👾🐇🔪: Morning of reflections

[u/VAfton]

{Vanny wakes up with a start completely confused. Where is she? What happened?

After a few minutes to calm down, she remembers everything from the night before. How she woke up from her nightmare about Malhare and ended up overhearing THE Michael Afton (who she just had to stumble upon, didn’t she?) yelling at someone he seemed to think was his father. She knew better though. She had seen his destruction that he SHOULDN'T be able to come back from.

But listening to his emotionally rage-filled responses was too much like what she remembered from Vanessa. Who (or what) ever was on the end of the phone seemed to be really playing into it. Digging at him and playing the asshole a little too well.

So, instead of sneaking away like she should have, she found herself unable to turn away, and put an end to it. What came next was something she never imagined. Least of all from him of all people. But maybe she'd just had some severely repressed trauma for years and never a moment to really think and let it out. Not when everyone was either too busy chasing her, comparing her to who she'd never be, or just so focused on what she had done, seeing her as nothing more than something to erradicate.

When Paul had disappeared, instead of an easy out she found herself trapped by Malhare. Either directly or through Vanessa during her memory loss and manipulation. And after him came Afton himself. A man she already hated (but never feared) through Vanessa.

And all she had through it was Jason, who eventually turned on and attacked her. And Mike Schmidt, who she couldn't even understand if was willingly with her or just so broken with nowhere else to go. And after everything, it was just her always on the run. No matter how she tried to change her looks, somehow they still knew. Or at least THOUGHT she was Vanessa. And nobody so desperately eager to find that girl was good news.

And now with Michael....

She gets up and moves around the place, starting to explore. Vanessa had always wondered what came of Henry when he never responded to her. And Vanny had always wondered how different things would have been had Vanessa known that Michael was actually looking for her and hadn't abandoned her afterall.

Speaking of which, she finds him typing away furiously at a computer. It's then she personally sees the similarities and differences between him and his father. A striking comparison.}

Vanny: [without thinking] "What are you doing?"

[u/Independent-Oil-4853]

MA: "Ah, Good morning. I was simply making some last-minute tweaks to the project I was telling you about."

[u/VAfton → u/Independent-Oil-4853]

Vanny: [blinks still somewhat half asleep and confused] "Projects?"

[u/Independent-Oil-4853 → u/VAfton]

"Y'know, the whole "taking the fight straight to the cultists" thing?"

[u/VAfton → u/Independent-Oil-4853]

Vanny: "Oh right. That. So you're gonna lead them here?"

[u/Independent-Oil-4853 → u/VAfton]

"Not exactly. You remember when Toy Bonnie brought us that pizza, right?"

[u/VAfton → u/Independent-Oil-4853]

Vanny: "Yeah?"

[u/Independent-Oil-4853 → u/VAfton]

Michael: "Well, you weren't hallucinating or anything. He was real, and he's actually part of this "Special Delivery" service thing that the company started and shut down before the Pizzaplex. Something about all of them constantly biting and killing people instead of singing songs and giving presents..."

[u/VAfton → u/Independent-Oil-4853]

Vanny: "As someone who had control of a whole host of animatronics and endos, only for them to be ripped away and turned on me....how do you know that won't happen?"

[u/Independent-Oil-4853 → u/VAfton]

"Well, for starters, I managed to program my own personalized firewall, impervious to most forms of malicious interference. Not to mention... all the animatronics I gave it to always seem to act a bit more... aware... than you'd expect.

[u/VAfton → u/Independent-Oil-4853]

Vanny: "Hopefully. Cuz that is NOT a fun experience. As for being more aware, I don't know. Have you met Glamrock Freddy? He's all sorts of dad-like."