Unlike the pizzaplex, the warehouse's size came from its wideness. It wasn't nearly as tall as the mall, and its roof curved inwards like a half circle. It was messy, too, but Michael had been working hard to repair everything. I don't really know the specifics of Michael's employment here, but it didn't matter to me. I got to see the animatronics whenever I wanted to, and when a coworker would see me, they'd ignore me.

Michael said I shouldn't get attached to any of them. I didn't know why, but I didn't ask. I assumed it was because of how often they'd quit. It did somewhat feel like Michael was keeping secrets from me, but I knew, whatever it was, I wouldn't be able to take it well. If he believed I shouldn't hear it, then I trusted his judgment. I could barely talk about what happened in the pizzaplex. It made sense to me why he'd keep his work life secret.

His coworkers mainly kept up maintenance repairs and organized the rentals when they were ready to be shipped out. The glamrock animatronics were added to that rental list, so sometimes a few of them would be missing, but today was a Monday, and the likelihood of any of them being rented out right now was low.

Michael opened the heavy door for me, letting me walk in first. I stepped in, glancing around at the bare walls and shiny floor.

"I gotta check on Sun and Moon," Michael told me, "so just look for the glamrocks. They'll watch you."

Guess they're back to babysitting me. I nodded. I took off my backpack and left it by the entrance, and I put Bowtie back on my shoulder. I made my way past the main office and to the rental area. Each animatronic was given their own room in a big hallway, which acted as their space to be in as they waited to be rented out again.

There was a note on the floor in the hallway, and I knelt down and picked it up. In crayon, someone had written, "Look fer ye eyes, for they shall be yer guide."

I knew exactly what that meant, and I held onto the piece of paper tighter and giggled with excitement. It was a scavenger hunt! Foxy liked organizing these whenever I came to visit. Michael must've told them he was picking me up early and was dropping me off here.

I ran down to Roxy's room, sliding a bit on the slippery floor and using the door to stop myself. She was the eyes that Foxy always referenced. I swung the door open and saw her waiting for me expectantly.

She had gotten a new paint job to change her outfit, along with new elastic hair that returned it to what she had previously. She wore a combination of red, black, and green. It covered more of her stomach and legs, and her jacket had spikes that gave off a death metal vibe.

"Roxy!" I exclaimed, and she knelt down to let me jump into her arms.

"There you are, scallywag !" she said, faking a pirate accent for the sake of Foxy's scavenger hunt. "How was your first day at school? Wait– don't tell me," she interrupted her own question, "we should get the others first."

She held me in one arm, letting me sit on her forearm and balancing myself from her upper arm and body. I handed her the slip of paper I found on the floor, and in exchange she gave me my next clue.

I read it aloud, "Hidden water, where the sun don't shine, all ye enter, shall be devoured."

Bowtie and Roxy gave each other a quick glance before simultaneously saying together, "Monty."

I laughed, and Roxy gently placed me on the ground. We roamed to Monty's room. When I opened his door, he stood in the center of his room with his arms crossed, trying to hide his sheepish smile from me by looking down.

"Monty! What's the next clue?" I said, unable to contain my excitement. He chuckled and turned away from me, shaking his head.

"It's hidden somewhere in this room," he told me. I stepped in farther and started looking around, lifting objects up and flipping things over as I tried to find the paper. It was mainly metal and scattered about parts, and things that managed to survive the fire.

I eventually found it at the bottom of a bucket, which made a little sense to me, since the clue said "hidden water." Bowtie tapped my shoulder, so I gave it to it so that it could read the clue.

"When the beast feasts, it shall leave no scraps," it said. That was Chica, obviously. I quickly ran out of the room, hearing Monty and Roxy saunter behind me.

On the way to Chica's room, I spotted Sunlite and Moonlite watching us from around the corner. When they saw I noticed them, they snuck back into hiding. I sauntered over, and when I stuck my head around the corner, I crashed my forehead against Sunlite's, and we fell over.

Sunlite and Moonlite were the original Sun and Moon, created to be my brother's babysitters. Now that there was Sun and Moon, the daycare attendant, we gave them the suffix "lite," since they were smaller. They were about as tall as I was, and it was so strange to have an animatronic be the same height as me.

