When I opened my eyes, everything was indistinguishable. I was laying on my side, my arms stretched out in front of me. My limbs were too stiff to move, effectively paralyzing me in place. I forced myself to slow my breathing before I freaked myself out too much, trying to find some common ground as to where I was. I tried remembering everything that happened before this moment.

I was sedated. Moon had given me some kind of drug to put me to sleep. Michael and Sun rushed to my aid, and I remembered Michael lulling me to sleep as he massaged my face. Are they here now? I wished they were and I just couldn't see them.

The ceiling was bright. It was really the only thing I could view. The ground felt hard and cold, and my shoulder blade dug into it uncomfortably. I felt queasy, but I couldn't force myself to let it out.

I heard some muffled noise to my side, as if it was blocked by something. I tried my best to look past my own arm, though it was hard to see further than that. Still, I did see that there was a wall of... something beside me. My sight still hadn't fully recovered, but it was brown and rigid. It didn't reach the ceiling, making it possible to hop over if necessary.

I listened as best as I could, but I couldn't make out any words. I wanted to let out a noise to let whoever was there know I was here, but nothing came out of my mouth. There was something blocking the back of my throat, and if I didn't get it out soon I feared I'd start to suffocate.

I tried moving my hand. It was slow, but soon enough I managed to move my wrist far enough to lift it off the ground. I then attempted to move my arm, and I steadily began regaining control over my body. Once I lifted my chest off the ground, I started coughing, banging on my ribs to get whatever was blocking my airways.

"Gregory?" I heard Michael yell. The first word I've heard since waking up, and it was crystal clear. I wanted to yell something back, but I couldn't. The wall of what I now recognized as stacked, empty cardboard boxes collapsed to the floor as he pushed it over and dropped beside me.

"You're awake!" he yelled too loudly, hurting my ears. He pulled me close to him and gave me a hug, but I couldn't give the gesture back.

"Are you okay? How do you feel?" he quickly asked.

"I think... I'm gonna be sick," I answered honestly. Michael handed me one of the empty boxes and said, "I was prepared for that."

I hunched over and emptied my stomach into it as Michael rubbed my back. "Let it out," he assured softly. He left my side for a brief moment and returned with my backpack in hand, pulling out a plastic water bottle and giving it to me.

I really didn't want to put anything down my stomach right now, but I went ahead and took a gulp to appease Michael. I was surprised by how thirsty I was; I had half the bottle before I felt like throwing up again.

Once it was over, I laid down on the floor in exhaustion. I was covered in sweat, and I wiped my face with my elbows, though it wasn't that effective. "Feeling any better?' Michael asked, kneeling beside me. I glared at him with an irritated look.

"I feel... foggy," I said quietly. I didn't have a lot of energy. If it weren't for Michael talking to me, I was sure I'd pass out again.

Michael laughed. "Well, at least you're awake," he said.

I did feel much better compared to when I woke up. The room stopped spinning and a heavy weight was lifted from me. Michael suddenly pulled my arms up, giving me another embrace as we sat on the floor. "I was so worried," he whispered, scrunching the hair on the back of my head with his hand.

I was still in place before I wrapped my arms underneath his, giving him my own hug. I rested my ear against his heart and listened to it thump. I exhaled a big breath, allowing my shoulders to shrug and letting out a small giggle.

"What's so funny?" Michael asked, laughing along with me and loosening his grip.

"Nothing, just... you give... hugs a lot," I murmured. I couldn't talk much, but I held on tighter to his coat.

"I do?" Michael said, somewhat surprised. He let go of me and moved away. "Sorry, I'll stop," he apologized, looking down at the floor. He must've thought I was implying that they made me uncomfortable.

It certainly felt like it, but I wasn't going to tell him to stop. "No, not that," I stammered. I wanted to say more, but I couldn't talk much in my state. Besides, it'd be too embarrassing to admit that I appreciated them. I just wasn't used to being hugged so often. Mom would rarely hug me. She only did during her meltdowns, and she'd cry out my brother's name, so it never really felt like she was hugging me, but more trying to hug him and using me as a surrogate. It felt nice to be seen as me for once.

