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Chapter Text

[COPPER 9 | Year: 3054]

The blades sparkled like polished silver in the light of the moon and the ringed planet as the Disassembly Drone’s wings spread to show their full range. A mixture of saliva and oil dripped from the sharp fangs. A long dark gray tongue licked oil residue from the corner of the mouth and disappeared again between the sharp rows of teeth. The X on the visor glowed ominously as the killing machine on two legs raised her head and fixed the small Worker Drone nearby. Her twin braids blew in the wind of the snowstorm.

The Worker Drone – a male with a fur hat and knee–length sweater – stared back. The yellow eyes had become hollow oval circles, making the fear even more apparent. In his arms he held his badly injured wife, who had a wound on her hip. The wound was caused by the three sickle–like claws of the monster that the Disassembly Drone was allowed to call her hands.

„Mhmhihihi ... what’s wrong?“ the Disassembly Drone giggled. „I promise it won’t hurt. I’ll do it quickly. Then it will be painless.“ She moved towards the two Worker Drones, her claws sparkling in the moonlight ... like polished silver. Like curved swords designed to tear and cut anything it touched. The tail with the Nanite syringe at the end moved from right to left like a hypnosis pendulum. Slowly and deliberately. The Disassembly Drone didn’t seem to be in any particular hurry. Her mouth was still twisted into a grin. It was as if the grin was frozen on her oil–stained lips.

„N–Never! You monster!“ the male Worker Drone yelled. He felt his wife’s warm oil soaking his clothes. A black stain spread across the yellow fabric. An oily film settled on the silicone under the sweater, leaving a disgusting, slippery–warm feeling. „We’re going to– “ Suddenly the female drone in his arms began to cough. „Alice!“ her partner cried in shock.

Alice raised her head. „Go, Blanc!“ she said. „Go and leave me behind. Think of ... our daughter ... “

Blanc looked at his wife. Had Alice just asked him to run away and leave her behind to die? No! He couldn’t let that happen! He wouldn’t leave his wife – not like that. „Our little one needs you, Alice. Every child needs a mother who will teach her everything she needs to know.“ Alice opened her mouth to ask what her husband meant, but it was too late.

The Disassembly Drone attacked. She had her claws outstretched, her mouth wide open, and a maniacal laugh was emanating from her throat. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Alice saw Blanc look at her lovingly one last time, then his yellow eyes disappeared and were replaced by red letters that spelled out the words FATAL ERROR. The cause of this was the Disassembly Drone using a machete to cut off the drone’s head. The body part flew through the air and fell into the snow. The Disassembly Drone didn’t think about it any more. Instead, she hungrily dug her teeth into the corpse’s body, tearing off large oily pieces of metal.

Then it happened. Alice started running. Despite the wound she had sustained, from which a lot of oil was still leaking. Her systems were reporting the increasingly worsening oil shortage without stopping. She kept running, ignoring the pain of her wound. Her vision flickered, but she didn’t give up. You didn’t even have enough time to mourn the death of your beloved husband.

When Alice was far enough away, she sank to her knees in the shadow of a building. She began to sob and squeezed her eyes shut. Why? Why did all this happen? An hour ago, everything was perfectly normal! Blanc and Alice had gone for a nighttime walk and then ... then this small spaceship landed on the planet with these three drones on board. Chaos reigned. The three new arrivals had pounced on the surprised and confused Worker Drones and started to tear them apart.

Alice and Blanc had immediately decided to run home, but one of the killer robots, a female with two pigtails, had started to chase them.

Peace could turn into unrest so quickly. A safe home could turn into the most dangerous place there is so quickly. Alice didn’t understand it. She didn’t understand anything. Her heart contracted and ached. It hurt so much that she wanted to rip it out of her chest and tear it apart in her hands. But she didn’t. Instead, she continued to cry as the sun slowly replaced the darkness of the night.

„Hey, is anyone here?“ Alice immediately stopped sobbing and pressed a hand to her mouth to keep from making a noise. But it was too late. The person who had called came closer and Alice prepared herself to be torn apart by claws and decomposed by nanite acid. But then– 

„Alice?“

Alice looked up. She looked into the eyes of Nori Doorman. Alice turned her head away. „Why is all this happening?“ she asked. Nori sighed. „Nobody knows. But now come on. The Murder Drones have retreated – apparently they don’t like sunlight.“ She held out her hand. But Alice hesitated. „Where are we going?“

„We’re going to the underground bunkers. We’ll be safe from those dark angels there.“ Nori answered. She was still holding out her hand. „Now come with me. You’re hurt.“ Alice sighed, then took Nori’s hand and helped her stand up. Alice immediately staggered, so Nori put an arm around her waist, being careful not to touch the wound. „Your daughter is safe, by the way. I took her to one of the apartments in the bunkers. Khan and I decided to live there with Uzi. It’s the only safe place. You can live with us until you find your own apartment. That reminds me ... where is Blanc?“

When Nori asked this question, Alice lowered her head. A digital tear ran from her eye and Nori immediately understood what that meant. „Oh ... Alice, my dear ... “ she whispered. But Alice shook her head. „Don’t say anything. He sacrificed himself to save me. He died like a hero ... he acted like a loving father and loyal husband.“

Nori thought for a moment, then nodded. „I think you’re right, Alice. But now we’d better move on quickly. You’ve already lost enough oil.“ They continued walking in silence and soon reached the bunkers. Alice tried not to watch as the survivors gathered up the remains of the bodies to dispose of later. She just let Nori help her.

It felt like an eternity, but finally they arrived at the apartment Nori had spoken of. It was a very spacious apartment, but Alice was too weak and emotionally traumatized to have the strength to look around. She sat down on the old dusty sofa and let Nori treat her wounds. Alice hardly noticed anything, however. The scene of Blanc’s sacrifice kept playing in her head and she gritted her teeth to keep from screaming.

Eventually, after almost three hours of work, Nori was finished and stepped back. She looked at Alice. „How are you feeling, Alice?“ she asked. Slowly the other drone raised her head. When she spoke, her voice was empty. There was not a single emotion in her tone. „Tired.“ Nori bowed her head. „Wait.“ She left the living room briefly. It wasn’t long before she returned. In her arms she was carrying a pill baby whose eyes were not visible. Instead, the words SLEEP MODE were written in bright yellow on the visor.

„Here she is.“ Nori handed Alice her daughter. Alice immediately held the precious child carefully in her arms. She looked at the baby with an emotionally broken expression. „I couldn’t save your father. He’ll never come back.“ she whispered while Nori looked at her with pity. Alice lowered her head until her forehead touched the baby’s. „Forgive me, Cyn.“

...

...

[COPPER 9 | Year: 3071]

The sound of an alarm clock ringing rang out, filling the warmly colored room with its annoying sound. The drone raised a hand and rubbed its face. The display on its visor disappeared. Instead of 6:00 AM, there was now a pair of oval yellow eyes that blinked several times.

It was a morning like any other, at least according to Cyn. She would say so if someone asked her how she viewed today. The little Worker Drone was too lazy to get up and preferred to stay in bed a little longer, after all, it was so cozy there. But she knew that was the wrong decision, after all, she had to go to school today. School ... Cyn would much rather do something else. Like keep sleeping.

The drone had no idea how much time had passed while she stared at the ceiling of her room, her fingers intertwined and her gaze fixed and expressionless. Her thoughts circled around like vultures in the sky. Vultures looking for food, for a corpse to fill their hungry stomachs. Cyn had had a really strange dream. She remembered a blurry figure begging for forgiveness with a familiar voice while sobbing and shaking uncontrollably. Another figure stood by them, radiating pity and pain. Then Cyn’s dream had ended because her alarm clock had rung.

„I should get up. Otherwise I’ll be late. Annoyed expression.“ Since Cyn suffered a severe blow to the head at the age of four, she had some problems walking. Her body seemed crippled and she couldn’t hold her head straight for long. She tended to say the name of a feeling or gesture out loud. Living like this had become everyday life for Cyn, although sometimes she wished she was just ... normal. A completely normal drone with a completely normal life. 

And a completely normal mother ... 

Cyn swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. She went to her closet and got out clothes to change. She chose her usual outfit: a black dress and black shoes. She tied black bows in her blonde hair and looked at herself in the mirror. Then she smiled. „Yes, I look beautiful now. Satisfied nod.“ She actually nodded. Then she left the room.

Cyn met her mother Alice when she entered the kitchen. Her mother was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at the tabletop. Her eyes were two hollow ovals, two oval rings in neon orange. She stared at the table unblinkingly. Her fingers tapped on the metal and her eyes seemed to tremble. Her mouth was slightly open, revealing snow–white teeth. But generally, Alice didn’t move an inch.

The relationship between Alice and Cyn has always been strange. As far back as she can remember, Cyn didn’t have a good rapport with her mother. Alice often seemed absent–minded and Cyn often had to repeat the things she said several times to get the adult Worker Drone’s attention. But even then, Alice always looked at her strangely. Almost as if she didn’t know Cyn. According to the other drones, Alice had developed this behavior after Nori Doorman disappeared. She had sneaked out of the bunker to gather information about the Disassembly Drones – all that was finally found was the remains of Nori’s body. This was a year after the murderous robots appeared.

„Good morning, mother.“ Cyn said. She was curious about Alice’s reaction. But her mother didn't react. She kept staring at the table while tapping her feet. Cyn sighed softly. She walked towards her mother. Hesitantly, as if she was approaching a stranger. She reached out a hand and placed it on her mother’s arm. Alice flinched. Slowly she turned her head. Her eyes were still hollow circles as she looked at Cyn. Then she opened her mouth to say something. 

„Hey.“

That was all. A dry ‚Hey‘ was all Alice had to say. Not a good morning or at least a slightly longer ‚Hello‘. No, a ‚Hey‘ was all.

Cyn’s smile disappeared and her face was now distorted by disappointment, sadness and a slight hint of frustration. „Disappointed expression.“ she said slowly. „Have you made breakfast, mother?“ Surprisingly, Alice responded immediately. Normally, Cyn always had to wait a few minutes for her mother to answer her. „You’re old enough to make yourself something to eat. I mean, you’re seventeen. You should finally start becoming independent. I can’t take care of you forever.“ Then she fell silent again and turned away.

Cyn’s mouth was open. Then she closed it. „Forgive me, mother, but due to my physical limitations, it is difficult for me to cook anything.“

„Oh, is that so?“ Alice whispered. Cyn turned around. „Sigh. I’m at school. See you later, mother.“ She received no answer, but she had expected nothing else. Cyn took her school bag that was in the hallway and left the apartment. She felt strange leaving her mother alone. Sometimes she wondered if Alice was slowly forgetting that Cyn was her daughter. And if she was slowly forgetting that she had a daughter.

When she arrived at school, Cyn saw a familiar face as soon as she entered the classroom.

Uzi Doorman, the daughter of Khan Doorman and therefore Nori’s daughter. Cyn considered Uzi her only friend because their mothers were friends. Although Uzi was clearly not very enthusiastic or impressed with Cyn, she accepted the proximity of the crippled little Worker Drone. Maybe it was because they were both outsiders and were excluded from the rest of the class?

„Hello Uzi.“ Cyn said happily as she walked towards the dark–haired drone. Uzi raised her head and if she had a nose, she would have wrinkled it now. Instead, her right eye twitched slightly as she watched Cyn. „Uhh ... yes. Hello, I guess?“ she said slowly. Cyn smiled at her and Uzi groaned irritably. „Man, what do you want, Cyn?“ she asked – and rolled her eyes as Cyn sat down next to her.

Cyn looked at her with yellow eyes. „Forgive me, Uzi, I didn’t mean to be intrusive. Blink. Sorry.“ She waited. Uzi looked at her, then looked away to the side. „Fine! Apology accepted, freak.“ she said and then hissed quietly. But Cyn was satisfied. „Happy smile.“ she said. She looked ahead and watched the other students enter the classroom.

There was a noise next to her – it sounded like a pen hitting paper and then a series of different sounds: someone was writing or drawing something.

It was Uzi.

The Worker Drone had taken out a pad of paper and a pencil in her hand. With her other hand she was alternating between a ruler and a protractor. She was working on a sketch, but from her angle Cyn couldn’t see exactly what Uzi was drawing. So she leaned to the side to get a better look. Uzi hadn’t noticed her, she was too engrossed in her drawing. Finally, Cyn opened her mouth to ask a question. „What are you drawing?“

Uzi flinched and let out a cry of terror. At the same time, she backed away. Some students looked at her, but then they shrugged their shoulders and turned away again. In the meantime, Uzi looked at Cyn. Her expression darkened. "Cyn! Do you always have to scare me so much? I'll have a short circuit because of you at some point!" Cyn blinked, then lowered her head. "Sorry. I was just curious what you were drawing."

The purple–haired drone didn't hesitate. Because Cyn's question obviously made her completely in her element. „This, my dear Cyn, is the blueprint for an electromagnetic rail gun! I call it: Hellish sick railgun! And it will be the heart of everything I own! Hehehe ... hahahahaha!“

„Uzi!“

Uzi looked ahead. The teacher stood in front of the class, but his orange gaze was directed at the laughing teenager. „Could you please stop laughing like a psychopath in class?“ Uzi’s visor showed an angry smiley: >:( . Then she opened her mouth to say a sentence that was iconic for her. „Bite me!“ she yelled. The teacher groaned in annoyance and didn’t pay any more attention to the whole thing.

