i always said that i'd mess up

          freddie wasn’t the most aware person. growing up he was always covered in bruises from how much stuff he constantly bumped into. but, since going to blackthorne/gallagher, he’s learned to be better. but, he was also currently mid-battle on some stupid phone game, and did not realize that he almost slammed into another person. “ shit. sorry about that! “ the third year called out as the phone almost flung from his hand and skidded down the hallway. 

          freddie wasn’t much of a sleeper recently, not after everything has happened. he also has not felt up for doing his homework, despite the fact that working on his stolen greg has been a small source of joy for him recently. sitting down across from ella, he let out a defeat sigh and dropped his head onto the wooden table. “ why would i sleep? who needs sleep anymore? we should just live our lives awake twenty-four-seven. “

          freddie sat down next to leo and placed a comforting hand on his arm. “ hey, it’ll be okay. we’ll figure something out, alright? “ his tone was soft, especially after he started moving his hand up and down to reassure the other. “ we could ask one of the alumni if they know what to do? i know you like to keep this smoking thing under wraps, but the common space smelled like weed last night so i’m sure they’re letting most things fly. “ that was probably partially a lie, but if they did get in trouble for asking freddie would, hands down, take the blame for leo. 

          freddie didn’t know sunny that well, other than the occasional conversation in passing and the food-debate they had at the valentines day party, but what he had heard about her was good. “ hey sunny! “ freddie called out, making the greg wave one of his robotic arms back and forth. “ its freddie, actually! i hacked a greg to see if i could figure out what was happening on other floors. also because i’m bored. “ he saw the kitten pass in front of the robots camera, and her let a wide smile spread across his face. “ and who is this? “ 

freddie: wanna talk ?

freddie: haha. guess they never miss huh.

freddie: this is my first lockdown since ive gotten here. but you might wanna ask a student whos been at gallagher longer than i have, lol.

          “ i haven’t been able to experiment on if greg can still make and or retrieve food while i control him. maybe we could fuck around with it. “ freddie suggested, watching rizo wave the jerky around through the camera, and he felt his own stomach grumble in hunger. “ gallagher can’t take it away from me if they don’t know i have it, do they? i took out the tracker in this one and taped it to another greg, so they think the two of them are just being buddy buddy right now. “ it was a pretty crappy way to deal with the tracker, but hey, his creativity has to stop somewhere. “ i’ve been trying to see if i could use him to eavesdrop on the alumnae, but i feel like they can sense that i’m trying to listen through the robot. i might set him to record everything, if i can figure out how to add that in. “

freddie: this school exists to weird us the fuck out.

          “ just a simple program. “ freddie replied, using his table to make the greg spin in a little circle. the camera spinning was a little dizzying, but whats some vertigo if it means he gets to show off to other students. “ the camera is legit just me facetiming myself, so i guess old school? “ pausing, he hummed as he thought for a moment. “ no, not old school. civillian? diy? dunno. but for a school that touts secruity, greg was way too easy to hack. “

          rolling around using the little robot made everything (and everyone) seem so much bigger than they actually were. changing your perspective can make you realize how small you actually were in this world, and freddie was kind of going through the internal turmoil that this whole lockdown was bigger than anything he could have solved. sofia looking down to see the little robot jolted him out of his thought process, and he cracked an even wider smile. “ impressed? you should be more than just impressed, my dear sofia. “ he waved his hand in front of himself in a sweeping motion, trying to digitally indicate to his masterpiece. “ this is the peak of gallaghers technical education, right here. in a teeny, tiny robot. “ 

         freddie wasn’t as close to the witness protection students as he sometimes wishes he was. he misses the normalcy of the outside world, and despite the fact that they’re all traumatized and constantly left in the dark, they’ve been doing pretty well adjusting to how fucking weird gallagher was. “ the name is freddie. “ he says through the mic, using one of the robots arms to wave awkwardly. it wasn’t really made to bend in the angle that waving would entail. “ i stole one of the gregs from the second floor. got bored being stuck with the same twenty-something kids. “

          freddie recognized poppy’s voice fairly quickly, and he watched her through the camera as she crouched down to observe his wiring work. “ earlier today. i’m losing my mind by staying on the same floor, and i can only try to break so many windows for leo before it gets annoying. “ leaning forward to he could appear closer on the screen, he sighed loudly and hung his head. “ not really. i’ve been trying to send greg around to spy but i think the alumnae are onto me. they see greg roll by and they stop talking. its getting kind of annoying, if i’m going to be honest. “ he knew they were going to be smarter than him, because thats what happens when you go to a spy school, but that didn’t mean it didn’t frustrate him beyond belief. 

          freddie recognized riz’s voice immediately, and he let out his own laugh. “ hey rizo! “ freddie settled back in his own seat, adjusting the headphones he had on his head. “ thought this would be a good way to check up on my pals since we’re stuck on our own floors, but greg here can go wherever! “ using the tablet, he rolled the machine a bit closer to riz. “ howre you doing? “

          for a man who claimed he could never go stir crazy and that he was used to staying in the same place for hours on end, freddie was getting a little stir crazy. and stupid, but that wasn’t a new revelation. after greg had delivered the floors food for the evening, he had snagged the small robot for a little experiment. after rigging his phone up to the top of the robots head, and playing around with the internal wiring, he had been able to gain control of the autonomous robot. he settled into the couch in the common space of the second floor, and sent greg on his way to travel onto other floors. there, he finally encountered another student, doing something, in their common space. “ hey! “ he called out through the mic, giggling to himself. “ down here! “ [ @gallagherstart​ ]

          “ i may be stupid, but i’m not an idiot leo. “ freddie retorted, his eyes following as leo attempted to open the next window, with no avail. “ maybe you shouldn’t be trying to open a window that is in public space? you know, where everyone can see you? “ freddie tilted his head towards the common area that was a couple dozen feet away from them, the noises of a few students chatting from the couches floating towards them. “ you do live on this hall, and so do i, and we both have windows. “