"So... it's okay?" he asked. I didn't have much strength, so I just nodded. He smiled and helped me sit up against the wall. He sat beside me, and we kept our backs straight as we waited for my energy to replenish. I still felt like I couldn't stand up, but at least I was able to somewhat move my upper body.

While tilted on Michael's side, I fought myself from slipping in and out of consciousness. I was still so fatigued, but it wasn't the same impending doom as before. I realized Sun and Bowtie weren't around, and I struggled to get the words out to ask Michael about it, but he patted his hand on my side, keeping me awake.

"Where's Sun and Bowtie?" I finally managed to say. I was slowly but surely recovering.

"Scouting the area," Michael said.

"For what?" I asked.

"Vanny, or any sign of the other animatronics," he replied.

" What ?" I said. I wanted to shout but I couldn't talk that loud. What would happen if they had a run in with Vanny? Sun's too oblivious to fight back, and Bowtie is the size of a plushie. They'd be absolutely mauled if they were found.

"They wanted to take a look around. They'll be back any minute," Michael said.

What if Vanny takes over Moon again? Or Sun? Or crushes Bowtie? It wouldn't be able to run off on its own! Oh God, if anything happened to those three, it could set back the progress we made, or maybe Vanny would find out about us hiding in the pizzaplex. My anxiety started coming back, and it mixed with my wearied self in the worst way possible. I grabbed onto Michael's arm for support as I started breathing quickly.

"Gregory, don't worry," Michael said softly, getting up and kneeling in front of me. He placed his hands on my shoulders, trying to stop me from hyperventilating. "If anyone's nimble enough to get away from Vanny, it's Sun," he said.

I still wasn't fully convinced everything would be fine, but I had no energy to argue. Michael had no idea what Vanny was capable of. I knew I was going to face her again eventually, but I needed it to be once everyone had returned. Without her control over them, I was confident things could go smoothly, but meeting her while we were unprepared would be disastrous. She had staged an attack on Chica while we were playing, and I never even saw her. She used her to gain control over Roxy. She rewrote Freddy's code, uploading it before I could even hope to prevent it. I haven't even seen what she's done to Monty, but I saw the state she was in after their fight, and since she had so obviously won, I didn't know if I wanted to find his mangled body or an evil Monty more. She killed my mother while I was in the hospital. I was terrified of her.

Michael saw that his reassurance wasn't helping, so he tried to distract my mind from it. "Look," he said, opening his arms up, "we're in Sun's room. You asked him to let you see it, right? You made it."

I had asked Sun if I could see it. A long time ago, on the first night I was here. He must've told Michael the story of our first meeting.

I looked around. It was a small room, and one wall had stairs leading to some sort of balcony. The floor was covered in toys and drawings made from kids. The cardboard boxes from before were empty, but the ones that were farther away still had styrofoam in them. It was kinda underwhelming, but Sun himself had said that there was nothing exciting in here when I had first asked.

"It was the most inconspicuous place we could think of," Michael explained. They probably didn't want to be in parts and service for too long. Vanny is also tech savvy, and it wouldn't be surprising if she used that room often.

There was a pile of metal and scraps in the corner. I weakly pointed to it and asked, "What's that?"

"That? Oh," Michael said, picking up some of the things from the floor. He walked back to me with them in hand and sat down beside me.

"Just some work I did while you were asleep," he said. He placed everything beside him, showing me each thing individually. First, he picked up some small contraption stuck together through a short wire, connecting bone-like metal. The sides were symmetrical, with a round disk rotating as the bottom limb moved from its fake cartilage.

"Rabbit feet," Michael declared. He pushed on the limbs, and I watched them move together as if it were trotting. "Bowtie will be able to hop like a real bunny. See?" he said. He gently placed it in my hand, and I moved around the framing. I giggled at the idea of Bowtie hopping around. It'd be like a real pet then.

"Oh! And this," Michael said. He picked up two nearly identical items. Their shape reminded me of the Fazer Blaster I had used, but it's pointer was much thicker and shorter, with handles on one side. "It shoots out electromagnets that temporarily stun animatronics. I'd been testing it on Sun," he said. "It hasn't accidentally broken him yet. It should be safe for us to use if we have to."