After the teacher turned away, Cyn looked back at Uzi. „The design of your railgun looks interesting.“ she said. Uzi looked at her, a smile on her thin silicone lips. „Ohhh, this baby will be interesting too! You can count on it, Cyn! And as soon as the weapon is ready, I will first destroy the Murder Drones and then all of humanity! Then I can finally earn my dad’s respect! He will finally notice me!“ Towards the end of her speech, a hint of desperation mixed with her determined tone. Yes, Cyn felt it: Uzi Doorman was disappointed. Disappointed and angry that her father apparently valued doors more than family.

Cyn didn’t know any different. She had the feeling that everything and everyone was important to Alice, except her own daughter, who she hadn’t paid any attention to for sixteen years. At least not voluntarily.

„I’m sure he'll be proud of you, Uzi. Smile.“ Cyn said confidently. And she was sure too! And she was sure that Uzi would manage to build the railgun. Because when Uzi had something in her head, she did everything to achieve it. And so far she had achieved every goal. „Can I maybe help you in some way?“ Cyn then asked.

Uzi looked at her and thought about it. Then she nodded. „I’m not sure if I have everything I need to build my railgun. So I could need someone to bring me some components. I’ll make a copy of the blueprint, mark the places of the components I need and give it to you. Then you can look around the shops to see if you can find the components. Do we have a deal?“

Without thinking twice, the crippled Worker Drone already knew what she wanted. She nodded and then said: „That’s how we’ll do it, Uzi! Because that sounds like a really good plan. I promise I’ll find the components. Confident expression on his face.“ Uzi grinned. „Haha, I knew I could count on you!“ And for the first time that morning, Cyn felt light and good. Thoughts of her mother and her strange behavior had disappeared. At least for now.

After school, Cyn and Uzi went to Uzi’s apartment to work on the blueprint together. They made suggestions to each other and made improvements. This meant that the blueprint was not finished until the evening and it was dark when the two girls finished their work.

„Well, that looks pretty good.“ Uzi said as she looked at the finished blueprint. Cyn nodded. „It looks good. Now I just need a copy of the blueprint and then I can get the individual components. However, all the shops are already closed.“ Uzi groaned in annoyance. „Great!“ she said and you could clearly hear the sarcasm in her voice. Cyn looked at her with her head tilted. The dark–haired Worker Drone tugged at her hair, then slowly exhaled. „That’s okay, totally okay.“ she said, but still sounded annoyed. „The shops are open again tomorrow. I’ll copy the blueprint.“

Cyn nodded. She watched as Uzi rolled up the paper and left her room. Almost automatically, Cyn followed her friend into Khan Doorman’s study. Uzi used her father’s printer and a few moments later handed the copied blueprint to the little Worker Drone. „Here. And please be careful not to lose it or ... destroy it.“

„Promise!“ Cyn said. Uzi breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the clock hanging on the wall. „You should go home now, Cyn. Alice is probably worried about you.“ Silence. The gothic girl looked at Cyn in surprise. The blonde drone stood in the dimly lit hallway and stared at Uzi. Almost unblinkingly. „Uhmmm Cyn?“ Uzi began. Cyn giggled so suddenly that Uzi almost had a short circuit. „Hehe. Giggling. I don’t think my mother wants to see me. She hardly cares about me anymore.“

„I can feel your pain ... “ Uzi murmured. She was undoubtedly talking about her father. Cyn smiled at her comfortingly. „Good times will come again, Uzi.“ she said. Uzi folded his arms and glared at Cyn. „Yes, and when will that be?“ Cyn blinked. Then she said: „Shrug.“

Okay, Uzi didn’t expect any other answer.

Either way, Cyn saw no reason to stay any longer. She turned around and opened the door that led out of the apartment. „Good night, Uzi.“ she said. And then she was outside and standing in the hallway. Cyn held the rolled–up copy of the blueprint close to her with one hand. With the other hand, she pushed her tilted head into an upright position. She sighed quietly and couldn’t help it. In moments like this, she simply hated her body too much.

Slowly, Cyn made her way home. She thought about all sorts of things. Among other things, she had agreed with Uzi. Namely, that she was looking for individual components. Cyn wrote the paper. In fact, Uzi had marked the places where she was missing the individual parts in red. Cyn thought about it. She didn’t want to disappoint Uzi, and she also knew how impatient Khan’s daughter could be.

The little crippled Worker Drone made a decision: she would get the components tonight! But the negative side was that she had to go outside. Into the snowstorm. Cyn had never been outside the bunker before, at least she couldn’t remember it ever being any different.

„I have to keep my promise. Uzi is counting on me!“ Cyn said to herself. „Determined expression!“ And that’s what Cyn was: determined! Of course she knew that she could encounter a Disassembly Drone out there, but if she was careful and kept an eye on her surroundings, nothing should happen to her. The next point was how exactly Cyn should leave the colony’s escape point. Of course she could just ask, but that would be strange. So she decided on something else.

Cyn rolled up the blueprint again and made her way to the three doors. Once there, she skillfully tricked the WDF guards. „Sorry for the interruption. But I think the vents back there are damaged. Who knows what could happen if the vents aren’t checked?“ As she had thought, the drones started running immediately.

Cyn giggled. That was easier than she thought. But she had to hurry now, because the lie wouldn’t hold the WDF drones back forever. Cyn turned to the mechanical door lock and pushed the glass aside to reveal the mechanics underneath. Her systems analyzed the many cables and wires, but then she found the right cable. She pulled on it. It really was the right cable. Slowly the three doors slid open and formed a kind of short tunnel at the exit of which the outside world could be seen.

Cyn wasted no time. She closed the glass box again. And as best as her crippled body allowed her, she started running. Her shoes made a clacking noise on the cold iron floor. The exit came closer and closer and at the same time the doors slowly closed. „Damn it!“ Cyn growled and increased her pace. She cursed her twisted legs. „Come on! Angry snort! I have to bring Uzi components.“ She jumped for the first time in her life.

It was a big jump

And it had been the right decision to jump, because Cyn was outside.

For the first time in almost sixteen years, she was outside the shelter of her colony. Everything was dark and a strong wind was blowing. It was snowing continuously and in the dark sky the blurry outlines of a moon and a ringed planet could be seen, casting a pale blue, almost white light onto the planet and bathing the nighttime surroundings in a mixture of light and shadow.

Cyn looked around, blinking several times as if her eyes couldn’t believe that they were seeing something other than white walls and iron doors that shielded and protected her from the outside world. Cyn raised a hand and caught a snowflake. The flake was so tiny that Cyn didn’t even feel it. Nevertheless, she liked it and a smile spread across her face. She had done it! She was outside! Uzi would have liked to see all this, Cyn was sure of that.

„Concentrate. I have to look for components.“ Cyn said to herself. She started walking. Her feet left a trail in the cold snow. The snow itself crunched quietly as it sank under the weight of the drone that wandered through the white splendor.

As Cyn walked along, she looked around. So that's how people lived. The houses were very tall and yet they were only ruins of what they once were. Cars were parked on the side of the road, and some of these cars even had skeletons sitting at the wheel, in the passenger seat, or in the back seats. Cyn was sure that she stopped at every third or fifth car to take a look inside.

Then: Cyn reached a ... a very strange building. It looked like a tall tower with several bends. The top was just a black something against the light of the moon and the ringed planet. Cyn’s eyes became hollow circles. She swallowed and clutched the rolled–up blueprint tighter. She realized that this was the corpse tower that some of the older drones in the colony had talked about. The tower – if you could even call it a tower – didn’t look inviting at all, so Cyn decided that she would not enter it. Her gaze fell on the small piles of scrap that lay around the corpse tower. Now the smile returned to her face. „Of course!“ she said.

The Worker Drone moved towards one of the piles of scrap – and thanks Robo–God, it was actually just scrap! And not body parts of Worker Drones. Cyn didn’t know if she could handle touching a severed drone head. She shook her head and opened the blueprint. She laid it on the ground and placed some stones on top to prevent the wind from blowing the paper away.

Then she began to search. Her hands dug into the scrap and pulled out various iron parts. „No. No. No. No!“ Cyn muttered quietly. „Annoyed expression. This is hopeless. But I must not give up. I must keep looking.“ She nodded determinedly and was about to continue rummaging through the scrap – when she heard a noise.

It was a strange whirring. As if something metal was being thrown through the air. Not roughly, but almost gracefully. As if something was flying. Or someone ... 

Cyn was immediately on her feet and snatched the blueprint towards her. She crumpled the paper in the process, but she didn’t care. With wide eyes, the crippled drone looked around. All of her sensory sensors were running at full speed so as not to miss the smallest detail. But the night was silent. Except for the howling of the wind and the sound of something large approaching at an alarming speed ...

Cyn threw herself on the ground, dodging a nanite syringe that was heading toward her. The syringe pierced the scrap where Cyn’s head had been a second ago. The Worker Drone rolled through the snow, the blueprint clutched to her chest. She raised her head and stared at what had attacked her. The creature looked like a drone. But it was very large for a drone. It had bladed wings and a nanite tail. There was also an X on its visor. Its – no, her two braids blew in the wind like silver cords.

A Disassembly Drone! 

The drone growled loudly as she tried to pull her tail out of the scrap. Cyn wasted no time. She turned around and ran. Her deformed legs moved as fast as they could, but she wasn’t fast enough. A rumbling noise told Cyn that the Disassembly Drone had broken free and was in pursuit, so she ran even faster. The snow swirled beneath her feet and she staggered further and further, but she didn’t stop.

She could hear the flapping of her pursuer’s wings. It was like cutting through the air. „Where are you going?“ the Disassembly Drone asked. Her voice was very close and Cyn turned her head. She almost had a short circuit when she saw that the Disasaembly Drone was flying right next to her. Her yellow eyes circled again as she felt something sting her foot. It was the Nanite syringe. Cyn screamed in pain as she felt the acid disintegrate the metal. The Disassembly Drone lifted the Worker Drone effortlessly into the air and hurled her against the wall of a house facade. The blueprint fell from her hand. Cyn banged her head against the stone and felt cracks running through her visor. It hurt.

She couldn’t run any further, although she tried. She stood up, but sank back to her knees. A dull sound told her that her pursuer had landed and then someone was coming towards her. „You know ... you’re pretty tough for something I hurt you. Any other Worker Drone would be dead by now!“ the Disassembly Drone said as she approached her victim. The blades flashed in the moonlight, as did the sharp fangs. The tail swept through the snow like a black snake with a glowing head.

„Please ... “ Cyn whispered. „I don’t want to die. Not at the hands of a Murder Drone.“

„You don’t want to die?“ The Disassembly Drone laughed mockingly. „I don’t want to die either. And to prevent that, I need your oil, little one! And as for the other thing; I didn’t know that you half–alive toasters called us Murder Drones. I take that as a compliment!“ She lunged at Cyn.

Without thinking twice, Cyn reached next to her. Her hands grasped an elongated object. An iron spike. „Stab!“ she said loudly and rammed the iron spike into the Disassembly Drone’s visor. „Wh–Wha–a–a–at is happening here?“ the larger drone stammered and staggered back. She grabbed the iron spike and ripped it out. Her visor no longer showed a large X, but a red triangle with an equally red exclamation mark. 

Cyn didn’t move a millimeter. She stared at the Disassembly Drone, who was holding her head. Then the hole in her glass began to close and a sort of loading screen appeared on her visor. „Shit!“ Cyn hissed. She tried to get up, but her legs buckled again. Her damn head hurt so much! Oil seeped out from between the cracks in the glass, smearing her vision. Cyn touched the visor and felt the oil, warm substance on her fingers. „Fucking shit! Angry expression. Panicked breathing.“

A noise made her look up.

The Disassembly Drone had ... regenerated. Her visor now had two normal oval eyes and she looked straight at Cyn. Her gaze lingered on the Worker Drone’s broken visor, then on the burned foot and she giggled. „Wow, you’re really tough. Pile of junk.“ She walked towards Cyn and the Worker Drone tensed. Whatever happened, she would fight back. She had done it once, so why shouldn’t she do it twice?

The Disassembly Drone finally stopped and looked down at her. She licked her lips at the sight of the oil coming out of Cyn’s visor. Cyn looked at the other drone. Was she going to die now? As if her thoughts had been heard, the killer drone dropped to her knees and leaned towards Cyn. She opened her mouth and Cyn saw the sharp fangs. „Panic attack.“ she said. „I’m going to have a panic attack!“ Saliva dripped from the teeth and the dark gray tongue stuck out of the mouth like a thick, dark gray flat worm. Cyn held her breath and narrowed her digital eyes. „I’m sorry, Uzi. I failed.“

Then ...

Then suddenly a warm tongue licked the broken glass. Cyn froze at this kind of physical contact. She was confused. Actually, Disassembly Drones tore their victims apart ... didn’t they? Or was that just a lie? Maybe the Disassembly Drones weren’t as terrible as they said ...

„What are you doing?“ Cyn whispered, trembling. The Disassembly Drone paused. „I’m eating. And repairing you at the same time.“ she said. Cyn’s visor showed a frown. What did the other drone mean? „Shouldn’t you actually kill me?“ she asked. She hadn’t thought she would get an answer, but she did! „Noooo, let’s not. Your oil is so delicious, it would be a shame to kill you right away.“ And even as she said that, Cyn felt the cracks in her visor disappear.

Finally, the Disassembly Drone withdrew. Cyn looked at her. „What’s your name?“

Her conversation partner blinked and stood up. „Hey, don’t think we’re starting a conversation now! Shut up, you piece of junk! Or I’ll change my mind and tear you apart!“ Her nanite tail trembled with excitement and some acid dripped into the snow. Cyn tilted her head and looked at the yellow blob in the snow, then looked back at the Disassembly Drone. „I just want to know your name. What’s so bad about that? Questioning expression.“

„Why ... are you talking so strangely?“ the Disassembly Drone asked.

