Vanessa had her back turned to us as she hunched over on a swivel chair inside the protective cylinder, typing away at the laptop. Her hair was pulled back in her usual ponytail, poking through the security hat. Monty's body was placed in the chair, but everything beneath his chest was missing. I now saw what Vanny meant by "snapped him in half."

She hadn't noticed us yet, so we turned the corner and Michael and Sun gently placed Roxy onto the ground of sight.

"Vanessa..." Michael whispered, thinking to himself.

"She's the security guard!" Sun said, and Michael motioned with his hand for him to keep his voice low.

"She works for Vanny. Or is Vanny. I haven't figured it out yet," I said, though I was leaning more towards just working for Vanny. There was no way she'd be able to change in and out of costume fast enough as she would have to if she was Vanny.

"Now, don't be too harsh," Bowtie said from behind me. "She did save us, after all."

"She saved you?" Michael asked for clarification.

"She called the cops on me!" I refuted to Bowtie. "All she did was make it harder to get back inside."

"You wouldn't survive another minute if you didn't have that hospital break," Bowtie declared. I scowled at it. I would've been just fine!

"Now's not the time to argue," Michael interrupted. He took the crowbar from my hand and peered over the corner. "Sun, watch Gregory. I'll handle this," he said. Sun excitedly nodded.

"I can help–" I tried to refute, but Michael had other plans.

"No, you'll do as I say," he interrupted. I shrunk in place, but I nodded as well, letting Michael take the lead.

Michael peered over the corner once again and opened the doors, walking into parts and service. Sun tried to pull me away from the corner so that I couldn't look over, but I wanted to see what he'd do when he made it inside. Michael opened up the protective cylinder using the monitor, quickly rushing into the cylinder with the crowbar geared up ready to hit.

"Vanny, now is not the time!" Vanessa shouted before turning around. When she did, and was met with Michael's frame as he prepared to hit against her head, the surprise shocked her so much she dropped the laptop, causing the edges to crack. "Shit, shit!" she muttered, debating whether to pick up the laptop or lean away from Michael. She chose the latter, leaning back onto the glass window. Her face was puffy with black streaks falling down her cheeks.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked.

"Not if you give me a good reason not to," Michael replied. I hoped he was bluffing. As much as I hated her, I didn't think I could watch him kill her. Knock her out, yes, but death was a much bigger offense.

Her eyes darted around his face, but after a few moments, she dropped her shoulders and let her head fall. "I can't," she murmured through her hands.

Michael lifted his hand further in preparation, and she turned her head and embraced for impact. Michael's arm shook before he dropped his stance, letting out a sigh. Vanessa covered her head with her arms, still waiting for Michael to hit her.

"I can't do it," Michael mumbled. Vanessa looked back at Michael, but she still seemed unsure. He pointed the crowbar at her to stay on the defensive side, not quite putting his guard down completely. "A-Are you okay? You look like you've been crying," he stammered, seeming not quite sure if he should break her or console her. I let out an exasperated gasp, though I don't think they could hear me from this distance. Really, Michael?

Vanessa wiped the makeup that stained her face. "No– well yeah, but, uhm, I'm fine," she stuttered. Michael took a few steps back, not breaking eye-contact with her, and forced the door to the protective cylinder shut, locking the two of them inside. He wanted to talk to her more, but he couldn't completely trust that she'd behave. She seemed to understand this.

"You're– you're Michael, aren't you?" Vanessa said. He nodded. She put her hands anxiously on her lap before resting her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. "You look... the same, but different."

"And you're Vanessa," Michael said. "Vanny's lackey."

"Uhm... yeah," she said, putting her head down.

"What are you doing here?" Michael asked.

"Vanny, uh, wanted me to put Monty back together but I-I don't know the first thing about robotics," she admitted.

"Then why make you do it?"

"She's pissed at me. She'll be even more pissed when she finds out about... this," Vanessa moved her hand between her and Michael. "But, er, you know a lot about these animatronics, don't you?" she asked.

"I'm not going to fix Monty for you," he immediately replied. At least he wasn't that dense. If Vanny wanted work done on Monty, chances are he'd be altered just like the others by now.

