I know you have at least one Party Pass and I have a spare in my room."

"I have two," Gregory reassured her. "The one you gave me, and one I had before I got here. I had been saving it for a while. Last time, I used it to get to Monty Golf during the day. This time, I didn't need it to get to your cupcake factory."

Chica shook her head. "Nope! You don't need any special permission or extra anything to go to the cupcake factory! Though you are supposed to pay to get in."

Gregory looked at her. "I was? I didn't."

"That's because I took you in through the back," Chica said. "Going through the payment process would've been so boring. And it's not technically against the rules to allow a guest through the back if the guest is accompanied by staff, which I do work at the cupcake factory and so I am a staff member. It's not stealing if I give you the ingredients, which I gave you what you need. You just put everything together!"