"Gregory!" I heard Monty yell out. I had landed on my feet, kind of. The moment I felt the impact, I fell over onto my back, which pushed the wind out of me. It was probably better for my feet to take the heavy blow.

The ceiling above me shook as Monty rushed over. "Gregory! Are you okay?" he yelled down. I could see traces of him leaning in from the entrance.

I pushed myself up and sat up, but my head felt like it was swirling around, even if I couldn't see anything. Everything was dark. "Yeah, I'm fine," I said meekly. I wasn't sure if he heard me, but then he sighed with relief. My ankles and back hurt like hell, I couldn't see anything, and I felt like throwing up, but I was alive.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he yelled from above. He sounded angry and distant, but it also echoed through the tunnel downwards, so it was plenty loud enough.

I reached into my pockets, trying to find that flashlight I had used all those days ago, but they were empty. I tripled checked, but each time they came out with nothing.

"Did you take my flashlight from me?" I yelled up at Monty.

"What?" Monty sounded surprised, probably because I was ignoring his insults.

"It's dark down here, I need a light!"

"Christ, kid! You're just gonna fall into the abyss and move on like that?"

I crossed my arms, though there's no way Monty could see me. I couldn't even see myself. "Oh, boo hoo, sorry that I took initiative!" I said, my words oozing with sarcasm. "You're not the one who just fell down a seemingly bottomless pit! Just get me a light!" I may have gotten a bit angry, but I am in a massive amount of pain that I was trying to ignore.

He groaned, but I heard him turn around and leave, his steps slowly becoming distant. While I waited, I let my breath catch up to me and tried to slow my beating heart. I looked around, everything was pitch black, except for some glowing red lights that reminded me of Moon's eyes. I kept my eyes on them, in fear that they could be endoskeletons. They were crawling from inside here, after all. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if there were a few stragglers left behind.

When Monty came back, he warned me he was dropping a flashlight down. I dragged myself a bit to the side, and I heard the flashlight crash next to me. The sound echoed through the room, and I covered my ears. I hadn't expected it to be so loud. I reached out, touching the floor with my hand trying to find it. Eventually my hand landed upon it and I tried to turn it on. It flickered a bit, most likely damaged from the fall, but it still worked.

"What do you see?" Monty asked. I looked around. I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this. First, the obvious; there were rows of bots that were attached to the floor. They looked different from the S.T.A.F.F. security ones that roamed the pizzaplex. They shared the same body shape, but they were shorter, and they didn't have heads. Rather, their arms were long and skinny. The one closest to me reached out and tried to grab one of my legs, but I handed it one of the pins that I'd fallen down with. It took it and placed it into a circular contraption. It pulled down on a string, and the wheel slowly brought the pin back to the top. There was a long pipeline where they'd insert the bowling ball for each respective alley. I could hear the strong air blowing inside.

This is possibly the most complicated way they could have decided to build these bowling alleys. It feels incredibly inefficient. Surely modern technology allows for no technical assistance like this? I always thought that the ball would fall to the side while the pins would fall farther back.

The glowing red eyes I saw earlier were indeed an endoskeleton, but it was already broken. It had a missing arm, but just in case it could still attack me, I kicked its chest and watched it fall to the floor. I crushed it some more, to be safe. It was a bit therapeutic, both destroying this endoskeleton and the ones that were emerging earlier from the alleyways.

Still, there was only one. What luck.

"Well," I said, trying to reply to Monty's question, "a lot of nothing." I really didn't feel like explaining the intricacies of the bowling alleys. He probably wouldn't be interested anyway. I was looking for information on Vanny, not how the bowling alleys work.

"Do you think I could fit down there?" he said. Was he thinking about jumping down?

"Uhm, the ceiling is kind of low," I said, trying to think of excuses so he wouldn't join me. It's not that I wanted to be alone, but I did want to move at my own pace. I wasn't lying either, the ceiling was indeed low. It's probably why the robots here had no heads. "Besides, I need you to stay up there and watch over the bowling alleys! It'd be bad if Vanny showed up and there wasn't another exit!" Every time I yelled back at him, I worried I wasn't loud enough.