"Sorry!" Sunlite and I apologized at the same time. I was resting my hand on my head to numb my pain, while Sunlite was already scrambling onto his feet. Moonlite was hiding behind him.

Sunlite offered me his hand, and when I took it, he pulled me up and said, "You should really be more careful."

"Hey! You're the one spying on us," I said.

Sunlite giggled, his spikes moving up and down with his head. "What are you playing?" he asked. Moonlite tugged on Sunlite's shoulder sleeve, trying to get him away from me.

"Foxy's set up another scavenger hunt," I told him, and I showed off the recent clue.

"Oh...! Can we join?" Sunlite asked. Moonlite groaned, giving up on getting Sunlite away.

"Sure! Let's go," I said, and the two of us bolted off to Chica's room. Moonlite stayed behind, limping slowly, and Monty scooped him up and carried him the rest of the way.

Predictably, Chica was in her room, but she was in the corner and had her arm stretched out to the tall ceiling and dangled the next clue. She laughed when she saw us enter, but she tried to keep her stance together.

"The clue!" Sunlite shouted. "Gregory, let me get on your shoulders!"

"What? But–" before I could answer completely, Sunlite had already begun climbing on my back and digging his feet onto my shoulders. He kicked Bowtie off, and when it landed on the floor, it scowled up at Sunlite and yelled, "Hey! That's my spot!" I heard Monty roar in laughter behind me, and Moonlite came by to help me balance Sunlite.

Sunlite reached his arm as far as he could, but Chica swiped her wrist and he couldn't make it to the new position.

"Moonlite, get up!" he ordered.

Moonlight spoke his first word for today, "No."

"Ugh, please?" Sunlite begged.

"...Okay," Moonlite agreed. That didn't take much convincing. He climbed on me, and I tried to ignore how much it hurt and the weight I was carrying. Moonlite made it to Sunlite's back, and with the extra few inches, he managed to grab the next clue.

I collapsed from the weight, and Sunlite and Moonlite toppled over. Sunlite was laughing, and he hastily got up and helped me stand. Moonlite got up, too, and handed me the next clue. I shook my head to clear it and to stop the spinning.

"Great job, sweet pea," Chica complimented, and she patted my head and tousled my hair. I giggled and shooed her hand away. Bowtie crawled up my leg and back to its usual spot on my shoulder.

"Uh," I stammered, trying to read the next clue. "The den of the bear, the cave of treasures, shall hold the shiniest gold of 'em all."

That one was incredibly self-explanatory. Poor Foxy probably didn't have much time to come up with these. Still, I was enjoying it nonetheless.

And so, the group of animatronics I had accumulated from the hunt followed me into "the bear's den," or Freddy's room. I went ahead and opened the door, expecting to see Freddy.

He stood there in all his Freddy glory. He already had a wide smile, anticipating seeing me. His ears twitched with excitement, and I ran up to him and jumped into his arms. He hugged me tight, and then kept his grip on me to hold me in his arms, carrying me like he was my throne. I felt tired with him holding me like this, but I tried to shrug it off.

"Freddy," I said, "where's the next clue?"

He laughed. "Why, it's in the bear's belly!" he said, and he hit his chest cavity to indicate what he meant. Suddenly, I felt afraid.

He gently put me down and opened his chest cavity. Its metal scratched on itself and revealed the endoskeleton's spine. I stepped back. Freddy noticed my discomfort and asked, "Gregory, what's wrong?"

I felt claustrophobic. I wasn't even in the hidden hatch yet and it was like the walls were beside me. I turned around so that I didn't have to look at it. I've been in there before, but the last time I was in there, it wasn't voluntary. Vanny had used it to kidnap me from the inside of Mazercise, and Freddy and I were tousled around while I was still inside. It was like I was rolling around in a hollow metal ball.

"I-I can't go in there," I replied. I could feel my blood pulsing beneath my feet and wrists, and it was nauseating.

"What? Why not?" Sunlite asked, getting close to my face. I shrieked and pushed him away. I was feeling paranoid.

At that point, the animatronics had a general understanding of what was going on, and Freddy removed the clue himself before clasping the cavity shut. The sound it made sent shivers down my spine, and I lowered my knees and bit the inside of my mouth. The animatronics then tried to surround me to comfort me, but I already felt like this room was suffocating enough, and I couldn't handle being unable to see the exit.