"Does it hurt them?" I asked. I really didn't want to have to cause the animatronics any more pain than they already were in.

"Sun described it 'a very intense tickle,'" Michael said, trying to mimic Sun's voice and tone. I chuckled at his horrible impression.

"Does Sun have one?" I asked, knowing he was out there with Bowtie trying to get the lay of the land.

"I wanted to make him one," Michael admitted, "but when he uses it, it manages to stun him. Besides, I didn't grab enough materials to make three. Let me show you how it works."

He held one in both hands, grasping the bottom fastener and aiming in front of him. He clicked the trigger with his finger, and it made a small fling sound. The electromagnets Michael described were invisible, so it was impossible to see where it would hit, but since Sun wasn't able to use it, it's likely that it shoots out in all directions. He then pulled on a handle on the side and reeled it back, a sound following with it.

"You have to gear it up again like this," Michael explained. He gently let go of the handle and then pulled back again, repeating the process until a loud whir noise followed. He then passed it to me and said, "You try."

I took it with one hand and aimed outwards. Michael placed my other hand around the gun and said, "You'll need to use both hands. It's a lot of energy." I nodded and locked my elbows, preparing to shoot. When I hit the clasp, the stun gun fired a ton of energy, flinging back. I flinched from the surprise, keeping my arms in place to prevent it from hurling into my face. From the way Michael held it, I hadn't expected the force to be so strong.

"Good! Now, charge it back up," Michael said. I grabbed the handle and pulled, but it didn't move. I pushed the gun against the floor as I pulled back, until I finally managed to pull the handle and string from the stun gun. I released it and pulled it back again, just as Michael had done. The sound of it indicating it had been filled up played and I let go.

Michael placed his hand on my shoulder and said, "Great job." He took it from me and put one stun gun into his backpack and one into mine. "It's still somewhat unpredictable. It doesn't really aim well... So, until I've fixed that, it'll be a last resort kind of thing."

I nodded in understanding. If Sun and the other animatronics were to join us, and shooting it not only stunned the "bad" animatronic that we were aiming at but also our allies, it wouldn't be entirely useful.

He picked up some paper, still having things to share with me. How long was I out for? He'd managed to make two stun guns, a prototype for movable feet for Bowtie, and now whatever this was. He tilted them to me to show me.

"Woah," I gasped. It was a bunch of artwork and doodles he had made with a spare pen he must've found. There was a collection of Bowtie, specifically of it with legs. Michael used his drawings to visualize what its inner-workings would be like to implement them. One page was covered in drawings of Sun.

"Sun was really excited to pose," Michael muttered. I could tell he was. His poses were eccentric and wild, but Michael's line work seemed as if he had enjoyed it. There was one with him doing a handstand as Bowtie sat nervously atop his shoes.

"I didn't know you were an artist," I lied. I knew he was good at drawing since I had seen his so-called 'thought journals,' but he had no idea I looked through one of them. That journal must've been old. His improvement was astounding.

"It's part of designing an animatronic," he said, shrugging. I hadn't thought about that before, but it made sense. If you're to build a moveable sculpture, drawing it would be an effective way of putting it down on paper. Literally.

I took some more of his papers from his hands and tried to find some of my favorite pieces. He had made a sketch of the layout of the room we were in. Sun was there, hanging from the ceiling with Bowtie in its hands. There was a scribble on the floor, which I thought indicated where I was in the room.

"Do you draw often?" I asked.

"Meh, sometimes. It calms me," he said. I remembered his expressive doodles in his journal from before. I wished I had talent like this, or just talent in general. It'd be cool to show off a skill that not everyone had.

"What made you start making animatronics anyway?" I suddenly asked. I believed he just continued the family business, but he so clearly hated his father, so why did he? I couldn't ask him about his thoughts on his dad, but I could try to get him to mention it first.

Michael scrunched his face together as he thought. "I hated them for a really long time," he admitted, "but an old friend of mine said I had some natural talent."

"Who?"

"Uhm... my dad's old partner."

"Your dad didn't make you?" I asked. I had thought his dad would've been the one to make him run the family business.