"Fine," he scoffed, clearly irritated that he was left alone. "I'll just sit here patiently while you investigate a dark and hidden room underneath my friend's bowling alleys!" He was very much fed up with me.

"Cool, thanks!" I sang, giggling a bit as I spun around to continue investigating the room beneath the alleys. " Argh , Gregory! Just don't take too long!" he scowled, though his voice grew distant as I walked past the other factory lines of the bowling alley staff. "Okay!" I said back, unsure if he heard me.

The room had a melancholy vibe. The walls were just plain gray, with the occasional square empty shelf on the floors. The ground was littered in stray bowling balls and pins that the poor robots just couldn't reach. I felt kind of bad, so I handed and rolled them closer in hopes that they'd pick it up. They got very excited when they felt something in their hands, and they reluctantly put them into their respective places. They slowly pulled the strings to bring the pins up, relishing the moment. Why'd they have so much personality to them? It made me feel sorry for them, trapped down here for eternity, programmed to do one thing. When I was investigating the top with Monty, the bowling alley seemed abandoned. How long have they been down here, waiting for something to drop down so they could send it back up?

There was one shelf that did catch my attention. There was a miniature blue bunny with flushed red cheeks and a red bowtie. It was reflective, so it must've been made out of metal, but it also looked as if it could be a hand puppet. Within its grasp was none other than a VHS tape. Finally, I found Bonnie's VHS tape. Maybe. I'm pretty sure it's his tape, but since it's so well hidden compared to the other animatronics's tapes, it could very well be one of the journal entries Michael had made.

I tried to take it out of the puppet's hands, but the moment I came into contact, it sprung up and made eye contact with me. It scanned me up and down, and then tucked away the VHS tape behind its tiny body.

"You're not Bonnie! This isn't yours!" it said. It sounded like a child with an abnormally high voice.

"Uhm, I, well," I mumbled, trying to think of what to say. I had not anticipated for it to move. "I'm not Bonnie, but I'm retrieving it for him." The puppet shook its head.

"No no no, it's not yours! Taking is stealing, and stealing is bad!" It lifted its chin and turned away.

I wasn't going to bother trying to negotiate with it any further. It was the size of my hand, I didn't need to convince it to give me the tape when I could quite literally just rip it out of its hands. And that's exactly what I did.

I placed my flashlight down on the shelf beside it, picked up the bunny in one hand, and took the VHS tape with the other. It let out an exaggerated gasp. "You! You thief! Give that back, it's not yours!" it yelled out.

"Relax, I'll give it back once I'm done with it," I said, shoving the tape into my pocket. I could tell it that Bonnie was dead, as I had a feeling it didn't know, but it probably wouldn't change its stance on stealing. I put the puppet back onto the shelf and took my flashlight back.

I could feel its eyes glaring at me as I examined the walls once more, looking for some sort of exit. Eventually I found a tunnel, unsure of where it led to. It's ceiling was even shorter than this room, so I couldn't really call it a hallway, but it was the only pathway I could see. I stepped away and heard the puppet thing start muttering to itself.

"Wait, wait! Don't go!" it suddenly called out. I turned around, slightly annoyed. I pointed my flashlight at it. It was all the way on the other side of the room.

"What?" I asked.

"T-Take me with you! Then I can know for sure you'll return the tape!" it said, placing its small hands on its "hips."

"Why do you care so much?" I said. Its ears perked as it spoke, "Bonnie told me to keep it safe!"

I couldn't lie, I was getting more and more intrigued by its existence by the second. Why would Bonnie ask it to keep it safe, and why leave it here? I looked around the room one last time. The robots at the alleys were saddened once again, unable to fulfill any more requests until the next item fell down. How long has this bunny been here, watching them helplessly do nothing?

My empathy got the better of me. "Okay, fine, but you gotta answer all my questions," I said, walking over to it. If I was going to have it around, I might as well get some information out of it. It aggressively nodded its head, making me worry that it may accidentally fall off. "Yes, yes, okay!"

When I took it, I wasn't sure where to put it. I tried putting it on my shoulder, but it wasn't able to hold it, so I put it on the top of my hat, which it seemed pleased with. "I can see everything..." it whispered, though I guessed it was probably talking about how tall it was now.