"No, no, back away," I said, and thankfully they did as I said.

"Gregory, tell us, what do you need?" Freddy said, switching to his console mode. He always asked before what I needed before doing anything whenever I had my moments.

"I-I need space. And air. And... uhm..." I stammered on my words, trying to think of what else would make me feel better. I looked at my animatronic friends, all standing in a line and looking worriedly at me. I glanced around me, feeling small compared to the tall walls. I closed my eyes and breathed in and out, focusing on the senses in my chest. "And the next clue," I said with a bit more steadiness.

Freddy slowly approached, and when he saw I had no problem with it, he walked a bit more confidently and handed me the paper slip. I read it aloud like I did with the others, "At the end of the cave, the beginning of light, X marks the spot with the treasure chest."

Foxy's room, which was unsurprising. It was going to be the end of the small scavenger hunt. The animatronics seemed to know, and we walked together. I tugged on Freddy's hand to indicate to him I wanted to talk, and he knelt down.

"Sorry," I apologized meekly. I felt bad for ruining a nice moment together. Freddy shook his head and said, "Don't apologize for something you can't control." He then scooped me up in his arms and carried me like he always did once again, and I let out a hearty laugh.

He carried me all the way to Foxy's room, and all the others were already there waiting for us. They stood close to the walls to give us space. Foxy had his back turned on me, but when he heard us enter, he looked over his shoulder and smirked down at me. Freddy put me down, and I walked up to Foxy.

"So, what's my prize?" I asked. Foxy turned around completely so that he no longer had to keep his head turned.

"Your prize? Isn't that a bit greedy?" he teased.

"C'mon! Please?" I said.

"But don't you get it?" he said, and he gently spun me around to face my friends. They all watched with delight, waiting for whatever kind of announcement Foxy was about to make. "We're the greatest kind of treasure you could ever ask for."

"You didn't have a prize ready, did you?" I said.

"No," he replied honestly.

I laughed and hugged him. He snickered with me and accepted the hug. Then, when he pulled back, he said, "Now, Gregory, tell us the tale of yer day at school!" His pirate accent returned.

And so I did. I embellished it a bit, of course, but I told the "tale" of my first day of school. I explained the acceptance of Bowtie in Ms. Kay's class, and the Mr. Sellers incident with the rat king. I told them how I met my friends again for the first time in a month. The main four said they recognized some of their names, which didn't surprise me. Their database probably has thousands of names and faces in them. Then I told the dramatic shift in tone when I had a meltdown and was beaten in the bathroom, and the texts I sent to Michael to pick me up. I felt like I was doing stand-up, exaggerating my expressions and overemphasizing the mood. Their gasps and awes and giggles encouraged me to talk more, and I probably said more than I should have.

I was just about finishing up when Sun walked in. We stared at the open doorway, and while most people would probably consider this embarrassing, Sun has no sense of awareness, and he ran up to me and hugged me tight, rubbing his face against mine. I pushed him back, and once he let go, I asked, "Where's Michael?"

He was supposedly helping with an issue that Sun and Moon had. If Sun was here, he was probably finished with it.

"He's in a board meeting," Sun answered.

"Board meeting? The executives are here?" Chica said. Executives?

Sun nodded his head excitedly. "They're probably gonna give Michael a promotion!" he said.

"What...? What's happening?" I asked. I felt a little lost.

"The main establishment is gone," Roxy said, "they're probably discussing what to do next."

"Maybe a new pizzeria," Freddy agreed.

"I hope it's a new pizzaplex," Monty declared. I looked at Sunlite and Moonlite, hoping for the two of them to give their opinion.

"We don't really care," Sunlite said for the two of them. "We'll probably stay here, anyway."

That was most likely true. They weren't a part of the original pizzaplex, and their hopes of being part of anything new was low.

"Don't get too excited," Foxy said, "and don't spread rumors. We don't know what they could be talking about."

"You know who could figure out what they're talking about...?" Roxy said, and she looked at me with a funny smirk.

"Nope," I said before they could even ask, "I'm not spying on Michael."