Vanessa chuckled a little. "I-I didn't expect you to... but I do have this," she said as she pulled out the chip from her back pants pocket. It had a green "M" keychain on it.

"Why do you have that?"

"Vanny wanted me to destroy it," she said. Her voice was scattered when she talked about Vanny. Her sadness and guilt was easy to spot, but I was still convinced it was all an act.

"You don't seem all that excited about Vanny," Michael commented. He must've picked up on it too.

"Probably because she's going to kill me soon," Vanessa said.

"What? Why?"

"I let Gregory go."

She threw me out in the blistering cold in the middle of the night, but I supposed she did get me out of the pizzaplex. She also called the cops for me so that I wouldn't sit out there too long.

"Let him go? What do you mean?" Michael asked. We'd just talked about it briefly, but I guess Bowtie and I didn't give many details.

"This cylinder... It's got a built-in scooper. Did you know that?" she said, somewhat avoiding a direct answer.

"Uhm, yes," Michael replied, unsure of where she was going with this. I didn't tell him outright, but he was able to pick up on my cues that this is where Vanny had attempted to scoop me.

"Vanny thought it'd be poetic if Gregory died here," Vanessa continued her story. "She hadn't been expecting him to escape. When I found him... he looked awful."

I didn't know what I looked like, but I certainly wasn't in the best condition. I had just almost died. I couldn't imagine how horrified I must've seemed.

"...Vanny said I succumbed to my empathy," Vanessa muttered. "It won't be long before she finally decides to cut me off."

She was going to die because she let me leave? Vanessa was so confusing. But even so, I'd feel horrible if she died because she threw me out. Did she really betray Vanny for me? I thought everything before was just an act, but she seemed to be genuinely in distress.

"Why don't you just leave?" Michael asked.

"She'd find me eventually," Vanessa replied ominously.

I couldn't keep waiting. I stepped out from the corner and into parts and service. Bowtie tapped on my neck, trying to tell me to go back, and Sun grabbed onto the back of my shirt before I managed to make it out. Still, Vanessa saw me and rushed to the glass. Michael stepped in front of her, worried she was charging at me, but she just moved to the side to be able to see me without Michael blocking her view.

"Gregory? What are you doing here?" she shouted.

"Step back!" Michael yelled, pushing her away. Though, with the glass between us and the door shut tight, he had nothing to worry as long as Vanessa stayed away from the tarp that covered the broken window. Sun approached and pulled me away from the glass as well, and I tried to swat his hand away.

Vanessa shook her head, desperately placing her hands on the glass. "No, no! You're supposed to be long gone from here!"

"Vanny won't kill you now, right?" I said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Except now she'll be after you again!" she yelled. She knelt down on her knees, making us the same height. "Why? Why would you come back?"

I couldn't just outright say the answer. I could think about shouting Vanny killed my mom! but actually saying it was another story. I just glanced down at the ground, unable to look Vanessa in the eyes.

"I-I had to! Someone has to stop Vanny!" I stammered.

"That person doesn't have to be you!" she said.

Michael grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back from the window again, this time slamming her against the chair that Monty laid on. He pressed the crowbar against her neck horizontally while she kept her hands up in surrender.

"No more sudden movements!" he demanded of her.

"I-I wasn't going to hurt him! Are you insane?" Vanessa said.

"Why should I trust that?" Michael said. She looked around, noticing Sun behind me. She glanced back at Monty in the chair.

"Your plan's to upload their old personalities, right?" she asked, though she seemed to already know the answer. If Vanny ordered her to destroy the chips, it was obvious what our plan was, especially if Sun was now back to normal. "Here," she said, dangling Monty's chip and slowly giving it to Michael. He swiped it out of her hand before she could rethink the decision.

"You'd hand it over just like that?" Michael asked, almost not believing it.

"I can't keep helping Vanny," Vanessa said. She chuckled a bit, letting her shoulders slide down. "She always said I was too sentimental," she added.

Michael dropped his protective stance and began to laugh. Vanessa gave me a weird look, as if to ask if this was normal. I gave her an unsure shrug.

When his laughter ceased, he offered Vanessa a hand. She gently placed hers into his palm, and he gave her a firm handshake and giggled before he said, "Guess you're with us now."