"What's your name, kid?" it said to me. "Gregory," I responded plainly.

"Gregory? Wow, how old school! I didn't know parents still named their kids Gregory," it said, not realizing how that was more of a backhanded compliment.

Its head suddenly hung off the bridge of my hat upside down to look at my face. I almost fell backwards from the surprise. It reached out and touched my skid scars. "You've seen better days, haha! What happened?"

I had to take a minute to stop the spinning in my head that it caused. Aggravated, I shoved the bunny out of view to the back of the bridge. "Careful, I'm pretty sure I have a concussion," I said. The last thing I needed was to accidentally fall over and crush the poor thing.

"Oh no!" it yelled out. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you? What's your deal?" I asked. I started walking through the tunnel I tried to use earlier.

"My official tag is Bon Bon 2.0 Beta! But Bonnie calls me Bowtie," it said, completely forgetting about my injuries. I heard it shifting as it moved.

"Bon Bon 2.0 Beta?" I repeated. What a strange title.

"Mhmhm! I was meant to be a children's toy, but there were some 'complications about the implications of giving children self aware AI,'" it said, mocking someone else's words. If I had to guess, it was likely the one who declined the toy line. It was almost unable to say the words "complications" and "implications." Considering what's happening to the other animatronics right now, taking it off the shelves was probably a good idea.

"What about the 2.0 part? Is there another one of you?" I asked.

"Yes and no," it said. "My design is taken from an old animatronic from Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental. The original isn't around anymore, but I'm the next best thing!" I could feel its arms moving as it talked. This puppet is surprisingly expressive. And talkative. It was nice to get direct answers for once.

"Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental?" I repeated. It sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite figure out why.

"Uh huh! Ever heard of Funtime Freddy?"

"No, I haven't," I said. It sounded kind of scary. "Circus" and "Funtime'' made me think of clowns, and I was not the biggest fan of them.

"Oh, that's too bad," it said. "Funtime Freddy had a Bonnie puppet on his hand. That's where the inspiration of the toy version came from!" It crawled upwards to the edge of the hat. "That's me! I'm the toy version!" Its head popped out at me once again, and it had a wide grin on its face. I chose to ignore its bouncy energy and just let it do its thing. It clearly hasn't interacted with anyone for a while, and being able to talk to someone while I'm trapped in the dark with a half working flashlight was comforting.

"What were you doing down here?" I asked it.

It let out a sad sigh, and I felt the mood shift dramatically. "Bonnie wanted me to keep his tape safe until he came back. He wouldn't tell me anything more," it said, it's voice sounding dismal. Why would Bonnie leave it here? Does it even know Bonnie is dead? I really didn't think so, and I wasn't sure how I'd tell it.

Bonnie was certainly becoming a very mysterious character. Losing his mind during his final days, being ripped apart for one of Vanny's projects, and now some toy he hid away underneath the alleyways? I thought I understood him. Chica and Freddy praised him, and Roxy's scrapbook shed a bright light on him, but ever since talking to Monty, my mind has been filled with questions about Bonnie and who he truly was.

"Do the others know about you?" I decided to ask. I have heard absolutely no mention of this Bowtie character. Considering how close Bonnie was with the others, you'd think they'd know about its existence.

"Well, not really," it said. "I'm not even supposed to exist. After the toy was canceled, I was supposed to be canned. It was Bonnie who kept me hidden." It, too, must place Bonnie on such a high pedestal. It sounds almost as if Bonnie is the reason it's still alive.

"Why would Bonnie hide you from his friends?" I asked, though it didn't seem to have much of an answer.

"Uhm, I think he feared me being caught."

"Do you fear being caught?"

If it was going to stay with me, it may run into Monty in just a few minutes. I wasn't going to take it with me if it didn't want to be found out.

"Of course not! Anything is better than that stuffy room!" it said. Oh, so that's why it wanted me to take it with me. I figured as much. It's been a while since Bonnie died, at the very least a couple months. It's been long enough for them to replace Bonnie completely with Monty.

I stopped walking when I noticed the giant opening on the floor. I paused before continuing, letting myself concentrate on whatever was before me. I heard distant crying, and I sneaked closer to the gap.