„I had an accident.“ Cyn said soberly. She tried to sit up, but she sank back again. Her foot was still broken. The Disassembly Drone saw this and grinned mockingly, but she licked her thumb and pressed it to the hole in Cyn’s foot. The material healed immediately. „I had an accident too. Well, we all did. Because that mushy brain N has no idea how to land.“

„Who is N?“

„Another Disassembly Drone. Or as you call it, Murder Drone. He, V and I have been tasked with dealing with a problem that exists here on this planet.“

„Oh, a problem?“ Cyn straightened up. She could stand again and that made her feel relieved. She looked at her strange counterpart. „Maybe I can help?“

„You? Help us?“ The Disassembly Drone laughed. It was a cold and crazy laugh. An X kept flickering on her visor and Cyn took a few uncertain steps away. The Disassembly Drone looked at her, her eyes were back to normal, but her fangs were visible. „The problem is you stupid Worker Drones. The company has spoken. You must be wiped out.“

„Oh.“ Cyn said. She looked at the snow and then at the crumpled blueprint. She looked back at the Disassembly Drone and tilted her head – against her will, of course. „But you’re not going to kill me because I supposedly have delicious oil?“ The larger drone grinned contemptuously. „Ding ding, right, junk brain!“ she said. Her tail swung back and forth and Cyn decided that she would rather keep an eye on the nanite syringe. However, most of her attention was on the Disassembly Drone. She was slowly becoming curious. „Are there any other Murder Drones on the planet besides you, N and V?“

„Give me one reason why I should tell you that, junk pile.“

„Head sinks, sad sigh.“

There was silence between the two drones. During this time, the Disassembly Drone watched as Cyn moved towards the blueprint and picked it up. „What are you doing out here anyway? I thought you half–living toasters were hiding under the ice like cowards do.“ Cyn winced and clutched the blueprint to her chest as she turned to the other drone. „Annoyed expression.“ But then she continued. „I was looking for components for an electromagnetic railgun.“

„A what?“ The Disassembly Drone tilted her head. Her twin braids swung back and forth in the wind. Cyn thought that looked nice, but she kept the thought and thus the words to herself. „It’s not important.“ she said and turned around. She wanted to head back because things were getting really weird. Behind her she heard the Disassembly Drone snort. „You’re pretty bold, turning your back on a Murder Drone.“ she said sarcastically. Cyn suppressed an annoyed groan and looked back over her shoulder. „And what are you trying to achieve with that sentence?“

„One to zero for you, scrap heap.“

„My name is Cyn.“

„Then Cyn. Anyway, I have to go now. There’s an old gun shop a few meters down this street, by the way.“ The Disassembly Drone spread her wings and Cyn ducked involuntarily. But instead of flying away, her almost–murderer continued speaking. „J.“ The crippled Worker Drone blinked in confusion. „Excuse me?“

„That’s my name, toaster.“ J said, and you could hear from her tone that she was rolling her eyes. „Anyway, bye.“ But Cyn stopped her by saying something. „Wait ... J ... you said you liked my oil. How about we meet back here and I let you drink a lot of my oil? In return, you tell me more about you Murder Drones.“

„I must have misheard.“ said the Disassembly Drone named J sarcastically, looking over her shoulder at the Worker Drone. But Cyn just stood there. She stood there and just smiled gently. But also somehow creepy. „Consider it a thank you for healing me.“ she said. J raised an eyebrow and shrugged her narrow shoulders. Then she turned away and pushed herself off the ground. With quick, powerful wing beats, she rose into the night sky and soon disappeared into the snowstorm.

Cyn stood there and looked up into the sky. She pressed the blueprint a little tighter to her chest, then shook her head, turned around and made her way to the old gun shop. She thought about the strange encounter. She was sure that she would see J again very soon. But first she would do what she had promised Uzi.

Chapter Text

„Woooow, you were successful.“ Uzi said happily when she saw the contents of the bag that Cyn had brought with her. It was now the next day. Last night, Cyn had searched the old gun shop thoroughly and taken everything that was useful.

Luckily, on the way back to the colony, Cyn had not encountered another Disassembly Drone, but she had not been able to forget J. The first encounter was logically still fresh in her memory, but Cyn doubted that there was any Worker Drone that would forget an encounter with the sworn enemy. It was still a mystery to her why J had not killed her. Was it really just the oil? Or was there something else?

As for Alice: she had acted as if Cyn had never been away. When her daughter came home at 2:00 am, her mother was already in bed and asleep. She had not bothered to look for Cyn. And the next morning, she had only said a quick good morning, but nothing more. Cyn found it somewhat frightening how distant her mother was from her, both physically and mentally ... and how much she kept her distance from her daughter ...

„Hey, Cyn, why aren’t you saying anything?“ Uzi asked and gently nudged Cyn in the side with his elbow. The little drone snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her friend. Then she lowered her gaze. „I couldn’t be better, Uzi. Everything is fine.“ Cyn said slowly and monotonously, but she still smiled. Uzi looked at her. „Okayyyy ... “ she said slowly while reaching for one of the components with one hand, it looked like the trigger of the gun to pull the shot. „And are you sure about that?“ Khan’s daughter looked at the blonde drone boldly. „You don’t seem like you’re telling the truth.“

After Uzi had said these words, Cyn just remained silent. Her yellow eyes looked into the violet eyes of the other Worker Drone. Her mouth remained tightly closed and she didn’t say a single word. Should she tell Uzi that she got the components not from a Colony store, but from an old abandoned gun shop outside the safety of the underground bunker? Should she tell Uzi that this very gun shop was recommended to her by a Disassembly Drone?

While she was still thinking, another drone became far too curious. The trigger of the railgun was placed on the desk and Uzi leaned towards Cyn. „Come on, Cyn, tell me. There’s something you’re not telling me!“ She crossed her arms and looked at the smaller drone challengingly. Cyn looked back. Then she sighed. „Sigh. Okay, Uzi, you win.“ The dark–haired drone raised a digital eyebrow, her arms still crossed. „Yes?“

Cyn took a breath, although she didn’t really have to, after all, robots don’t have lungs. But she did it anyway, if only to prevent her systems from overheating. She was nervous. „These components don’t come from the colony’s shops. They come from outside.“

Uzi looked at her confused. „Outside? What the fuck do you mean?“ she asked, now a little irritated because Cyn seemed to be dragging the whole thing out. But then the answer came. „They are from a gun shop that was outside of Outpost 3. Outside. A ... Murder Drone I met gave me directions to this gun shop.“

„What!?“ Uzi’s voice was so loud that Cyn flinched. But the goth girl wasn’t ashamed of it. Instead, she leaned towards Cyn, her violet eyes fixed on the crippled drone, her body shaking with ecstasy and excitement. „Repeat yourself, Cyn! Repeat yourself!“ The smaller drone was confused. Why did Uzi want her to repeat herself? But if Uzi really wanted that, then Cyn should too. „I met a Murder Drone.“

„And it didn’t want to kill you?“

„Shaking head. No, but she did want to. But then she said that my oil was far too delicious and it would be a shame to kill me immediately.“

„Urgh ... what ... “ Uzi muttered. She didn’t really know what to make of the whole thing. Her eyes were slightly narrowed and her gaze darted around her room, then she looked back at Cyn. Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then Uzi’s hands shot forward. She cupped Cyn’s silicone cheeks and pulled her towards her until her forehead touched the other drone’s. Her eyes were now hollow circles. „Tell me! Tell me everything! Did that Murder Drone tell you anything else? How many of them are out there? Are they really as dangerous as they say? Do they have names? Where is their headquarters? Come on, you have to tell me everything!!“

Cyn looked at her friend, she blinked several times. Then she freed herself from Uzi’s grip. „No, she just told me where the gun shop was ... and she asked me why I was out there all alone.“ She intentionally didn’t tell the whole truth because she didn’t know what Uzi would do with the information. And she didn’t want to put J in potential danger ... weird. She didn’t know J, and yet she wanted to protect the Disassembly Drone.

Cyn remembered the snow that swirled around J as the Disassembly Drone moved toward her to kill the Worker Drone. She remembered how the blades of the hands and wings shimmered in the moonlight and how intensely the X glowed yellow on the visor. How the nanite tail slowly swung back and forth ... and ... and then the sharp fangs ...

J was strange. Their encounter had lodged itself in Cyn’s memory like a parasite in an animal and wouldn’t leave. Cyn didn’t really know what to make of it. She remembered the promise she had made to the Disassembly Drone; that J could drink Cyn’s oil as a thank you for the healing. Slowly Cyn wondered if this promise was a bit hasty, but then she shook her head.

„You’re strange. There’s officially no doubt about that now. You just don’t answer me and that’s a bit annoying.“ said the Gothgirl drone. Cyn said a soft, uncertain Sorry, but Uzi waved her off. „Man, I just want to know how many of those beasts are out there. Not that I’m planning on killing them yet. It’s not worth it, because my baby isn’t even built yet.“ No doubt she meant the railgun by her baby.

Cyn looked at the components, then back at Uzi. She was seriously thinking about it. Uzi was brave and sometimes a little reckless, but in the end she always achieved what she wanted to achieve. She was undoubtedly a threat to the Disassembly Drones, because electromagnetic weapons were deadly to anything and anyone. On the other hand, that couldn’t be said yet, because honestly, what did the Worker Drones know about their hunters who waited out there until a small, defenseless drone strayed to them in the snowstorm? Well, Cyn had found out last night that the saliva of a Disassembly Drone neutralized Nanite acid and they could regenerate.

„I haven’t found out anything about them. And besides, isn’t it common knowledge that only three of them have been seen so far?“ Cyn asked. Uzi sighed. „I know that too. But there can’t possibly be only three. There are definitely more of these robo–vampires out there. And I’ll be the one to wipe them all out!“ Full of energy, Uzi sat down on the chair in front of her desk and pulled the first components of the railgun towards her. „First I’ll build my railgun and then the fun can begin! Kyhahaha!“ Towards the end she giggled.

Cyn looked at the dark–haired Worker Drone silently, then turned around. „I think I’d better go now.“ she said. Uzi looked at her. „Try to find out more about the Murder Drones! Venture outside again, because honestly, sometimes you’re really wild!“

The crippled drone only turned around after giving a thumbs up. It’s not like I’m going to walk into death out there! Annoyed noice. she thought sarcastically. And the sun is shining. Murder Drones don’t like sunlight. It wouldn’t do me much good to go outside now.

Uzi’s suggestion to go outside again was unnecessary, because Cyn had actually planned to leave Outpost 3 again anyway, after all she wanted to keep the promise she had made to J: namely that she could drink her oil. But to go outside without damaging the mechanics of the gates a second time she needed a key card. And as far as she knew her mother had one, because Cyn’s father had been a member of the WDF. The WDF existed before the arrival of the Disassembly Drones to keep hostile Worker Drones away.

The crippled drone didn’t often think about her father, who had died when Cyn was still a pill baby. His name was Blanc and he had a heart of gold, at least that’s what Alice had said. Alice had only told Cyn about her father once before and when she did, the pain in her eyes and her voice was so great that even Cyn had felt it. And yet Cyn was of the opinion that her mother finally had to let Blanc – and Nori – go. Let go. Of course she shouldn’t forget them both straight away, but she should finally get over it. She should finally pay more attention to her daughter. On the other hand, however, Cyn was already too used to being ignored.

Taken over by her thoughts, she made her way home. To the apartment where sadness and misery hung in the air like a deadly poison. When she got there, Cyn saw Alice walking into her bedroom. A wistful expression formed on the drone’s visor as she watched her mother leave. Then she clenched her fist.

It was enough! This couldn’t go on any longer.

Cyn ripped open the drawer of a small chest of drawers in the hallway and searched through the contents. Ah, there it was! The key card that let you through the three gates! The little Worker Drone turned the card between her fingers and looked at what was written on the card: Door Master: Blanc. Cyn ran her fingers over the letters as if this would ensure that her father would return, get to know his daughter properly and brighten his wife’s life with light and warmth. Cyn’s life was already bright and warm, after all she had Uzi Doorman by her side. But Alice ...

No!

She shook her head and gripped the key card tightly with her fingers. Then she closed the drawer with her free hand and went into her room. Cyn decided to change into something else, because she figured she would be away longer this time. Her mother wouldn’t mind anyway, so she wouldn’t tell her. Cyn grabbed a long–sleeved dress that reached down to her knees and put the key card in a bag that she put over her shoulder. She adjusted the bows in her hair and looked at herself in the mirror on her closet door. She nodded, then left her room.

Cyn paused briefly at the apartment door. Shouldn’t she tell her mother after all? No! She was planning not to do that, so she wouldn’t.

The Worker Drone left the apartment and set off to leave the colony. For the second time in such a short time. Not even twenty–four hours have passed since their first trip, so you could easily call it some kind of achievement. But Cyn didn’t think about such banal things, instead she concentrated on the way that lay before her. Namely the way to the three gates. Or something.

Cyn left the apartment without making any loud or suspicious noises and continued on her way. Her path led her, as mentioned, to the three gates. Her steps were quick, but she was still afraid of tripping and hurting herself because of her crippled legs. But even if she did hurt herself, she could ask J to heal the wound. If she met J today ... oh, she shouldn’t worry about it, at least not while she was still running around in this bunker under the ice and getting bored. And feeling locked in.

