Chapter 13. Understanding.
May 29, 2024 at 4:00 PM
The group was moving along Rockstar Row towards the counters. Or, more precisely, the animatronics were trying to catch up with the restless and joyful Gregory, who was skipping a little near the rooms of the mascots. They, however, were also happy for him, but at the same time they also watched his every step with some concern so that nothing would happen to him. For them, such a leap forward on the part of the boy was a little unexpected. The boy noticed that they were starting to lag behind him a little, so he turned to them on the move and told them in an invigorating tone:
Gregory: «Well, why are you like snails? Come on, come here quickly!» – and, turning around again, he also, without stopping, skipped forward.
Slightly accelerated iron steps were heard behind the boy, which made him start walking forward a little more cheerfully. When Gregory had already reached Freddy's room, the lights suddenly went out in the whole establishment… The boy was a little taken aback and stopped abruptly. After 3 seconds, his eyes were starting to get used to the dark lighting of the room. Then he said with displeasure:
Gregory: «Here we're go again!..» – and put his hands on his hips.
After that, the boy turned back and saw the worried wide-open eyes of his friends approaching him at an even faster pace, with corneas glowing in different colors in the dark. The boy spoke calmly:
Gregory: «And how much time do we have now?..» – he raised his Faz-watch to his face, then continued in the same tone: «03:55… Okay…» – and he lowered his hand again, putting it on his side.
Freddy: «So, we need to go to the charging stations urgently. Fortunately, we have them in our rooms», – he spoke loudly and calmly.
Chica: «And we should hurry!» – she said nervously.
Roxy: «So, wait… What are you so afraid of? Is it really the Daycare Attendant?» – the wolf spoke, looking at those with slightly narrowed eyes.
Freddy: «He must not notice and take Gregory, otherwise… maybe we will not see him anymore», – the bear explained to her hurriedly: «Although, he hardly wants to do something bad to him himself, but it is still better to be safe», – he said seriously.
Roxy: «Ha! Well, whatever you want, but I'll get it. I'm already pretty fed up with him…» – she spoke with displeasure and walked forward, bypassing the boy.
After walking a few steps, the wolf stopped and stood in a position where it was easy to pounce someone. Her ears began to move from side to side in concentration, searching for all the sounds around.
At the same time, the boy began to remember how the Moon dragged Fazbear by the legs somewhere in an unknown direction right in front of his eyes. He involuntarily screamed, covering his mouth with his hands, and looked at the wolf. After that, the boy began to address her quickly and nervously:
Gregory: «Roxy, don't! It's too dangerous!» – and he started running up to her.
Roxy: «Don't bother…» – she spoke menacingly, without moving.
At that moment, the boy ran up to her and grabbed her hand, trying to pull her along with him, while speaking restlessly:
Gregory: «Well, please don't!»
Roxy: «Step back…» – she spoke with displeasure and with the same hand pushed the boy back, after which she again stood in a pose.
Gregory: «But, Roxy!» – he said a little bit sadly.
Roxy: «Quiet!» – the wolf growled, still not moving.
The boy fell silent, but at the same time began to sob a little, looking at her. He didn't want to lose Roxanne. At this time, he mentally scolded her stubbornness.
«But why?..» – Gregory's mind was racing: «She doesn't even understand what awaits her… I don't know myself! What if he pulls her in the same way as Freddy, and then!..» – after that thought, he stopped sobbing and became a little more serious: «Will she end up in the parts and service department?.. But it's still dangerous! They can do something to her there! But wait… the Moon wasn't trying to hurt Freddy… he just dragged him somewhere, probably on someone's instructions. Perhaps the Moon isn't hostile to me either, but just looks like that because of its quirkiness…»
After that, the boy heard evil giggles coming from the darkness and looked there. Roxanne immediately turned her whole body towards the source of the sound with a growl and prepared to jump. Freddy and Chica fussed a little and began to nervously beckon the boy to them, but he was not up to it. Surprisingly, there was no fear in him. The boy peered with interest into the pitch darkness, trying to make out something.
Chica: «Gregory, come here!» – softly and restlessly she beckoned to him.
Gregory: «Wait…» – he said without looking back at them, and for a while showed a stop sign by hand in their direction.
Much to the boy's surprise, the two decided not to contradict him. Little by little, out of the darkness, one could already hear the Daycare Attendant's quiet and fast footsteps approaching. After a few seconds, he began to appear in the boy's field of vision with his arms outstretched in his direction and speaking hoarsely to him:
Moon: «Naughty boy… Naughty boy!..»
Immediately at this time, electromechanical sounds were heard from Roxanne's legs, after which she rushed towards him. The Daycare Attendant only turned his head at her in surprise, without slowing down. A split second later, the wolf knocked him to the floor and clung tightly to his shoulders, pinning him to the floor. At this time, the boy relaxed, but after a moment, he tensed up again for other reasons. The Daycare Attendant didn't even make a sound, but then asked in surprise and displeasure with a hoarse voice:
Moon: «What are you doing, upstart?»