I couldn't think about the reason for this existing right now. I looked down into the hole and saw a room. There was a grate on the floor, probably meant for the hole I was looking through. This must be how the endoskeletons got in. There was a poster on the wall of Roxy in one of the go-karts. We must be above Roxy's Raceway.

"What are you doing?" Bowtie asked me. I shushed it. "I'll explain later, just be quiet," I whispered.

I knelt down to try and get a closer look into the room. From the very far corner, I saw a shocking scene before me.

Vanny held Roxy in her arms as she cried. When I noticed Vanny, I leaned back to make sure it wouldn't see me. It may make it harder to see what was happening, but I'd much rather just listen in than risk Vanny catching me. Bowtie leaned forward, hanging off the bridge of my hat, trying to catch a glimpse as well.

Roxy's eyes were still missing. Her metal had burned and melted from the fires. It dried in awkward places, making it look as if her paint was dripping off of her. Her chest cavity was completely ripped open with wiring hanging out. It reminded me of Michael's tape where he'd severed his body as he tore out mechanical parts.

Vanny caressed Roxy's face, soothing her from her breakdown. Roxy had to kneel on her legs to be the same height as Vanny.

"Poor, sweet Roxy, a heart of gold but a face made of steel," Vanny said, holding onto Roxy tightly. It brushed Roxy's hair as it calmed her. "You want love, but could anyone love you when you look like this?"

When Roxy and I had spent time together, there was one thing that stuck with me. She was introduced to the pizzaplex in hopes of bringing an older audience, but she absolutely hated the kind of attention it gave her.

"I thought... People loved me," she whimpered. "I was beautiful. I don't understand, I did everything they asked of me."

"Don't you realize? Everybody loves you, but nobody likes you," Vanny said, tracing its hands along Roxy's stomach opening. I knew what Vanny was talking about. People loved Roxy for her outward appearance. The same could be said for the rest of the animatronics, as they're all members of the band, admired by their fans from afar, but Roxy's case was different. She was specifically designed to be appealing, while the others were meant to give children role models. I felt bad for Roxy before, but now I understand it a bit more. She wanted more than just attention, she wanted a connection with her audience. She wanted to be more than just a ploy.

"Well, they're not going to love you anymore, with you looking like this and all, haha!" Vanny chuckled.

"How rude!" Bowtie said. I moved back from the opening and grabbed it from my hat. I shushed it once again, and it covered its mouth with its tiny metallic paws. I kept it in my hand as I crawled back to the gap.

"Did you hear that?" Roxy said.

"Now you're hearing things? Jeez, no wonder everyone thinks you're such a drag," Vanny said. She let go of Roxy, letting her fall to the floor from the sudden lack of support. She broke down into more "tears," her cries getting loud by the second.

Vanny let her cry for a few moments. It just stood there, watching as Roxy started covering the top of her head with her hands. "There, there, hope's not completely lost," Vanny said, kneeling down beside her.

"Your upgrade is just about complete. Hopefully those endoskeletons got Gregory out of the bowling alleys," it said. So I was right, that claw in the back must be the upgrade Vanny wants to give to Roxy.

"Don't worry, Roxy," Vanny's voice lowered, "we'll make him pay for what he did to you." I felt Bowtie look over at me. I guessed what was going on in its head. There's no way it didn't now know I was responsible for turning Roxy into what she is now.

"Chica," Vanny suddenly said with a flick of its hand. "Take her to parts and service, I'll retrieve the upgrade." There was movement directly beneath us. I saw Chica's arm come into view. I couldn't even see her before, but sure enough she was there the whole time. Odd; she didn't react at all when Bowtie made noise.

Chica's long arms wrapped around Roxy's, their metal casing scratching along each other. Vanny turned its back away from Roxy as Chica dragged her out of the room. Roxy started crying again, but Vanny ignored it. It looked as if it was thinking of its next move. I decided it was time to move away from the opening.

With Bowtie in my hand, I started making my way back to the room beneath the alleyways. This wasn't what I had anticipated at all. I had hoped for more information about Vanny, but I was now just thoroughly confused.