She was just as surprised as I was. "What? Really?" she said, not trusting Michael's words. She stepped back, but she ended up hitting the glass window of the cylinder. She must've forgotten they were still inside.

"You'll be like our spy on the inside," Michael said.

Vanessa glanced around, especially between me and Michael. "She has eyes and ears everywhere. She probably already knows we're talking," she said anxiously. That spy plan can't really work if Vanny was aware of Vanessa's betrayal.

"All the more reason to join us," Michael replied. Vanny wouldn't be pleased about her giving him Monty's chip. "You said Vanny's going to kill you. Why are you still following her orders then?"

Vanessa nervously scratched her arm and looked away. She bit back whatever answer she had. Now that I could see her face much more clearly, she looked exhausted, as if she hadn't slept in days. Not only did she have tear streaks left over from stained makeup, but her dark circles were unnaturally deep. Her skin was paler than I remembered, but I couldn't tell if it was from the lighting in the room or if she wasn't feeling well.

"Okay, fine," she sighed. Michael smiled before turning to Monty and lifting his head, inserting the chip into the crevice behind his neck.

"All that's left is Chica and Freddy. Should be easy enough once Roxy and Monty wake up," Michael commented. He looked back at Monty, examining his broken body. There was gonna have to be a lot of work done if we wanted Monty to even be able to walk.

"Sun, open the door," Michael ordered. He pressed buttons on the outside monitor that allowed the door to parts and service. Michael took Vanessa by the hand and passed her over to Sun.

"Here's what we're gonna do," Michael relayed the plan to us, "Vanessa, you pry off that claw face Roxy has while I try to get Monty a pair of legs. Sun will keep an eye on you."

"I just told you I'm not good with robots," Vanessa said. She didn't mention anything about Sun watching her, but she probably understood that Michael reasonably still had some doubts.

"It's poorly screwed on. Just turn the screws until they pop off," Michael replied, giving Vanessa the crowbar he had used to threaten her with. He grabbed hold of my hand and walked by the endoskeleton cages. I heard Sun and Vanessa move out of parts and service and pick up Roxy while Vanessa complained from afar.

He opened his backpack and took out two paper clips. He started to pick at the lock of one of the cages until he heard a click. He removed the lock and pulled the endoskeleton from inside the cage to the floor. He twisted a knob at its waist until it came loose, removing its hip and legs from its body. Wordlessly, he took the parts with him into the protective cylinder and started working on Monty.

I knew he probably wanted me to stay by his side, as evident from him taking my hand without a word, but I wanted to see if Vanessa was doing as she was told. I slowly crept out, and while I did I heard Bowtie ask, "What are you doing?" I couldn't answer it as I had already turned around the corner.

Vanessa knelt beside Roxy's limp body with the crowbar in hand. Sun stood directly behind her, casting his shadow upon her and Roxy. He leaned over to watch closely at her picking at the seams.

"Ugh, after all the time Vanny took putting this on," Vanessa muttered as she turned the knobs of nails on Roxy's cheek.

"You saw Vanny put this on Roxy?" Sun asked. I couldn't believe he was asking reasonable questions.

"No, but she complained to me about how she cut up her fingers whenever she touched it," she explained. I glanced at her hands. They had no cuts or wounds, unlike mine.

I finally affirmed to myself that Vanessa was not Vanny. It was true that touching Roxy's new gadget would scratch skin. My hands weren't bleeding anymore, but that feeling of stinging has yet to dissipate. If Vanessa had put together Roxy, she would've had those scars as well. Maybe it was circumstantial, but there were too many coincidences that led to one another.

"Why won't this come off?" Vanessa complained.

Sun let out a hand. "Let me try!" he said.

"No, I think I trust you less than Michael," she replied. I sort of understood what she meant. I knew Sun was harmless, but he felt too uncanny. Giving him a weapon that he could aimlessly whack around was frightening.

"Awh, c'mon," Sun sighed. "I've got robot strength!"

I could keep eavesdropping on them, but I figured Sun could handle her. She didn't seem to make any advancements that'd set us back, anyway.

I stepped back into parts and service, and Michael noticed my reentry. "How is she?" he asked. He must've known I went to check up on her.

