Software Error

Treatment

Gregory runs up to the computer by the cylinder. "It says here we can upgrade you, Freddy. Your power, better eyes, claws, voicebox... Freddy, we need these!" "Aren't those my friends' upgrades? We can't take those from them." Gregory looks annoyed at Freddy's kindness. "Ugh, fine. Let's get your battery upgraded at least." A kind of cheesy, corporatey voice echoes from the speakers when Gregory selects that option. "Please enter the protective cylinder." Gregory tries to go forward but I halt him. "M-maybe I should do this o-one Gregory. It m-might be dangerous." He looks at me when I say that. But I wanted to-" I interrupt. "Gregory. L-let me do it. Don't make me s-say it again." Gregory grumbles as I enter the protective cylinder.

"Y-you think after we p-patch you up F-Freddy you g-guys could patch me u-up? I h-have the other Lyle's v-voicebox." "Definitely Lyle." In the cylinder, I notice how Freddy's head is not attached to his endo. "To reconnect Freddy's head, repeat the correct sequence as shown." Buttons then proceed to light up in an order. In which I do so. "U-um, isn't this just S-Simon says?" Gregory who was peering into the cylinder agrees. "Yeah, I thought it would've been some tech mumbo jumbo." The voice echoes again. "Great job. Now use the testing console to run diagnostics and complete the procedure." I back up to yet another colored button thing, and they once again are exactly like Simon says.  "W-why even have it be l-like this? Couldn't y-you just skip the p-person part if the m-machine does everything else?" Regardless I follow instructions.

After Freddy is back in tip-top shape Gregory doesn't forget to chastise me. "See Lyle, I would have been fine." "W-well, we didn't k-know how it went a-about repairs." "Yeah yeah, now get on the doctor's table big guy. I don't want to hear your glitchy voice all night." Freddy chimes in. "I don't know Gregory. It's kind of grown on me." "Hardee-har," Gregory replies. I walk into the chamber and sit down on the doctor's chair-like apparatus. I'm a bit nervous considering what happened the last time I sat in this chair. Please enter the protective cylinder." Freddy copies what I did and blocks Gregory from entering. I can see him pout from the corner of my eye. "It seems like Lyle is greatly damaged. Let's get him fixed up. Please proceed with the voicebox replacement procedure. Place the spare voicebox on the tray to begin." Freddy grabs the voice box from my hand and follows the instructions. "To disconnect Lyle's damaged voicebox. Enter the correct sequence shown." With Freddy's being a robot and all. The procedure finishes without a hitch. Couldn't fix the small blemishes on me or the lacking power state, but I'm happy with what happened.

"I can speak normally now." My once glitchy, somewhat raspy voice getting replaced by my original voice. Articulate and crisp, but someone dork-ish. "Wow. Your voice is somehow exactly how I imagined it sounding." I rub my head in embarrassment. "Is that a compliment?" "No, it's a statement." "Right..."

"Now that we've gotten ourselves all fixed up, let's go get that party pass from Chica's room Gregory." "Right!" Gregory climbs inside Freddy's chest cavity, which is understandable. I think if the other animatronics saw me they'd charge me down. For Freddy, they'll probably assume that whatever problems he had got fixed. Should probably be cautious around Chica though. "Um, Freddy." "Yes, Lyle?" "We should... split up, right? If they spot me walking with you they'll assume something is wrong." Freddy pauses to think. "Yes, you may be right. But where will you go?" "I dunno... I was hoping you would have an idea." "Hmmm. Maybe you could explore the pizza plex? This night has made me feel that something is not quite right here. And I would like to get to the bottom of it." I toss my head back and forth. Sounds reasonable, if I don't do this I'll just be dead weight for the team anyway. "I'll look around then. See what I can find." "Okay, contact us if you need anything. We'll do the same." And with that, we split.

I'm a bit sad to be away from Gregory, but it's for the best. I'm glad Freddy brought up the idea of investigating this place. Because I think I was going to do so anyway. The answer to my questions lies somewhere among this greasy, high-tech pizza plex. I've just got to delve past all the pizza stains and product placement. And with that resolution, I start my solo quest.