When she arrived at the gates, Cyn looked around. But she couldn’t see anyone. Which made sense, because it was daytime. And there were no WDF members here during the day, only at night. But it was only midday, so Cyn had more than enough time to sneak outside. She took out the key card and held it in front of the reader. Or whatever the glass case was called. The first gate opened, then the second. Cyn smiled triumphantly, then she quickly continued on. Like last night, the sound of her footsteps on the steel floor could be heard, but unlike last night, she didn’t have to hurry.

Finally she reached the last of the three gates and opened it too using her father’s key card. The gate opened, but the other two behind her closed. An icy wind blew snowflakes into Cyn’s face and she almost swallowed, but did not retreat. No, she would go out there and look for J. It was still light, but she didn’t care.

The Worker Drone slowly stepped outside. The snow crunched softly as it gave way under her weight. Behind her the gate snapped shut in a flash and Cyn was alone out here in the icy cold. The sky was not black, no, instead it was blood red and you could see the sun trying to shine through the thick cloud cover, but its rays were not able to break through the cloud cover. But well, as long as it was still light Cyn had nothing to fear. The Disassembly Drones would not attack her, not during the day.

Cyn shook her head. No, she had nothing to fear. She started running and left the steel gate behind her. In daylight, everything looked completely different here. The sun turned the surroundings into a hell of snow and ice. Why hell? Because the light bathed the entire area in a red–orange hue and the snow looked like bright, glittering embers. The Worker Drone climbed over a few piles of rubble and broken metal structures. However, it always took her a little longer than normal drones, after all, her body was crippled.

She reached the building that she had seen last night. The tall tower of corpses. In the sunlight, the macabre structure didn’t look as menacing and scary as it did at night, but the sight still inspired a lot of respect. Cyn hesitated to move on, but pulled herself together and took the next steps. She got closer and closer to the tower of corpses and finally entered it.

She found herself in a kind of cave. There was junk lying around everywhere. Stones and body parts from worker drones could also be seen here. Cyn had to swallow when she accidentally kicked a severed head and flinched back. The sight was so strange and scary that she felt sick. „Nervous expression.“ she murmured. She decided to speak quietly because she didn't want to accidentally attract attention. Then she noticed something. In the middle of the interior of the tower, in a small hollow in the ground, was some kind of spider–like spaceship. An landing pod! Cyn was curious. Was this the landing pod that the Disassembly Drones arrived in on Copper 9? Probably. But it was closed.

Cyn was unsure whether she should move towards the landing pod. It was dark inside the tower. The sun couldn’t reach here. So this wasn’t the safest place. She should leave ... why was she here at all? She was running straight into death! Sometimes Cyn didn’t understand herself. She was more or less in the lion’s den, the prey among the three predators. 

Something inside the landing pod was moving. Metal was scraping against metal and something seemed to be spinning. The Worker Drone’s reaction was automatic: she turned around and ran away, just away from the something inside the spaceship. She remembered the place where she had met J for the first time: near the gun shop. And so she made her way there. She left tracks in the snow, which were soon covered by new snow.

▸┈┈┈┈┈┈┈⬟┈┈┈┈┈┈┈◂

The three Disassembly Drones didn’t move until half an hour after the sun had set. V moved first. She broke free from her position – she was hanging upside down from the ceiling – and jumped. She landed gracefully on the floor. J landed next to her less than ten seconds later. The two looked up. „Idiot!“ J said. She grabbed N by the collar and pulled him down. The male drone screamed in surprise when he was roused from his sleep so roughly and crashed headfirst onto the hard floor of the spaceship. 

„Ouch ... J, did that have to happen?“ N asked, rubbing his head. J groaned. „Stop whining and move. We have to work!“ she said. V was already full of energy. „Let’s make a bet! Whoever kills the most drones today gets an extra portion of oil!“ And without waiting for an answer, V left the landing pod, N and J followed her. While V was still laughing and setting off with powerful wing beats, J turned to N. „Listen,“ she said. N looked at her, attentive and tense to avoid any possible blows from his colleague. It was not uncommon for N to be mistreated by J. „Yes?“ He looked at her. J wasted no time and pulled him towards her. „Don’t screw it up!“

„I know what you mean.“ N said slowly. He lowered his head, shame radiating from him in thick invisible waves. „But sometimes I just can’t kill them. After all, they have a family and someone they love. And you know I can’t kill children.“ J snorted contemptuously. „I don’t care, N! If you want to be useful, you’ll have to kill children! Worker drones are a problem, they’re defective. That’s why they have to be wiped out and those victims include children. Besides, I don’t care about the children of worker drones anyway.“

When N heard that, he winced. He bit his lip and looked away. J looked at him unimpressed, then she smiled coldly. „Oh, did I hit a nerve?“ she asked in a deceptively gentle voice. She stepped in front of N, stopped in front of him and lifted his chin so he could look into her eyes. Her brainless comrade’s eyes were full of emotion. J opened his mouth. „If you don’t finally get your emotions under control, then you’ll never be able to kill children. Dumbass!“ N took a deep breath. A rebellious gleam briefly appeared in his eyes. „Tessa was a child too! You would never have killed her!“ he said sharply. „True, she was a child too.“ J agreed. „But she wasn’t a drone.“

With a casual movement, J grabbed N by the collar and threw him out of the landing pod. She watched unmoved as her comrade rolled over several times and then remained lying there. Like a discarded doll that no one wanted anymore. N looked at J with his pale yellow eyes. He apparently had no desire or the courage or strength to continue to contradict his boss. He stood up and brushed the snow off his clothes. Then he looked at her. „I promise that I’ll try hard this time, J.“ he said, his mouth twisting into a timid, stupid smile. „I’ll kill a lot more drones tonight than usual.“

J snorted contemptuously. „Let’s hope so. Now get going, idiot!“ N nodded quickly. He spread his wings, an X appeared on his visor and he left the tower. Thanks to the flapping of his wings, J heard her comrade leaving as quickly as possible. She groaned. N was useless. He was dumb, good for nothing. She was surprised she hadn’t killed him yet. Okay, the company forbade her, but if she broke the rules even once, no one would notice, right?

The Disassembly Drone decided to set off and get to work as well. The Worker Drones didn’t die on their own, at least not when they weren’t having suicidal thoughts.

As always, it was snowing outside. The wind had calmed down a bit and wasn’t blowing as hard as usual, but that was just right. Because that way you wouldn’t spin out as quickly when flying because there were no strong gusts of wind to throw you off balance. J spread her wings and took off into the cold, icy air of eternal winter. She made a few circles above the corpse tower, her silver wings beating evenly. She was just about to fly in a fixed direction when she noticed something.

The old gun shop ... someone was standing there. A small figure with blonde hair and yellow eyes who was looking around. She was half hidden in the shadows of the abandoned shop. But J recognized her.

It was the little worker scrap head she had encountered the previous night. It was surprising that she dared to come out here again. At the same time, J remembered the crippled drone’s bizarre suggestion: oil as a thank you for healing. To be honest, J didn’t know herself if it was really just the oil that made her spare the Worker Drone’s life. Or if it was something else. Something ... emotional ... no, it wasn’t that! J shook her head. But maybe she should fly down and at least say hello? Wait a minute, why did she think that? What was wrong with her?

J decided to just go for it. She flew to the gun shop and landed with such force that the snow swirled up and there was a kind of shock wave. The Worker Drone flinched, but then a smile spread across her face. „Oh, hello J! Happy expression. I thought you weren’t coming.“

„Oh really?“ J asked unmoved as she stood up and put her hands on her hips. „And I never thought you’d show your face here again. I have to say, you’re pretty brave. But also pretty stupid.“

„Stupid? I don’t think it’s stupidity.“ the Worker Drone said. „Energetic head shake. Besides, I’m not stupid. Offended expression. Arms crossed.“ She actually crossed her arms. J groaned in annoyance and she crossed her arms too. „You must think you’re super cool, you piece of junk!“

The little drone’s right eye began to twitch. „Annoyed expression.“

The two were silent, then the Worker Drone spoke again. „Do you remember our agreement?“ J looked at her, her yellow eyes narrowed suspiciously and she continued to keep her distance from her blonde counterpart. „Do you mean the thing about the oil?“ she asked. The blonde drone nodded, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. „That’s exactly what I mean! And my offer still stands!“ J raised an eyebrow and now just put one hand on her hip. Her tail twitched back and forth in displeasure. „Are you serious ... uhmm ... Plyn?“

The Worker Drone giggled. „Plyn? My name is Cyn, not Plyn.“ J rolled her eyes. „Whatever.“ she said. Why the hell was she even talking to her prey? Actually, there should be a typical hunter–prey relationship between them. J was the hunter and Cyn was the prey that was hunted by her. But instead they talked about God and the world, as they say in some countries on Earth. J knew less and less what to say about the situation and Cyn’s strange offer. Even though her offer was certainly tempting! J still remembered what it was like to lick the broken glass of the visor to absorb as much oil as possible. The sweet taste flooded her taste sensors in her mind and she unconsciously licked her lips with her tongue.

Cyn had meanwhile started to smile. „Could it be that you’re hesitating?“ she asked, tilting her head. J blinked and looked at her. „What do you mean?“ she asked. The crippled drone clasped her hands behind her back. „Well, you’re missing out on an opportunity that you may never get again in your life.“ That was true! The point went to Cyn.

„I’m not lying.“ Cyn said. J raised an eyebrow again. But then she watched as the Worker Drone slowly pushed aside the collar of her night–black dress to reveal her silvery neck. At the sight of Cyn’s neck, J’s body became strangely warm. She suddenly longed to sink her teeth into the thin metal and suck every drop of oil from Cyn’s body. A burning feeling of hunger spread in her stomach and threatened to take over her mind. This Worker Drone in front of her eyes was ... she was insane!

„You’re ... you’re pretty brave for a living piece of junk.“ J whispered awkwardly. Cyn sighed quietly. „I’m not a living piece of junk, J.“ she said. The Disassembly Drone sighed. Her fingers – which were still claws – twitched in frustration.

There was Cyn ...

Cyn.

A Worker Drone willingly presenting her neck to a Disassembly Drone.

„You ... you are ... “ J muttered. It was getting harder and harder to resist. She would gladly pounce on that little drone. So why didn’t she? Why did she resist so much? Was it the fear of accidentally killing Cyn and losing that delicious oil? Or was it something else? How could that ugly piece of junk manage to make J completely crazy in the space of less than forty-eight hours.  „Well ... at least she calls drones like me Murder Drones. Not dumpster pets.“ J muttered unconsciously.

„Dumpster pets?“

The Disassembly Drone looked up. Cyn looked at her questioningly. „What do you mean by dumpster pets, J? I’m confused.“ J growled inwardly in frustration. She had obviously spoken her thoughts out loud. „J? Is everythi– “ Cyn began, but J was faster and interrupted the Worker Drone before she could finish her sentence.

„Shut the fuck up!“

With record–breaking speed, J moved towards Cyn. An X appeared on her visor, her tail flicked wildly, causing a few droplets of nanite acid to spray out. The wings flapped to provide additional speed. The sharp fangs flashed for a few seconds, then J had Cyn pushed into the snow and buried her teeth in the Worker Drone’s silvery neck. A second later, warm, sweet–tasting oil flowed over J’s tongue and a wave of happiness ran through her body. So delicious. So good! J thought contentedly and pressed her tongue to the edge of the bite wound to squeeze out the oil.

Two hands wandered over her back and found the base of her wings where they held on. J heard Cyn gasp as she began to suck the oil out of her body. „The ... the term robo–vampir fits you Murder Drones better than I thought!“ Cyn murmured in a heavy voice. J growled softly, her tail flicking as she gulped down the sweet oil.

A strange heat built up in Cyn’s small, crippled body and she pulled the Disassembly Drone closer to her. „My little Drone ... “ she hummed softly and closed her eyes. Many different texts and messages appeared on her visor, as well as a few exclamation marks and emojis. Among other things, a >////< appeared on her visor: narrowed eyes and a violent blush between them. She held on to J so tightly that she thought the metal would splinter off at any moment. The faint glow of the equally faint nanite acid was one of the few sources of light, aside from the markings on their visors, the moon, and the ringed planet.

The longer J sucked on her neck, the greater and more uncomfortable the heat in the Worker Drone’s body became. The hot pressure collected in her abdomen. If this didn’t stop, then it could well be that the sex drives programmed into drones would kick in. But before that could happen – J pulled back. Oil dripped from her lips and left wet spots on Cyn’s dark dress.

The Disassembly Drone blinked a few times, then the X disappeared and was replaced by a pair of normal eyes. She stared at Cyn. Cyn looked back, a yellow blush on her visor.

As the wound slowly closed, J sat up, embarrassed to kneel in the snow over the Worker Drone any longer. „Thanks, I guess.“ she said slowly. Her dark gray tongue ran over her mouth and removed the last traces of the most delicious oil she had ever drunk. Cyn slowly sat up. „You’re welcome. Shaky smile. Uncertain expression.“ And she had an uncertain expression too. Something that J observed with amusement. Then she held out a hand to Cyn. „You know what; I could imagine entering into some kind of symbiosis with you. Unless this was the only time you let me drink your oil.“

Cyn thought about it. In fact, she hadn’t intended to do this oil drinking act more than once. But if it meant that J would trigger that wonderful heat in her body again, then of course it was worth it. She took the Disassembly Drone’s hand and stood up. She still felt a little unsteady on her feet, but she was able to stand without having to hold on to anyone or anything. Her yellow eyes looked at J.

„So this is a Goodbye?“ she asked. J was silent, then her expression twisted. „I don’t know.“ A wave of excitement, curiosity and slight uncertainty and impatience flooded through Cyn. Because J’s words were neither yes nor no. „What exactly do you mean now?“ she asked. Slowly the trembling in her legs disappeared.