Roxy: «I'm so sick of you!» – she growled and swinging her right clawed paw in his direction.
The Daycare Attendant began to cover himself with his hands. At that time, the boy stepped forward a little and shouted at her, holding out his hand:
Gregory: «Stop!!!»
The wolf was about to make a crushing blow to the face of the Daycare Attendant but, fortunately, stopped abruptly after the boy's words and turned to him with a growl, after which she asked discontentedly in a fit of anger:
Roxy: «What else?»
The boy, after a moment's thought, began to speak hurriedly and restlessly:
Gregory: «The Moon doesn't want to do us any harm and…» – before he could finish, he was interrupted:
Roxy: «Ye-yeah!.. And now enough tenderness!» – she said irritably and turned to her victim, swinging at her again.
Gregory: «But wait you're a bit!!!» – the boy shouted already with rage, standing in the bull position.
After that, the wolf stopped again and, after 3 seconds, abruptly turned to the boy, shouting in a dissatisfied tone:
Roxy: «And what else is there?!»
The boy narrowed his eyes, pointed his right hand at her and pointed at her with his index finger, menacingly and consistently saying:
Gregory: «You… didn't finish… listening to me».
The wolf, growling a little, lowered her head, not taking her eyes off the boy, and then straightened up again and expressed displeasure:
Roxy: «Go ahead already!»
After that, the boy lowered his hand, stood up in a normal position and, calming down a little, began to explain to her in a serious, measured tone:
Gregory: «So… the Moon doesn't want to do us any harm… but that's not all. Besides that, there is someone else in it who is my friend…»
Then the Daycare Attendant stood up a little and, in unison with the wolf, said in surprise, dissatisfaction and hoarsely:
Roxy & Moon: «What?»
After that, Roxanne turned on him again, growling in displeasure, and abruptly pinned him to the ground with the words:
Roxy: «Shut up!» – and she quickly turned her gaze to the boy, asking him with interest: «What do you mean?»
The boy began to slowly approach them and speak in a calm tone:
Gregory: «I mean about the Sunny. He was one of the first people who started helping me. If it wasn't for the Sun, I probably wouldn't even have come here and wouldn't have been able to help you all. And the Moon hardly wants to do anything bad to me, even though it may seem so at first… Therefore…» – at these words, the boy began to speak more seriously: «I can't let him be torn to pieces! Do you understand?»
After these words, the wolf growled with resentment and turned her gaze away from the boy, slightly lowering her head. Gregory came up to her and put his hand on her elbow, looking at her seriously with a small tinge of concern. The wolf, growling, looked at the boy again with annoyance and anger, and then gradually softened her gaze and quieted down. Then she turned slightly away from him and frowned, saying with displeasure:
Roxy: «How much soft you're… It's even disgusting…»
The boy shook her elbow a little and Roxanne finally quipped:
Roxy: «Well…» – and she gently shook off the boy's hand, and then turned to the Daycare Attendant, looking at him threateningly: «So, listen to me, you're a pain in the ass…» – she spoke in a frightening tone and pressed the Daycare Attendant to the ground: «If it wasn't for that boy, you wouldn't be a wet spot left now… You should be extremely grateful to him now for his mercy. And!.. If you just touch him with your filthy finger, then there won't be a screw left of you! You got me?!» – the wolf finished, pushing him harder into the floor.
The Daycare Attendant looked at her emotionlessly for a while, not moving, and then, slightly turning his head away, began to speak hoarsely and calmly to her:
Moon: «So that is what you are…»
Roxy: «Don't hear the answer!..» – she growled menacingly.
The Daycare Attendant slowly turned his head towards her, and then humbly croaked:
Moon: «Got it, got it…»
After these words, Roxanne got up from him and quickly lifted him to his feet. The Daycare Attendant was standing, slightly hunched over and guiltily hanging his arms. Although there was always a fixed smile on his face, the boy could see how he was mentally tormenting himself for something. The boy decided to approach him and carefully take his hand. Attendant turned his glowing reddish eyes on him in surprise, along with his head. The boy began to question him calmly:
Gregory: «What's bothering you? Why do you need me?»
The Daycare Attendant didn't know what to answer, so he hung his head again. Only after about 5 seconds did he speak hoarsely:
Moon: «Generally speaking, I have to take you to Vanessa on her orders. Although Sunny does not know about it, but that's another topic… She called you an intruder, so I started chasing you, thinking of you as a bully. I did not know that you had made friends with the Sun, and I did not know that you were not so nasty, but even the opposite… I have seen so many children in my life that you cannot count them in a month. Most of the time, I always saw the same thing in them… They were always thinking about their little pranks and nothing else. They are the ones who have to be intimidated and forcibly put to bed in quiet hours, because these children do not understand any other way. That is why, having such an experience, I treated you like a naughty boy… By the way, why are not you sleeping?» – he laughed a little, looking at the boy.