Michael stifled a laugh. "He tried! He tried..." His voice became sad near the end, but he shook it off. "But we had different goals. He built animatronics that were specifically designed to hurt people," he choked out. He couldn't look me in the eye when he talked about his dad.

"Why?" I pushed further.

"Remember remnant?" he asked me. I nodded in response. It came from people's souls or whatnot. Michael had said people have to die in order to harvest it. The realization clicked. His father built robots to kill people. "Oh," I breathed out, letting Michael know I knew what he meant.

Animatronics that were built to kill... Michael's animatronics were being altered in order to do the same thing. I couldn't imagine what was running through his head when he witnessed Moon almost stab my eye out in the salon. He clearly wanted his inventions to be anything but killing machines.

"Don't worry," Michael tried to assure me, "his robots are long gone now. I made sure of that." He reached out beside him and dragged my backpack over, rummaging through inside. "Are you hungry?" he asked, pulling out some of the leftover snacks.

"No," I said, shaking my head. My stomach still felt like it was turned in knots. Besides, if I end up feeling nauseous again, I'd rather already be empty.

"Can you walk yet?" Michael asked. I still haven't stood up on my feet since waking up. I shrugged. "C'mon then," he said, standing up and offering his hands to help me. I placed mine into his and he heaved me up. I wobbled a bit, using Michael as support, but I was able to stand on my own.

"When will Sun and Bowtie be back?" I asked.

"I don't know. They didn't leave that long ago," he admitted. "They started getting angsty. You were asleep for a really long time." Both Sun and Bowtie were impatient. I just stared up at him, waiting for him to talk more.

Michael looked away, thinking of what to say. "Gregory, I-I wasn't sure if you would wake up," he said honestly. Now I saw the emotion littered over his face. There was relief, of course, but also a deep fear and sadness. "Seeing you like that... God, I had never been more scared," he said. That meant a lot, coming from the guy who had his insides scooped out. He was shaking a bit.

"Did you think I was going to die?" I asked, surprised. I certainly felt like I was going to die, but from the way he reacted, he made it seem like it wasn't that big of a deal.

"I still have no idea what Moon gave you and how much it was," Michael said, dodging a direct answer to my question, though it certainly implied a "Yes."

"Then why were you so calm?" I said. He was mad at Moon, but to me he seemed collected enough to come up with some sort of plan.

"Gregory, I was anything but calm. I just... I didn't want you to be scared," he said.

There was a brief pause. "How long was I out?" I asked.

"I don't know. Eight hours, maybe ten. My phone died, so I don't have a clock on me anymore," he said, pulling it out. He tried to turn it on, but the empty battery signal was the only thing that shone on the screen. He sighed as he put it back into his pocket. "Part of me just wants to take you out of here and never return," he confessed.

"Why don't you?" I asked.

"I can't run away from here anymore, I guess," he said. He had a deep history with the pizzaplex, with his family ties, work as the designer, and son going missing inside.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, looking down at the floor. Michael touched my shoulder and leaned down.

"What are you apologizing for?" he asked lightheartedly. I shrugged.

"I don't know. Everything?" I said. I had dragged him into this half-assed plan to defeat Vanny. I brought him from his new life across the country to where he experienced some of the most pain and suffering he's ever endured. I felt horrible about what happened to his son and his siblings, and it just felt like apologizing was the only thing I could do to make up for it.

Michael hugged me again, marking the third time since I woke up, not that I was counting. "None of this is your fault," he assured me, but I knew what wasn't true. Returning to the pizzaplex was entirely my idea. He wouldn't have to be here in this situation if it weren't for me.

There was a loud sound from outside Sun's room. Michael quickly let go of me and crouched over to the balcony, looking over suspiciously to see who had opened the daycare's doors.

"Yahoo!" A voice yelled. I followed Michael to see who it was.

"Sun!" I yelled out, though my voice was still weak. Michael let out a sigh of relief.

"Get up here! Gregory's woken up!" Michael shouted down to them. Sun quickly hopped through the play structures until he eventually reached onto the balcony. I saw that Bowtie was clutched around Sun's hand.