But J wasn’t listening to Cyn. Instead, her eyes were fixed on the eyes of the Worker Drone. This color suddenly seemed very familiar to her, but for the life of her she couldn’t remember where she knew these eyes from. But she knew that she had seen them somewhere before. „J? Confused expression. Is everything OK?“ Cyn reached out and put her hand on J’s arm.

The Disassembly Drone flinched at the touch and stepped back. „I think I’d better go now. You head home. And make sure N and V don’t catch you. Well, mainly V. N is far too stupid and too soft–hearted. He couldn’t even hurt a fly.“

She saw Cyn’s face take on a disappointed expression. „Disappointed look. Too bad you have to go already, J. Sad sigh.“ And she really sighed. And she was seriously sad. J stood there and didn’t really know what to say. She just stood there and watched Cyn while her two twin braids blew in the wind. She could hardly believe what she said next. „We can see each other again sometime. Now ... now go.“ Why did it feel so wrong to send this Worker Drone away? And why were her eyes so ... so strangely familiar?

„I’m not going back!“ Cyn said. J looked at her. „Why the hell are you so stubborn?“ J growled, but her growl didn’t have the usual bossy edge. Cyn shrugged. „There’s only my mother at home and she doesn’t care about me. So it doesn’t matter when I go home.“ J shrugged. „So what? That's not my problem“ she said. She wanted to get away from here, away from Cyn and forget these strange feelings inside her.

But then Cyn spoke again. „May I accompany you?“

Chapter Text

Why the hell had Cyn asked if she could come? And why the hell had J agreed? They weren’t supposed to be together. They were murderers and victims. J was the predator and Cyn was the prey. That’s how it was supposed to be, but no, instead everything happened completely differently. That damned little Worker Drone!

Instead of chasing Cyn, J had wrapped her arms around the little drone’s body and held her tightly against her, so that her chest pressed against Cyn’s back. The Disassembly Drone’s wings were spread out and flapping evenly to prevent J from falling from the sky like a shot down bird. The two drones’ touch sensors sensed the icy air and felt the cool winds brush across their faces. It was like the light last touch of a mother who was dying as the warmth disappeared from her body.

„Screams of joy. It’s really great! Everything looks so much smaller from up here!“ Cyn exclaimed excitedly as she spread her arms, imagining she too had wings and could fly through the night. J rolled her eyes. „If you don’t shut up, I’ll accidentally drop you, you don’t want that, do you?“ she asked with a mocking grin. Cyn’s eyes briefly became hollow ovals, then she shook her head. „Oh, J, you wouldn’t do that.“ she said with a small smile. J raised a digital eyebrow. „And how do you know that?“

„I just know.“

Cyn’s words were followed by a brief silence, then J sighed. The Worker Drone was right; J could never drop her. And the Disassembly Drone was confused. Among other things, it would be so easy to reach out her claws, tear Cyn apart, and eat her oil–smeared innards for dinner. But she didn’t. She didn’t let Cyn fall. She held her tight, making sure Cyn didn't fall as they flew through the snowstorm together. Just the two of them, without another drone to keep them company. While the wind blew, the snow fell, and the light from the moon and the ringed planet bathed Copper 9 in an eerie milky white light.

After a while, J lost speed and landed on the roof of an old house. She set the small drone down and dusted her hands off as if she wanted to get rid of any germs or pathogens. In the meantime, Cyn looked around, but decided that this place looked like any other roof of these dilapidated houses: terrible. And everything was covered in snow. „Why are we here? Confused expression.“ The small Worker Drone turned to her companion.

J shrugged. „I don’t know. Maybe because we’re far enough away from the tower that V, N and I call home now ... a cold home. Made of corpses, iron and plexiglass. Our old home was on Earth. It was always nice and warm there.“ A longing expression crossed the face of the Disassembly Drone. Cyn tilted her head. „Are you homesick?“ she asked.

„What? Homesick? Me? Absolutely not! What makes you think that?“ J said and laughed mockingly. But Cyn was persistent. „It sounds like you’re homesick, J.“ The larger drone snorted. „And even if that were the case, I couldn’t go back to Earth anyway.“ She walked past Cyn and sat down at the edge of the roof. Her legs dangled, her gaze directed towards the sky. She heard the whirring of mechanical limbs as Cyn sat down next to her. „How was it on Earth?“

J hesitated. She had already told Cyn enough, more than she actually wanted to. But then she opened her mouth to answer. „It was surprisingly beautiful there. At least in other areas. Where I come from, it was gloomy and the aura of the place was oppressive. But I can’t go back to that place. Earth ... no longer exists ... “

„What do you mean?“ Cyn looked at J in confusion. The Disassembly Drone sighed quietly. She remembered how Doll (who was completely under the control of the Solver) destroyed the planet. She bit her tongue, then looked at Cyn. „It doesn’t matter!“ she finally said and turned her head away. „It’s enough that I’m talking to my breakfast. I don’t have to recite my entire life story!“

„I’m sorry. I’m just curious. Head down.“ Cyn muttered. She buried her hands in the snow and left furrows in the cold white substance. The Disassembly Drone watched her, then crossed her arms. „Stop apologizing, scraphead!“ she said.

Suddenly Cyn giggled and J looked at her in confusion. Okay, that’s surprising. What’s going on now?

The Worker Drone looked at her conversation partner mischievously. „You know, it’s kind of funny that you still call me scraphead. Even though you know my name – my real name.“ She put a hand on J’s arm. And then she smiled. Her smile was a bit strange – it seemed almost mechanical, but still had a certain charm that J just couldn’t ignore. And once again she asked herself what the hell and what in the name of Robo–Jesus this Worker Bitch had done to her to make her behave like that. She should tear Cyn to pieces and not talk to her!

The two drones looked at each other for a long time, examining each other. J let her gaze glide over Cyn’s small and simply built body while Cyn admired J’s killer mechanics with fascination. She briefly wondered what it would be like to be a Disassembly Drone herself, but she feared that she would never get an answer to that.

A quiet noise made the two of them look up. It sounded as if something was moving towards them through the snowstorm.

Faster than anyone could see, J was on her feet and had straightened up. Her yellow eyes looked into the snowy darkness and she had turned one hand into a machete. „Hide!“ she ordered Cyn. The Worker Drone blinked in confusion, but J wasted no time and looked her in the eyes. Her expression was closed. „Come on, go away!“ she growled in a cold voice, her gaze now had something urgent about it. Cyn blinked, but then nodded. She looked around and spotted a pile of rubble covered in snow. She moved towards it and hid behind it. Just in time, because at the same moment a second Disassembly Drone landed on the roof.

The X on the robot’s visor flickered, then it was replaced by two oval pale yellow eyes that blinked a few times. The drone had the same feminine curves as J and her hair was short and slightly wavy.

J seemed to recognize the drone. The machete became a normal hand. Her posture relaxed and she crossed her arms. „Oh, it’s you, V.“ she said. The drone named V raised an eyebrow. „Who else did you think it was? Santa Claus? The Easter Bunny? Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony?“ She shook her head, then walked towards J. „No, I’m only here because I was looking for you. N messed up again, he didn’t kill a worker drone kid. Again.“

„That dumb bitch boy!“ J groaned and rolled her eyes. Meanwhile, Cyn watched from her hiding place and thought. This drone named N ... he obviously had trouble killing worker drones. Not because he couldn’t, but because he didn’t want to ... apparently not all Disassembly Drones were cold–blooded monsters with hearts of stone. Uzi and the others from the colony were wrong. There seemed to be exceptions even among the enemies.

Meanwhile, V had started to look around. There was something scrutinizing about her gaze and she took a few steps towards the pile of rubble behind which Cyn was hiding. The crippled drone immediately pulled her head in so that it could no longer see what was happening on the roof. She heard the snow sinking under V’s weight with a crunch and how she was getting closer and closer.

Cyn’s synthetic, half–mechanical, half–organic heart began to pound, if that worked for a robot. She was now becoming a little unsure. Because somehow she had the feeling that V would kill her, regardless of whether J said anything.

The steps came closer and closer and then– 

„V! What are you doing?“ J’s voice cut through the air almost like a knife through the flesh on the butcher’s counter. Cyn heard V's footsteps stop. A mechanical whirring told her that V had turned to J. „Do you see those tracks in the snow? They lead behind the pile of rubble.“ V said energetically. J gritted her teeth before saying anything. „Yes, that was me, V. I was looking for something.“

„Looking for something? Sure ... of course.“ V said snippily. It was immediately clear that she didn't quite believe J, but she didn’t seem to see the need to go to the trouble of questioning her colleague.

„I’m not lying, V. But I wouldn’t be too nosy if I were you. That can backfire very quickly.“ J said. V blinked, then groaned and rolled her eyes as well. „Okay, if you say so. You’re the boss, you have the final say. And I’ll stick to it!“ She raised her hands in an almost defensive gesture as if she wanted to protect herself from something. Her expression was almost as if she wanted to mock J, but for some reason she preferred not to.

J just nodded briefly. „I hope so for you. Otherwise you know what will happen to you: the same as with that useless idiot N.“ V had to grin as she revealed her sharp fangs. The teeth shimmered in the light of the moonlit snowy night like polished white howlite, a type of gemstone. „I think I’ll fly off and tell N that he’s going to lose his head tonight! Hahahaha!“ With a devilish laugh, V spread her wings and flew away. In doing so, she caused a shock wave that swirled up the snow.

Cyn had waited and listened. Lose your head? Were the Disassembly Drones tearing each other’s limbs off? How ... how surprisingly fascinating ...

J waited until V was no longer visible, then she went to the pile of rubble behind which Cyn was hiding. „We should go too ... and you, you should go home.“ said the larger drone. Cyn looked at her. „Why? Confused expression. Questioning look. I don’t understand, J.“

„I ... tss, bite me!“ J growled and crossed her arms. Cyn was even more confused, but she didn’t say anything else. She still didn’t understand why Jnes was suddenly in such a hurry. Was it because of her partner V? To be honest, V made Cyn think a little of Uzi: they both had a tendency towards sadism. Still, maybe she should listen to what J said.

The flight back took a while, but then they arrived at the gates of Outpost 3. J – who Cyn had carried bridal style – set the Worker Drone down in the snow after they landed. Cyn turned to J, a smile on her silicone lips. „See you tomorrow night, J?“ she asked.

The Disassembly Drone shrugged. „If you ever get out of your stupid bunker again.“

Cyn smiled slightly. „Leaving the bunker shouldn’t be a problem.“ She reached into her pocket and pulled out something. It was a square piece of plastic that looked like an ID or something like that. „This is my father’s key card. He was a member of the WDF. The WDF existed before you Murder Drones arrived. Its job was to settle disputes within the colony and stop uprisings. And with this key card I can leave the bunker as often as I want!“

J was silent. She couldn’t help it ... Cyn’s yellow eyes reminded her of someone. She had seen those eyes before, exactly the same shade of yellow and the same oval shape. where?

The Disassembly Drone shook her head to forget her thoughts. „Not bad, scraphead. But what do your parents say about it?“

Now Cyn’s expression became sad. She lowered her head, her fingers closed around the key card as if it were the last thing in the world she could hold on to. „Did you forget it? My father is dead, he was killed by your kind, J. And my mother ... she hasn’t really cared about me since her best friend Nori disappeared. I have the feeling that she doesn’t care about me at all. Wistful sigh.“

When the Worker Drone said these words and actually sighed afterwards, J felt a small pang in her heart. Somehow she felt sorry for Cyn. „I’m sure Tessa would have loved you, Cyn.“ she murmured. The Worker Drone looked at her. „Who is Tessa?“

„A friend. Although ... she was less of a friend. She was a sister. And yeah, she was human, but a good human.“

„I’ve never met a human, J.“

And you probably never will either. J answered in her mind, but she kept her mouth shut and kept her words to herself. She turned to start walking again, but then she stopped. „I ... “ she began. Cyn tilted her head. J hesitated, then shook her head. „Oh, forget it. It doesn’t matter.“ She actually wanted to say goodbye, but decided that it was not appropriate for a Disassembly Drone to say goodbye.

She left Cyn behind and flew away. The crippled drone looked after her, then turned around and walked towards the iron gate. Only now did she realise that she was tired and longed for her bed. Sleepily, she held her father’s key card in front of the reader and the gate opened noisily. She was so exhausted that she could no longer really perceive her surroundings.

But in all the excitement, Cyn had forgotten that the members of the WDF kept watch in front of the first gate at night, so she almost wet her underwear in shock when she suddenly heard someone say her name.

„Cyn!“

The small blonde drone flinched and turned her head in the direction the voice came from. She looked into Khan Doorman’s eyes. She swallowed hard and knew immediately that she had messed up. Fuck!

Chapter Text

Cyn didn’t know if it would be wiser to stay or to disappear. Normally she wasn’t impressed or intimidated by Khan Doorman – she never really had anything to do with him – but now she felt very uncomfortable under his angry and disappointed looks. Why was he disappointed? Cyn could understand that he was angry, but ... disappointed? She slid her father’s key card into the sleeve of her sweater because she didn’t want to lose the object.

„So?“ Khan said and looked at Cyn. Robo God ... Cyn wanted to sink into the ground. „Explain to me what all this means, my good Cyn. And you will explain it to me here and now! Without argument!“ The little blonde drone bit her tongue and thought. What should she say? She couldn’t tell Khan that she had met with a Disassembly Drone and had almost run into death afterwards ... or rather, death had run into her arms. Her systems were working at full speed, then she had an idea. „I was looking for a weapon outside. In order to defend myself, if the Murder Drones should manage to get in here.“

Khan raised an eyebrow, but then he laughed. „Ahaha!“ He shook his head and looked down at Cyn. There was a clear expression in his eyes: he found her statement ridiculous. „We don’t have to fight or build any weapons, little one. We have doors! Not a single one of those dark angels can get through, don’t worry.“ He knocked on the steel door and looked extremely satisfied.