"But if Michael says anything to you," Monty said, "you'll tell us, right?"

I crossed my arms and tapped my foot, thinking. "Maybe," I teased.

"Oh, come on!" Chica insisted. "Give us this, Gregory!"

"Hey, he doesn't have to tell us anything if he doesn't want to," Freddy stated. I knew the others were fake pressuring me, but it was nice that Freddy still made sure I knew that I didn't have to if I didn't want to.

I spent more time with all of them, but eventually some of the workers arrived and demanded that the animatronics be returned to their rooms in order to properly charge them. I was thrown out of Foxy's room, and while I was a bit annoyed, I took this opportunity to look for wherever that so-called meeting was happening.

I assumed it was in the front of the warehouse where I had first walked in. A bit past the reception area, I found a room that was obviously in use, as there were words being spoken inside.

I waited for Michael outside of the meeting room, sitting by the wall on the other side of the door. I could hear the murmuring inside, but it was too muffled by the walls to hear the exact words. The door suddenly swung open, and the light that was inside the conference room crept up to me.

I looked down to avoid seeing their faces. I didn't want to know how they'd react to seeing me. I heard their feet shuffle and a few breaths of surprise, but eventually they faded away, and Michael finally walked out of the room. He held my hands and helped me stand.

"You good?" he asked me.

"Yeah," I said.

"Come here, I wanna show you something," he announced and he kept hold of me as he walked back into the conference room. Inside was a long table with chairs, a whiteboard displayed at the front, and a projector in the back. There were tons of writings and drawings on the whiteboard, and by Michael's seat was a folder full of papers and documents. He opened it and showed me a few papers, putting them on the table. I let Bowtie drop down to the table to get a look.

The paper on top looked like blueprints for a small bear. It couldn't be a full fledged animatronic like Freddy, it was far too round and didn't have the same number of joints. The name of the robot was written at the top.

"Helpy?" I read it out loud, mainly so that Michael could tell me about it.

"Look at the next one," he told me, and I shuffled through to the next document. It was very similar to Helpy's blueprints, but instead it was a chicken.

I read the name out loud once again, still a bit confused as to what Michael was showing me, "Chic?"

"One more," he said, and I rolled my eyes and looked at the next. Predictably, it was yet another small animatronic, and this one was a fox.

"And Fang," I said when I saw the name. "Michael, what are these?" I asked.

"I was thinking... Bowtie could have its own little gang," he explained, purposefully being vague.

Bowtie's eyes lit up when it realized what Michael was saying. "So, they'd be the same size as me?" it said.

"Yep," Michael confirmed, "you and them will be tiny little helpers around the new facility."

"New facility?" I said, and Michael nodded, raising his arms to show off the whiteboard. I guess the animatronics were right.

"We've been coming up with themes and names for it," he said, and he turned to read the list of them. "Freddy Fazbear's Royal Pizza Palace. Freddy Fazbear's Spectacular Space Pizzeria. Freddy Fazbear's Dollhouse Delight."

"Dollhouse? How would that work?" I said.

"Everything would be enormous! Make you feel like an ant in an oversized stadium," he told me. I shivered. I already felt small compared to the animatronics, I didn't need to be even smaller.

"That sounds terrifying," I answered.

He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's what I said, too, but they seem keen on it," he said.

"What about, instead of a pizzeria, it's an amusement park?" I proposed. "It can be like a carnival, with rides and games and prizes– oh! With a live petting zoo!" Now I was excited for something like that.

"Woah woah, don't get too worked up," he said, but then he thought about it some more, putting his hand up to his chin. "A carnival, huh... That's not a bad idea. I'll look into it." He picked up one of the expo pens and wrote "carnival," adding it to the list. I felt accomplished.

"If it gets picked, I want 70%," I joked. I knew I probably wasn't going to be paid for coming up with the idea.

"If it gets picked, I'll give you $100," Michael told me.

I was taken aback. "Wait, really?" I said.

"Yeah, why not?" he shrugged.

Well now I had an incentive to make sure it's voted upon. "Can I make posters for it?" I asked, planning to use it to advertise it to the executives.

"Sure," Michael said. I celebrated a bit on the inside. Michael grabbed the rest of his things and said, "You ready to go?"