"Surprisingly cooperative," I said.

"That's good. Hey, can you fetch a pair of hands?" he asked.

"Hands?"

"Monty's hands are gone, for some reason. Just find a pair, any of them should work," he explained.

Monty's claws were gone. Fabulous. Something told me that it wasn't another casualty from the fight, but rather Vanny must've stolen them. For what, I wasn't not sure, but it gave me an uneasy feeling. Still, I did as he asked and peeked through one of the side rooms. I knew one of them was full of Sun and Moon parts, but there were still more that I hadn't checked. I eventually found a left over pair of green hands gloved in black. They must've been the old parts Monty used before his claw upgrade. I came out with them in hand, and Michael stepped out of the cylinder to retrieve them before going back to Monty's side.

I hesitated before following him inside. I didn't want to just stand uselessly while he worked hard to make Monty mobile, but standing in there after what happened with the scooper made me feel agitated. I reluctantly stepped in and stood by his side, watching him mess with Monty's parts.

"Hi," I said, trying to grab Michael's attention. He turned to me, surprised to see me inside. "Hello," he chuckled, not mentioning that I was in the cylinder with him. "Hey," Bowtie said, joining in on our circle of greetings.

"Can I help?" I asked.

"Sure. Go to the other side," he said. I moved to the other side of the operation chair and moved Vanessa's swivel seat she was using earlier so that I could put my knees on it to reach higher.

"There should be a little red button on his spine. Can you press that?" he asked. I peered inside, as Monty was missing everything beneath his chestplate. I saw the red button Michael was talking about and pressed it like he had asked of me.

"Do you trust Vanessa?" I asked bluntly.

"I don't know," he answered honestly, lowering his voice. He must be worried that she could somehow hear us. "But if we want her to trust us, we have to trust her. It's a two-way street."

"I, for one, trust her," Bowtie said proudly.

"But she's on Vanny's side!" I replied. Then I realized that Bowtie's only interaction with Vanessa was when she had kicked us out. It hadn't seen the way she had locked me up to get me in police custody, or how she talked to someone while Roxy and I spied on her.

Michael laughed. "Not for much longer. You heard what she said," he assured. Michael wasn't aware of any of this either. I supposed there wasn't really anything bad from her compared to Vanny. Everything could be chalked up to her just doing her job, but the one thing I couldn't explain was her talking to someone in the mirror. It was strange.

"About letting me go?" I asked.

He nodded. "I owe her."

"No you don't," I refuted. She didn't do anything for him.

"Gregory, you may not want to admit it, but she saved you. I'm... grateful she did," he professed. I looked away anxiously. In the entrance of parts and service, I could see Sun's and Vanessa's shadows move and heard their murmuring as they talked.

Michael removed whatever metal that couldn't be used anymore from below Monty's waist and tossed it to the side. He then inserted part of the endoskeleton hip he had taken into his spine. "On three, push that red button again, and hold it down. One, two, three," he counted down, and once the third number came I pushed it again as Michael shoved it in further and turned it to the side, locking it in place.

"Did you ever build animatronics with your son like this?" I asked nervously. I knew his kid was just as interested in engineering as he was. Michael glanced up at me with a dumbfounded look, but he slowly nodded.

"Uhm, yes, actually," he said. I bit timidly into my cheek, chewing on my own flesh. "You look like you wanna say something," Michael observed. I did, but I didn't think it was appropriate to say it in front of him. "Well, go on then. Otherwise, you might explode," he teased.

I took a deep breath before I said slowly, "It's just... you guys got along so well. It's cool that you two bonded over this. I think I'm a little jealous, but that's weird, right?" My father wasn't present, and I resented him for leaving. If I had someone like Michael around when I was a bit younger, maybe I wouldn't be in this mess. "We're doing the same things you two used to do. It's weird, but it's also kind of nice?" I stammered. It was strange to think we were already acting like the two of them, knowing that he'd helped Michael in the past.

Michael just stared at me, flabbergasted. I shrunk in place out of embarrassment. "Sorry, that's stupid. Forget I said anything," I apologized. I couldn't believe I just implied I was like his dead son. That sounded so insensitive! I covered my face with my hands, hoping Michael would just move on.