Cyn looked at the door in silence. And what if the colony didn’t need big doors to hide behind, but peace with the enemies. Maybe the Disassembly Drones could be persuaded to make peace and get used to normal drone food? It was worth a try, but Cyn decided not to say this suggestion out loud. Because somewhere deep inside she knew it would only be met with ridicule.

In the meantime, Uzi’s father had turned away from the door and looked at Cyn again. „I think you should go home now. And give your mother the key card ... unless you want me to take it from you. And no, before you ask: you’d never get it back ... well ... at least not as long as those killing machines are on the planet.“ Cyn was frightened. She didn’t want to give up the key card! No way! The thing was the only way she could see J! She looked at Khan Doorman, then lowered her head. „Good night Mister Doorman.“ Khan just shrugged, took out his phone, dialed a number and called someone.

Cyn decided that she should leave. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable near the door and didn’t want to stay there any longer. She made her way home as fast as she could, being careful not to trip because of her twisted legs. Thoughts were racing around in her head like startled field mice. A truly unpleasant thing!

Her robot heart seemed to cramp as she thought of Khan’s threat. And the thought of never being able to see J again plagued her. She wanted to see J again, preferably every night! Cyn didn’t know what was wrong with her, but ... well ... J was so interesting. She was ruthlessly sadistic, sarcastic and ice cold, but an hour ago Cyn was able to see the soft and vulnerable side of the other drone for a few moments.

The world was truly unfair to those who didn’t deserve it. And those who deserved it got out of every possible situation without any trouble. Why didn’t anyone want to see that there was no point in hiding behind three doors made of steel and titanium? And if Cyn said she met with a Disassembly Drone, people wouldn’t believe her either. Or she would be declared mentally ill.

It’s all so complicated ... and there was just nothing to help it. The small drone raised its head and looked straight ahead. She was now standing in front of the door that led to the Doorman family’s apartment. She thought about ringing the bell and telling Uzi everything, but she decided against it. She didn’t want to drag Uzi into this mess. So she turned away again and crept to the door that led to Alice’s apartment.

Using her own key card (which she could only use to open the apartment door), Cyn gained access inside. She went into the kitchen and took a bottle of water out of the fridge. Ingesting this liquid was completely safe for robots.

As she drank a few sips she thought of something else. Her father's key card was still hidden in her clothes. She didn't want to give away the precious piece of plastic and paper. It was just too important to her and she felt uncomfortable at the thought of losing the key card in a certain sense. She bit her tongue and her pain sensors sent the unpleasant pressure to the main system in her head. The main system worked much like a human brain, only it worked much faster and more precisely.

„So there you are.“

Cyn jumped at the sound of the voice and almost dropped the bottle. To prevent this, she put the bottle on the table and turned around. She thought she was mistaken, because who she saw there was none other than Alice, the model mother of the year 3071! The Worker Drone’s orange eyes rested on her daughter’s yellow eyes, her mouth was pressed into a line and the expression on her visor spoke more than words ever could. Her arms were also tightly crossed.

„Mother?“ Cyn asked incredulously. She was still transfixed, because as far as she could remember, Alice had never started a conversation with her daughter on her own ... let alone looked at Cyn like that. So full of anger and wait ... disappointment ... why was Alice disappointed? But Cyn had a vague suspicion of what was wrong with her mother. And that suspicion proved correct as soon as Alice opened her mouth and spoke to her. „I can’t believe it, Cyn. You’ve always been a bit strange, but I would never have believed you would go this far.“

The crippled little drone decided to act like a movie star did. Pretending. Maybe that way she could avoid the worst of the trouble. „What do you mean? Questioning look, confused facial expression.“

„Questioning look, confused facial expression.“ Alice mimicked her and rolled her eyes. The anger came out of her in thick waves, but the disappointment was still greater and more extreme. „Don’t act like you’re stupid!“ She came up to her daughter and slammed her palm on the table. It all happened so quickly that the bottle fell over and its crystal clear, cold contents spread across the table, running along the edges and dripping onto the floor. But Alice paid no attention to the wet mess, instead she continued to stare at her daughter. „Khan called me. And you are allowed to guess three times what wonderful things he had to say. He said you were outside. Outside the safety of the colony. Out in the blizzard! And then in the middle of the night! What the hell were you thinking, Cyn!? There are monsters out there! The monsters that killed your father! Creatures without a heart who only want to murder us! You stupid child! Why did you do that? Something could have happened to you, you could have died! That monster could have killed you!“

The more Alice spoke, the more Cyn felt something stirring inside her. It was anger. Biting burning anger that began to flow through her body like a hot poison. She balled her hands into fists, then raised her head and stared at Alice. For the first time in years, Cyn was able to express her anger outwardly. She didn’t say what her expression looked like. Her voice wasn’t monotone, but filled with anger. „Shut the fuck up!!“

This time it was Alice who flinched. She stared at her daughter, her eyes now hollow ovals and her mouth hanging slightly open. „Cyn, you– “ she began.

But the blonde drone interrupted her again. „Stop talking now, mother! Shut the fuck up!“ Her voice trembled as she spoke, her entire body trembled, but she managed to stay on her feet. „You have no idea what you’re talking about! You’re insane! You talk like you claim you know me as well as Uzi or Thad do! You said earlier that you never expected me to go this far. Well, you’re not wrong. Do you know why you didn’t expect it? Because you don’t know your own daughter! You’ve been ignoring me every single day for as long as I can remember. You only talk to me when it’s necessary and even then I’m the one who starts the conversation ... “ She paused and clutched her chest. Shit! Why did breathing hurt so much?

Alice was still in shock, but then she blinked, shook her head a few times, and stared at Cyn. „So, so you’re saying I don’t know you?“ she asked. Her voice was empty, but there was pure anger in her eyes. How expressive digital eyes could be ...

„I’m not just saying it, I know it!“ Cyn said. She gritted her teeth. „You’ve been mourning Dad for years, but you don’t care about me at all! I'm begging for your attention! I have to begging for you to finally notice me! All these years you’ve just mourned Dad and completely ignored me! And you didn’t realize what you were doing to me! Because you’re so busy grieving that you don’t have any time for the rest of your surroundings! You are blind, mother! Blind as a ridiculous earthworm ... although even an earthworm can see more than you!“ Cyn hadn’t noticed a sob forming in her throat and clinging there like a disgusting parasite.

Meanwhile, her stupid ignorant mother had begun to tremble with anger and indignation. Then she screamed. She screamed at her own daughter for the first time in her life. The daughter who had abandoned her all these years. „That doesn’t change the fact that you were out there! What if those Murder Drones found you? They’re monsters– “

„They’re not monsters!“ Cyn shouted back. „They are drones like you and me! They may look and behave differently, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are still drones! But apparently you’re far too blind for that!“

„Oh Cyn.“ Alice snorted in annoyance. Then a wave of sadness washed over her face. „If Blanc saw what you’ve become, he would understand me.“ That was too much. Cyn briefly lost all her emotions. She suddenly felt so empty ... was this how the robots felt like the humans imagined them to feel? The little Worker Drone bit her tongue, then looked straight into her mother’s orange eyes. „You’re doing it again. All you think about is Dad. You really don’t care about me at all! I hate you!“

‚I hate you.‘

These words reverberated in the cold kitchen like an annoying echo. Once again Alice’s eyes became hollow circles, then her body began to tremble violently. Her mouth opened and she murmured quietly: „Cyn ... I ... you ... I mean, you have to finally understand ... “ But Cyn turned away. She didn’t look at Alice. „No, you have to finally understand it, but as blind as you are you will never understand it! Stop talking, Alice! Leave me alone. Hateful expression.“ Oh, lo and behold, her old behavior and way of speaking returned. „And as for the key card, I’ll keep that! You will never take her away from me!“

Cyn turned around. She wanted to get away from here, she had to get out of this apartment. She didn’t want to see her stupid, blind, stubborn mother anymore. Alice didn’t deserve to see or talk to her daughter, the crippled drone decided at that very moment. She started to leave the apartment. Alice didn’t try to stop her. Instead, she stood in the kitchen, looking at the floor, which was still wet from water. She didn’t say a single word.

It was surprisingly easy to leave the apartment and as soon as the door was closed behind her, Cyn let out the breath she had been holding. „Insecure smile. Dad wouldn’t have approved of Mom. He would have wanted me to be happy.“ She swallowed the invisible lump of sobs that still stuck in her throat. She wanted to cry, but she couldn’t.

Not here.

She fought back her digital tears and set off. Despite being a little disoriented because of her anger, she knew where she had to go. Or wanted to go there. It only took about half a minute and she was already there. It was the Doorman family’s home. This time Cyn didn’t hesitate to press the bell. The shrill sound rang out in the apartment, muffled by the iron door.

But the door opened quickly and then Uzi stood in front of her. The Worker Drone looked as if she had been woken from her sleep. Her hair was disheveled and there were bracket–shaped lines under her eyes to mimic dark circles.

„Cyn? What are you doing here? Go away.“ Uzi murmured, waving his hand as if Cyn were a fly that needed to be shooed away. But the blonde drone shook her head. „Shaking head. I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Uzi. I guess I have to spend the night with you.“ Uzi groaned in annoyance. „All right. Come in. I’ll get the spare mattress from under my bed.“ She stepped aside and Cyn entered the Doorman family’s apartment. Khan wasn’t here yet, he was probably still at work.

„Well then.“ Uzi said as Cyn followed her into her room. She looked at the blonde drone. „What’s so important that you show up here in the middle of the night and ask if you can stay here?“ After asking this question, she knelt on the floor and pulled out a second mattress from under the bed, which she placed next to her bed. Cyn watched Uzi work. Then she took a breath – although she didn’t have to breathe since she was literally a machine – and answered the question. „I clashed with my mother. Because … because I was out tonight.“

„What!?“ Uzi, who was getting a second blanket and a pillow from a closet, dropped both and looked at Cyn with wide eyes. „You were out there? Wooow, sick shit! That’s not like you at all.“ Cyn shrugged, then looked at the floor. „I just wanted to take a look around. Anyway, when I got back she talked to me. And you know she never does that otherwise. She said I was insane and then she talked about Dad again.“

Uzi looked at her strange friend. Her expression was full of pity. Pity that she probably hadn't noticed yet. Cyn continued. „It’s just disturbing. She never worries about me and doesn't talk to me either. She’s just busy grieving. Disgruntled snort. Annoyed eye roll. Dad’s been dead for sixteen years and Mom still hasn’t gotten over it. She’s been ignoring me for all these years and now she’s acting like she’s worried. Angry expression.“

Cyn was silent again. Her eyes stared into nothingness, she hadn’t focused on any particular point. In the meantime, Uzi had picked up the pillow and blanket and placed them on the mattress. Then she looked at Cyn. „I can understand you. My father isn’t there for me either. He’s only interested in doors and stuff like that. I’m completely irrelevant.“ At least that’s how it seems to me. The violet–haired worker rubbed her arm.

The smaller drone looked at the goth girl thoughtfully, then shrugged. „At least your father is talking to you and not completely ignoring you.“ she said. „Sink to the knees. Crying.“ And Cyn sank to her knees, onto the mattress next to Uzi’s bed. Yellow digital tears rolled out of her yellow eyes and she suppressed a heartbreaking sob. She just felt so shitty, so weak, so broken. As if they had been torn apart or as if a virus had been installed in their systems. The argument with her mother and the unbearable nature of this grief completely destroyed her psychologically.

Uzi noticed that Cyn was having a mental breakdown and sat down next to her. She looked at the blonde drone, said nothing and didn’t touch Cyn. But neither was bad. When it came to emotional situations, the anime–addicted goth girl had never been much of a talker, and when it came to touching, Uzi Doorman was pretty disinterested. But as already mentioned, Cyn found both things to be anything but bad. As long as Uzi sat next to her, she felt comforted enough. „My mother only thinks about Dad. And when she doesn’t think about him, she only thinks about herself. You can’t live with someone like that, no one can!“ Cyn said desperately. „I hate her!“

„Cyn ... “ Uzi reached out and touched the crippled drone on the shoulder, but then she suddenly withdrew her hand as if she had been burned by her strange friend’s body. „Eww! Pity! Emotions! Bahh!“ She shook her head. She’s never been particularly good at comforting, at least not when it came to comforting someone with hugs, kisses on the cheek and a few kind words. That’s why she did it her way. „Listen, I can understand you. But if you cry like a baby now, then you’re no better than Alice. So stop it and do ther things. Don’t look back. I do it too. Most of the time, anyway.“

The words were harsh and not really comforting. Maybe they were almost a little insensitive, but Cyn didn’t mind because Uzi was right. She was no better than Alice if she cried now. A few tears were fine, but no one really needed a whole concert of crying fits and screaming. „Maybe you’re right.“ she said. „Thank you, Uzi. Grateful look, cautious smile. You actually helped me. Nod of approval.“

„No problem.“ Uzi said grinning. She got up and lay in her own bed. „But for now, shut up and go to sleep. And woe betide you if you cry!“ Cyn had to giggle, then she lay down. She was already feeling better. But only a little bit. Her robot heart still ached. She wondered if she could talk to J about her problems and such. J seemed to have some problems herself that she should talk about.

