What lies in the shadows~~~ Michael Afton x Reader

Chapter 11

"Why don't you stick around and see? Just don't stare at them, and you'll get your answer." I reply to him.

Gregory grabs the badge from the desk. When he does, the endoskeletons lurch forward. Both Michael and I have to dodge being grabbed and taken to who knows where.

"I believe you now!" Michael calls as we run out of the room in the direction we came. We reach the vent, and I make sure I let Gregory go first. I try to usher Michael in, but he refuses to let me go last. So I quickly go in, followed by Michael not too long after.

We make it back safely to parts and services. Gregory passes me the card, and I swipe it. I motion for them to keep it down as we walk in. A muffled voice comes from the service center. I recognize it immediately as Vanessa's. We peek around the window and listen to the conversation happening before us.

"I found him earlier with (Y/n). I locked them up in lost and found."

"That is great news! He can be returned to his family!" Freddy's voice sounds hopeful.

"He can't! Turns out, there's no record of him!" Vanessa states

"How unfortunate. If you reattach my head, I will go look for him now."

"His name is Gregory... You know how I know that? His Fazwatch kept repeating it. In your voice... 'Gregory? Are you there? Gregory?'" Vanessa mocks him.

I panic as I watch Freddy come up with an excuse. "Vanessa, all the Fazwatches sound like me. That is the default voice option."

"If you're part of this, you are scrap. Monty will run the shows until parts and services can slap your casing on a new endo. I've already got that nosy mechanic helping the kid. I don't need you helping him either. Hang out here for a while. I gotta find that kid." Vanessa angrily storms off as Freddy calls for her to help him.

After Vanessa has disappeared, Gregory rushes in, followed by Michael and me. Gregory calls out to him.

"You three! I'm so glad you are alive! Use the console to let me out of here."

"Before I can do that, Freddy, I need to run a quick diagnostic test. Figure out what's causing the system errors." Freddy tries to deny it, but I don't give him the time of day.

"Vanessa had a service bot run some routine maintenance. I am functioning much more better... now. Huh? Grammar function error... Perhaps I am still not at peak performance."

"See, I'm telling you. It's always best to check after the service bots. They always miss something." I head over to the console, where I begin the diagnostics test. The test results show a few of his wires have gone bad and must be replaced immediately.

"The bot missed a wiring issue. I think I have some new wires in my office. I'll be right back."

I head to my office to look for the wires. I fear I won't have them, though, and the stress of what I'm going to do if I don't starts to set in. Parts are usually ordered as needed. I hear footsteps behind me, but I assume they are Gregory's.

I enter the office and make a beeline for the closet. I yank the door open and begin rummaging through all of the clutter inside. I sit down and begin searching through all the boxes I pulled out. Shifting through the boxes, the stress only rises as I can't find them after checking the fourth box. I only have two more to check. It's important that these wires get replaced. If I let Freddy continue to operate with them, they could possibly short-circuit and destroy all of his programs and systems.

"Would you like some help?" A smooth British voice sounds from beside me as he places a hand on my lower back. I jerk away from his touch and cry out.

"Please! Don't touch me right now!" My eyes squeeze shut, trying to fight back the tears threatening to fall.