The boy, smiling slightly, answered him calmly:
Gregory: «Well, I'd like to fall on the bed now, but… there is no time for that, because something is wrong in this institution. Either the virus in animatronics, or Vanessa trying to grab me and finish me off… And now! Now we're together…» – the boy said and pointed at everyone around, and then continued: «Trying to get everything back to normal. By the way, did you take Freddy to the parts and service department on her orders, too?»
Moon: «Yes», – he said calmly.
Gregory: «Then everything is normal!» – the boy spoke joyfully, squeezing the Daycare Attendant's hand a little harder: «That explains everything. You did everything right! You just didn't know what was going on around here. I understand you», – he finished consolingly and hugged him.
Everyone around was shocked, to put it mildly. No one expected such a favorable outcome of events. Even Gregory himself did not know that the Moon was like that, but now everything has more or less opened up for him. His thoughts about him mostly coincided with the words of the Attendant, so the boy without any doubt hugged him to calm him down a little.
Gregory: «And about the children…» – he continued peacefully: «They're not all like that. Some of them, at least, behave more calmly. And even if take the other children, need to understand that they are still children. It's just that each of them has their own upbringing and their own life. I've seen a lot of kids in my life, too, and, for the most part, they're still those vermin…» – the boy grinned, and then continued in the same tone: «They have many disadvantages and problems, but… each of them has its advantages! And you need to cling to them and develop them, and then direct them in the right direction. In a way, it's hard, but that's parenting, no else. Here just need to have patience and give more love to children. Then they will reach out for you. You need to believe and hope in them. What we put into them and how we treat them, we will get in return. Yes… it's difficult… But in a sense, it's fun, and then it's nice in the end, because you made a real Person out of this child!»
After that, there was 10 seconds of silence. Then the Daycare Attendant finally hugged the boy in response. After another 5 seconds, he said in the same hoarse and peaceful tone:
Moon: «Your words make sense…»
After standing for a while, the Attendant fussed and lowered the boy to the ground, wheezing a little restlessly:
Moon: «I need to go back to Daycare right away!»
The boy understood that when the light was turned on, he transformed into the Sun, so he didn't contradict him and said with concern:
Gregory: «Precisely! I'm sorry we kept you. Run before it's too late!»
Moon: «No! Thank you for that. The time was well spent», – he croaked and quickly turned to Roxanne, starting to hurriedly tell her: «Before I leave, I would like to apologize to you, Roxy! I was wrong about you. I am sorry for making fun of you. It will not happen again».
Roxanne rolled her eyes and growled at him with indifference:
Roxy: «Oh… Go already…»
Moon: «I hope we'll make up later», – he croaked and turned to everyone: «Thank you all! Good luck!» – and he took off on a rope that came from nowhere.
Gregory: «Good luck! You can contact us through Freddy!» – he shouted after the Daycare Attendant.
He just giggled a little out of the darkness and disappeared into it.
Next, the boy looked at Roxanne, standing nearby in front of him, and approached her. After that, he told her in a peaceful tone:
Gregory: «Thank you so much! None of this would have happened without you. Thank you for everything!» – and he hugged her, adding at the end: «You’re the best!»
Roxanne, as the first time, stood motionless in perplexity for about 5 seconds, while starting to wave her tail, and then, saying peacefully:
Roxy: «Vermin…» – she lifted and hugged the boy in response.
From Freddy and Chica, standing in the distance behind and seeing this scene, there was a soft laugh of emotion. To great surprise, Roxanne didn’t pay attention to them and didn’t let the boy out of her arms. Her chin was still resting on the boy's right shoulder, and she was rubbing against the boy's cheeks a little. Gregory was pleased with this. To some extent, she began to get used to this atmosphere.
10 seconds later, they were wrapped in the same hugs of Chica and Freddy from both sides. They were warming together again.
After about half a minute, the light in the room turned on, blinding everyone, and, accordingly, it turned on throughout the institution. After a while, they parted, and Roxanne put the boy on the floor in front of her. The boy laughed a little and spoke joyfully to everyone:
Gregory: «Well, let's go before catch up with us!» – and he went towards the counters.
Everyone else immediately followed him.
There are fewer and fewer enemies left… Gregory continues to move forward… As mentioned last time, he doesn't give up and continues to move on, overcoming obstacles of various types. Also, the boy is trying to establish relations between his friends and so far, he is doing well! The team is becoming more cohesive and stronger! All the time, the boy has new opportunities, in fact, just like his comrades. Each of them is capable of something different, and each of them has their own weaknesses, but because they are together, these weaknesses are negated with the help of the rest of the team! Gregory and his team continued to move on…
Notes:
We're going to relax a little bit now. The next chapter won't be very big either, but I hope it will be pleasant and fun for many.