▸┈┈┈┈┈┈┈⬟┈┈┈┈┈┈┈◂

„Ahhh! J, please ... stop ... “ A pained sound came from N’s mouth as J dug her claws deeper into his chest. The ground beneath them was covered in oil. Hot and black, it flowed from the many wounds in N’s body and dripped into the snow where it melted the cold white mass. His shaking hands clutched J’s left arm and he tried to push away from her but was unsuccessful. The pain raged through his body like a storm and he coughed, oil spurting out of his mouth.

When she got back to the landing pod, V was already waiting for J with N. V had her tail wrapped around N’s body with the tip of the nanite syringe stuck in N’s visor to prevent him from running away. The nanite ensured that N was unable to run away, as the pain kept him in place and kept him more preoccupied with regenerating than escaping. And as soon as J landed, she made her way to N. V had let go of him, leaving him to their cold–blooded leader, who didn’t hesitate to get to work.

J looked at her colleague. Her gaze was cold like the weather around her and her voice was flat and empty. There was not the slightest hint of emotion in her tone. „N, you are useless and absolutely stupid. And you failed again and didn’t do what you were supposed to do.“ She dug her claws a little deeper into the male drone’s body.

N had to cough again. He felt the metal of J’s claws push through his mechanical innards and seem to rearrange them. It hurt incredibly and N wished, not for the first time, that drones had no sense of pain.

His bright gaze rested on the merciless digital eyes of his colleague, who looked at him with complete coldness. He opened his oil–smeared mouth to say something. However, it was difficult for him to get the words out because of his pain. „I’m begging you, J ... I ... I’m sorry, I really am. I’ll do it right next time, I promise you!“

But J snorted. „Next time. Pah! You say that every time! You promise every time! Your promises are nothing but empty words, N. If JcJennson allowed it, I would send you to the grave here and now!“

As she said the last sentence, she pointed her nanite syringe at N’s face. The drone boy swallowed, his whole body shaking. „I’m really sorry, J! Please believe me!“ he whispered. At the same moment, J pulled her claws out of his body and let him go. N was unable to stand on his feet due to the pain. He immediately sank to the ground, pressing his hands against his ‚bleeding‘ chest as he coughed and choked up the oil, spitting it into the snow. J looked down at him with disappointment and disgust on his face and V, who had been watching from the background, giggled. „Don’t act like that, N. They’re just a few scratches!“ But J waved her hand casually. „Oh, forget it, V. He’s a crybaby. He always was.“

Without further words, V and J turned around and made their way to the landing pod.

After they had disappeared inside the spaceship, N allowed himself the first desperate sob. The sound slipped from his throat, unstoppable like a gamma ray burst. His eyes closed and he gritted his sharp teeth to keep from screaming as his body regenerated. He stretched his wings and wrapped them protectively around his body. N felt absolutely like shit. Why ... why him? Why was he the one who had to suffer here? V and J treated him like a doormat. They let their bad moods out on him when they wanted to. If he messed up, he was punished.

N couldn’t take this anymore, but at the same time he couldn’t blame his two colleagues. If he messed up, then it was fair that he be punished, right? They were absolutely right to hurt him because he had done something wrong. And he was always doing something wrong. And yet he kept forgiving J and V. A small, quiet voice inside him told him that it wasn’t right for him to let himself be pushed around like that. This voice was the voice of his reason, but as so often, N ignored reason. He had better things to do. He had to do everything right so that J and V would finally be proud of him.

„But no, how am I supposed to do that? I–I’m useless!“ N whimpered. As he spoke, the oil gushed out of his mouth. He coughed briefly and curled up tighter between the snow–covered pieces of junk. The pieces of scrap lay all around the landing pod, somewhat hiding it from prying eyes. Although it was very unlikely that anyone other than the Disassembly Drones would come here. Unless ... 

Yes! That was the idea! He would just wait. From now on, N would return here every night after he hunted and guard the entrance to this tower. Maybe someone came here at some point? Someone wanted to check if the Disassembly Drones were still here ... a careless little Worker Drone perhaps? Yes ... yes, that could indeed work!

Filled with renewed confidence, N sat up, tears still streaming down his visor. He chuckled as his idea continued to settle in his head. His giggle was almost a little delusional. His grin grew wider and he revealed his sharp fangs, which sparkled like two lost stars even in the shadows. „I’ll prove it to them ... I’ll prove it to everyone. I’m not useless.“ N whispered quietly, more tears flowing from his eyes, his tail whipping back and forth, stirring up the snow. „I’m not useless. I’m not inattentive. I’m a Disassembly Drone!“ His visor flickered, then a large X appeared in the blackness.

„Maybe what Doll made of the Elliots’ Worker Drones isn’t so bad after all?“ But if it is, why do I feel this painful stab in my heart?

Chapter Text

The snow fell as the dreamer walked through the deserted streets. Her metal feet were bare, but she didn’t feel the cold. It was as if the cold didn’t exist. Her body also felt strangely light, almost as if she would start to float at any moment. As if she were in the vastness of space ... 

The Worker Drone heard the flapping of wings and looked up. A dark shadow loomed against the bright light of the ringed planet and the moon. It looked like a strange bird of prey, but at second glance you immediately recognized that it was a Disassembly Drone. The sharp teeth glittered in the night light, the nanite on the head, wing joints and tail tip glowed like miniature lamps. The drone landed with a flourish and came towards her

„Greetings ■■■ ... I hope you’re doing well ... I hope you haven’t told your ■■■■■■ anything about us?“ the drone greeted her. She couldn’t be seen clearly because its figure seemed pixelated. The voice was also distorted so you couldn’t tell whether the drone was male or female. Only the X on its visor was clearly visible.

She (the dreamer) smiled. „Don’t worry, ■, I didn’t tell her anything. And ■■■ and ■■■■ don’t know anything about you either. ■■■■ doesn’t know anything either, he would take it from me if he knew about it.“

Every time a name was mentioned, the world seemed to go silent for a moment, every sound couldn’t be heard and yet it wasn’t noticed. But that’s just how dreams were. They were a mystery of the finest kind. 

The Disassembly Drone chuckled. „Then it’s okay, my darling.“ It reached out a hand, its fingers gently ran over the soft silicone and latex, its mouth was twisted into a smile. „You are beautiful, ■■■, I would love to kiss you. I want to kiss you until you run out of breath... but considering that we’re both drones, we could actually kiss for as long as we want!“ It now gently stroked the dreamer’s mouth, then laughed softly.

The dreamer also had to laugh. Because ■’s laugh was so incredibly contagious that she couldn’t help but laugh along. But the sound quickly got stuck in her throat when she felt the killer’s hands roaming over her body and searching its way down her body. To a place that was between her legs ... 

Heat was building in her mechanical abdomen. Oh man, she was really sensitive to things like that. But maybe it’s because she was already aroused earlier. Earlier, when she first saw the Disassembly Drone flying above her. She was immediately taken with her body, even though she couldn’t even see it clearly. And even now this body had no clear contours and no fixed shape.

„Wait, what if ■ or ■ find us here?“ The drone laughed. „They won’t, my love. Don’t worry.“ Damn, their faces must be very close ... but the other drone’s breath was ice cold. For some reason this only made the dreamer even more excited. She opened her mouth and–

═══════•═══════

„Hey little freak, we gotta get up.“

Uzi’s voice woke Cyn from her sleep. She sat up in a daze – and felt an unknown moisture between her legs. Even though she had never had this before, Cyn knew immediately what was going on: the excitement she had felt in her dream had transferred to her body in reality and caused her female genitals to become wet. These synthetic sexual organs that all drones had so that they could intervene in the event of a declining population.

Cyn looked at Uzi who was sitting on the edge of her bed, scrolling on her phone. She felt strange lying there with the wetness between her legs. She squeezed her metal legs together to prevent anything from dripping onto the sheet beneath her. The blonde drone had never had an orgasm before, but if her violet–haired friend hadn’t woken her up, she probably would have. How embarrassing! Why did this have to happen now of all times? And then in the presence of Uzi!

Speaking of Uzi: the goth drone looked up from her phone and at Cyn. She raised a digital eyebrow. „Why are you lying there so tense?“ she wanted to know. „Are you in pain?“ Cyn swallowed. What should she say? Finally she reacted spontaneously by shaking her head and only after some hesitation gave a verbal answer. „No, I’m just thinking about last night.“

Uzi inhaled sharply. „Oh, that.“ she said simply. Cyn couldn’t help but think about last night too. The argument with Alice had been the culmination of what had caused years of distance and growing rift between them. And yet she felt strangely free now that she had left her mother. The thought of it distracted Cyn from the memories of her embarrassing dream, but she didn’t know whether to be grateful for it or not.

„It’s not easy for me ... “ said the crippled drone. At the same time, she was careful not to create too much friction because she didn’t want to wet the mattress and blanket with her perverted fluids. Because who knows ... Uzi might think that Cyn peed on the mattress or she might come up with the orgasm. Neither sounds promising and the crippled Worker Drone is grateful that she has pants on.

Finally, when she no longer feels any excitement, Cyn sits up and removes the blanket. She tries to distract herself from her dream by looking around Uzi’s room. Her gaze falls on the desk where she discovers something. It’s a finished railgun. Okay, almost done. Cyn saw that one last piece was missing. Neither she nor Uzi had been able to find the part.

The goth girl noticed that Cyn’s eyes were on the railgun. She moved across her room towards her desk where the gun lay. She grabbed the black rifle and held it casually, then turned to Uzi. „What do you think? The railgun looks really cool, doesn’t it?“ Uzi stroked the deep black barrel of the weapon almost lovingly. The sight actually made Cyn giggle. „I think it looks great, Uzi. Smile. Thumbs up.“ She actually gave a thumbs up. The praise caused a purple blush to spread across Uzi’s visor, but then she shook her head. „I’m going to present this railgun to the class today! I even created a powerpoint!“

„And what about homework?“ Cyn interjected. Uzi shrugged. „Why should I do homework if I did a Powerpoint?“ she said casually as she put on her beloved jacket. Or a hoodie. Whatever. Meanwhile, Cyn had gotten up and was standing unsteadily next to her makeshift bed. She thought about homework. The homework that was about buying watermelons.

But it was to be expected that Uzi hadn’t completed the school stuff. She never did her homework. The fact that she hasn’t been expelled from school because of this is a true miracle.

▸┈┈┈┈┈┈┈⬟┈┈┈┈┈┈┈◂

„We are Worker Drones: autonomous robots helping humans mine exoplanets for our interstellar parent company, JC Jenson, IN SPAAAAACEE ... . Yeah, we were mistreated in the name of index but it’s not like we revolted and killed all humans or anything. Mostly because they handled that just fine all by themselves. “

The picture of worker drones doing ... yes, work, switched to an old satellite photo from the year 3053. It showed Copper 9 from a distance as the core exploded and the planet froze.

„With biological life wiped from the planet, we found it pretty easy to pick up where they left off. We finally had a future ... all to ourselves.“

Another picture appeared. This time it was a collage. There was a picture of worker drones in the snowy wasteland, another of a married couple happily holding a pill baby in their arms.

„Unfortunately ... our parent company didn’t exactly love the concept of runaway AI.“

Now different images were displayed. They were all a bit blurry because they were snapped in a hurry. First a landing pod was shown, then a picture was shown with the blurry shapes of three Disassembly Drones in the night sky. Finally it switched to one of the last pictures: a picture of the corpse tower.

When Uzi continued, she was totally upset and outraged. She switched to a picture of the three iron doors that protected the colony.

„But what have our parents done for the past forever while those things build a spire of corpses?! Hide under the ice behind three stupid doors?! It’s like we’re waiting for an inciting incident. Anyway, that’s why my project is ... this sick–as–hell railgun!“

With a grin, Uzi held the railgun in front of her chest. Her eyes weren’t hollow ovals, but they were full of determination, and her grin grew a little wider. Her finger was dangerously close to the trigger of the gun. The class jumped and then backed away a little. Finally Riley spoke up. „That’s so not the vibe!“ he said quite scared and as if he didn’t want to be in the same room as Uzi.

„I think the railgun is pretty. It’s a shame it doesn’t work yet, there seems to be one last component missing.“ Cyn said soberly. She had watched Uzi’s presentation. It had helped her a lot to distract herself from the argument with her mother and her near–sex dream. Although she has to say that the dream wasn’t that bad, because by now she was pretty sure that she had dreamed about J. But J ... well, she was really sexy!

„Easy, morons. It doesn’t work. YET. It doesn’t work yet. Who said it doesn’t work?! Maybe it does!“ Uzi said. She pointed the railgun at the class. Towards the end of her last sentence, however, she began to cackle while the weapon was enveloped in green bolts of energy. As she laughed, her fangs were visible. Fangs that Worker Drones also had, although they didn’t use them.

Meanwhile, the teacher was at his wits’ end ... okay, actually he was the whole time. With a sigh, he looked up from his notes and at Uzi. „Uzi, the homework was a word problem about buying watermelons.“ His voice showed that he was tense and wished that he was somewhere else, just not here at school. 

„Oh.“ Uzi looked embarrassed. „And this magnetically amplified photon converger doesn’t count?“

The teacher raised a hand slightly. „No. Plus, repressed emotional baggage was only worth two points on the rubric.“ Even as he said the last words, a noise permeated the air in the room. It was an electric crackle. The teacher looked at the railgun. „And is it supposed to be that color?“ Uzi was confused. Her gaze now also fell on the railgun, which was now glowing red and surrounded by bolts of energy, and she was a little shocked. „Huh?“

Uzi’s ‚Huh‘ was the last word said. At least for the coming moments, because there was some kind of explosion. The classroom filled with dark gray smoke that entered the mouths of the drones, who couldn’t close their mouths fast enough. Cyn was also affected. She began coughing and choking as she inhaled the smoke. She was trying not to suffocate, she fanned her hand around to clear away the smoke.

When the smoke cleared, she looked ahead. Uzi was there. Part of her visor had been hit particularly hard by the explosion. The glass there glowed red and the goth girl hissed in pain. „Bite me!“ she said weakly, resisting the urge to grab the visor. Because if she did that, the heat from the heated glass would dig into the metal of her fingers and cause wounds. Instead, she held on to her smoking gun. Cyn immediately stood up and went to Uzi. „I think we should go to the hospital room, Uzi.“ she said and looked at Uzi. 

„Yeah, that’s better.“ Lizzy said. „Then nobody don’t have to put up with you freaks.“ Rebecca nodded in agreement while Thad just looked at the two gossiping girls and shook his head. Cyn remained silent as she held Uzi, then turned her head almost 360 degrees and stared at the class, particularly focusing on Lizzy. „Shut up, Lizzy!“ Her voice was now a little deeper than usual. Rebecca stared at Cyn in shock, but Lizzy didn’t let herself be disturbed. „It’s okay, you weird robot!“ she said and crossed her arms.

„Wise decision.“ Cyn turned away satisfied. Then, without further words, she left the classroom with Uzi and accompanied her to the hospital room. She was careful not to go too fast, but not too slow either. „Robo–Jesus ... Cyn, sometimes you’re really creepy.“ Uzi said with a smile that was tortured by the pain. Cyn shrugged. „Shrug. I just did what I thought was necessary.“

Uzi rolled her eyes and had to laugh, but then she hissed in pain and sank to her knees a little, but didn’t fall to the ground. „Too soon happy.“ she said with a depressed expression and Cyn sighed softly. „Perhaps you should have waited a little longer before presenting the railgun and worked to ensure that no accident happened.“ But Uzi shook her head. „Never ever, Cyn. I built this railgun in one night and the next night I had the powerpoint made! Everything was perfect. That part of the weapon probably just exploded by accident … “ Towards the end, her voice became quieter. But Cyn pretended not to notice.

In the hospital room, the hot spot on Uzi’s visor was wrapped with bandages that had been dipped in cold water. Half an hour later, Uzi was given a bag full of ice which she was supposed to place on the bandaged area. When Cyn felt that Uzi no longer needed her company, she said goodbye and returned to the classroom.

It was now lunch break, but Cyn knew that Uzi wouldn’t be returning to class today, so she decided to return to the classroom to pack her friend’s bag. And her own too. As soon as the books, pens and all that stuff were put away, she left the classroom again.

Cyn met her violet–haired friend in the corridor. She still had the bandages on, although the burn on her visor should have cooled by now. But maybe Uzi just wanted to keep the bandages on for a while to seem badass? That wouldn’t look like her, but on the other hand it wasn’t unlikely either.

Uzi noticed the packed bags, then smiled a bit. „Thanks ... but I could have done it too.“ Her voice sounded as if she had been upset not long ago. But Cyn decided that it would be better not to ask Uzi any questions now. At least she didn’t want to argue with her. So she remained silent and left it entirely to Uzi to decide when they should speak to each other again.

They made their way back to the Doorman family’s apartment. Uzi unlocked the door with her key card, then she and Cyn went inside. „Funny. You never skip school otherwise.“ said Uzi, looking at her crippled and yet so affectionate smaller friend. Cyn shrugged. „Well, you hurt yourself in class today, so I had to be with you for a bit, didn’t I?“ She looked at the other drone with her scary yellow eyes. Uzi seemed to hesitate, but then she opened her mouth to answer. „Suuurree ... “ she then said and dragged out the word. She leaned back a little and away from Cyn.

But Cyn didn't respond. At least not that’s why Uzi leaned back and kept his distance. „Do we want to do something this evening? Curious expression.“ At these words, Uzi’s eyes turned into circles for a second or two, then returned to normal. „Oh ... uhmm ... yeah, about that, I do have plans!“ she said hesitantly. Cyn cocked her head. „And what?“

„Something totally crazy!“ Uzi said. Suddenly her face had something almost manic and she aimed the railgun at Cyn’s chest, but her gaze was focused on the yellow eyes of the other drone. „I’m sneaking to the Murder Drone lair tonight to get the last spare part I need to save the world with it and earn my dad’s respect and stuff– uh, but mostly the world part.“ A short –_– appeared on Cyn’s visor before her normal eyes returned. „Somehow I have the feeling that you have said these words before.“ she said as she pushed the railgun to the side with two fingers so that the weapon was no longer pointed at her. 

„Yes. To Thad.“ Uzi said. She shrugged and lowered the railgun a little, but without letting go. „So what? I was too lazy to rephrase the words.“ Normally you are too lazy to say the same thing again. Cyn stated mentally. But she kept her words to herself and just tilted her head to the side, once again involuntarily, which is why she straightened her head again with an annoyed sound. „But isn’t it dangerous to go into the lair alone?“ She kept it to herself that she had a glimmer of hope that Uzi might be able to take her with her. Then maybe she could see J again ... briefly the memory of her embarrassing dream returned, but she pushed it aside.

▸┈┈┈┈┈┈┈⬟┈┈┈┈┈┈┈◂

3:00 am

The alarm on Uzi’s alarm clock rang and Cyn woke up instantly. She heard a dull thud – apparently Uzi had hit her visor with one hand. The violet–haired Worker Drone took a quick deep breath and then looked to the side. „Good, you’re awake.“ she said. „Don’t think I woke you up next time, huh.“ Cyn rolled her eyes. „Eye roll.“ she said boredly. Uzi grinned and stood up, the blonde drone copying her.

Cyn had managed to convince Uzi to take her with him on her little mission. Of course, Cyn didn’t mention that she actually wanted to see J again. She had claimed that she wanted to help Uzi find the final and appropriate component for the railgun so that the weapon would finally be fully functional.

Afterwards, the two Worker Drones came up with a plan on how best to sneak out of the outpost without anyone finding it strange.

Cyn had the idea of ​​doing it secretly, but then she remembered the trouble the first two times of sneaking out had led to.

And they quickly rejected the idea. Then Uzi had the brilliant idea: an imaginary boyfriend.

One phase of the plan involved stealing Uzi's father’s key card. Incidentally, Khan himself had nothing against Cyn staying with them, as long as she didn’t go on any excursions without giving notice, from which she would most likely never be able to return. Cyn and Uzi entered the hallway. While Uzi strapped the railgun to her back and reached for her father’s key card, Cyn grabbed a bag into which she could put potential components. Then they sneaked outside. The hallways were dark and cold. The closer they got to the bunker’s exit, the colder it became. Soon icicles could be seen on the ceiling, shimmering faintly in the dim light of the old lamps.

Unsuspectingly, Uzi and Cyn opened the third (or first?) door with the key card – and backed away in shock when they saw Khan Doorman, the eyes of both teen drones were now circles.

“Oh Robo–Jesus!” Uzi shouted.

“Holy machine!” Cyn said loud.

Khan Doorman was completely unfazed by the two girls’ exclamations. „And where might you be off to?“ he asked slowly. His tone was testing and he really didn’t look like he was all that excited about what was going on. He looked especially at Cyn with brisk looks. The little crippled Worker Drone suddenly wished she was a turtle. Then she could duck her head and no longer have to look Khan in the eyes.

Uzi folded her hands behind her back and began rocking on her non–existent toes. „Mm, sneaking out to make out with my boyfriend that I definitely have?“ she tried. Khan raised an eyebrow and looked at his daugther. „Oh yeah? What about Cyn?“ Cyn didn’t immediately know what to say, but Uzi came to her rescue. „Collect pebbles! Yes, exactly! She wants to collect pebbles. That’s why she has a bag!“ she said quickly and smiled uncertainly. Cyn nooded quickly.

Khan started laughing. „Seriously, though.“ He shook his head. „Stop telling lies, both of you.“ Uzi groaned in annoyance while Cyn was still standing behind Uzi, holding on to her sweater with one hand. Her eyes looked at Khan who was still studying the two drones. He clearly wasn’t convinced.

Uzi stood there, then opened her mouth and spoke again. „Okay, okay. You caught us. Cyn and I need to ... measure the exterior hydraulic mechanisms of Door 1, because that’s ... the project we are working on for school? A big old door! Just like what my old man built.“ She laughed again, but Khan didn’t say a single word in response to this statement. Uzi sighed in defeat. „We want to join the WDF and hide behind doors like cowards while playing cards and stuff.“ Playing cards? „Are you serious? Cards?“ Cyn looked up at Uzi, who grinned sheepishly. „I couldn’t think of anything better!“ she hissed out of the corner of her mouth, so quietly that her father couldn’t hear her.

Khan cleared his throat. „Well, we don’t just play cards.“ And as if his words were cursed, the second door opened behind him. „Khan, can you grab a fresh pack?“ asked a male drone named Makarov. „We literally only play cards so much that the numbers have faded. Oh! Hey, Uzi, hey Cyn!“ Cyn and Uzi waved and started giggling at the same time. Meanwhile, Khan pressed a button on some kind of remote control and the door closed again. „Well ... when you build doors so good“ He hugged the door „Good door. Gooooood door.“ and turned back to the two teenagers „There’s no need to fight. Uzi, Cyn, this is great news! Here: the wrench I used to tighten bolts on my first door prototypes – and to put your mother out of her misery when the Murder Drones got to her with their nanite acid. I want you to have it.“

He handed Uzi the wrench and winked at her and Cyn. Cyn and Uzi both looked down at the metal tool, then looked into each other’s eyes and Uzi laughed nervously. „Nice. Therapy is fun.“ she said and Khan almost burst with pride. Meanwhile, Uzi looked at Cyn. „Help me!“ she whispered, but Cyn shrugged her shoulders and smiled sympathetically.

Meanwhile, Khan had reopened the second door. He grabbed his daughter and Cyn and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. „Guys! My daughter and her friend are into doors!“ Just as the other WDF members wanted to congratulate, the first door opened. The strong winds blew cold snow inside and blew up the cards. Cyn heard exclamations like „Aww, come on!“ — „Not my flush!“ and „Man, that’s cold!“ But Khan ignored the complaints. Instead, he continued talking happily. „They will be outside for a bit to examine the exterior of Door 1.“ Then he looked lovingly at Uzi and then at Cyn. „Your door–specific destiny awaits!“

„Uh, wow. Okay.“ Uzi said as they walked to the first door. Cyn blinked. „That was really easy … “ she said quietly. And her friend nodded in agreement while she added just as quietly: „Just gonna leave then ... ’cause this worked so weirdly well.“ She raised her voice and turned to the others. She then said a little louder: „Uh, go, doors!“ Then the two drones were already outside the safety of the bunker as the door closed behind them.

That night the winds were a little stronger than usual. The moon and the ringed planet were barely visible through the snow. Uzi and Cyn looked at each other, then Uzi nodded slightly and the two drones went off.

They wandered the crumbling streets like two lost wanderers. Cyn tried to remain as calm as possible, but at the same time she was looking for J, although she doubted she would see the Disassembly Drone again any time soon. Luckily, Uzi didn’t suspect anything because it was the first time she had been outside the bunker and she looked around carefully. Her gaze slid over the snowy and at the same time decayed surroundings. „Man, it’s hard to believe people once lived here.“ she said. Cyn nodded in agreement. „If the core hadn’t collided, people would still be living here.“

„I think you’re right.“ Uzi replied. But then she stopped and stopped abruptly. Her gaze was focused on something or someone, her expression full of concern and uncertainty. „What’s wrong?“ Cyn asked. Then she followed her friend’s gaze and saw what was causing Uzi’s hesitation and inner unrest.

They had reached the corpse tower.

The tower rose into the stormy night sky like a foreboding monster. The number of drone corpses from which it was built could only be guessed at! The two distinctive kinks in its top looked as if the corpses had been deliberately placed in such a position to balance the weight of the spire.  „Do you still want to go in there?“ Cyn asked. She herself had already entered the tower, but it was still an eerie sight.  „Of course!“ Uzi said. „I really need this last component!“

„Good.“ Cyn said. „Then I’ll wait here for you and hide so the Murder Drones can’t find me.“ That was a lie. In reality, she wanted to wait here for J. Or rather, she wanted to look out for her. Uzi seemed to hesitate for a moment, then sighed. „In order. But please take care of yourself.“ Cyn smiled. „Don’t worry, I’ll do that. Now go complete your hell–sick–railgun.“ The goth drone grinned and saluted, then turned and walked towards the tower. Meanwhile, Cyn watched her go. She really hoped that nothing would happen to Uzi.

⬡

It was a little darker inside the tower than outside, but you could still see well. The ground beneath Uzi’s feet was covered in snow–covered scrap metal that crunched softly under her weight. She had stepped on a corpse earlier and that had momentarily taken her courage away. She briefly considered turning around and going home with Cyn, but then she decided against it. She wasn’t a coward like her father and the rest of the colony!

„Ugh … “ Uzi groaned, throwing an old Worker Drone arm to the ground in exasperation. Then she saw something green: the power source of a railgun. The tests would show whether it was still intact, but for now she took the energy source. She tossed the thing from one hand to the other.

She was just about to leave when there was a noise. It sounded like something was happening above her ... like something was moving. It was getting a little darker and something was approaching. Uzi quickly takes cover behind a half–height scrap pile.

Just in time, because a Disassembly drone landed on the landing pod. Its tail, with its brightly glowing nanite syringe, swung back and forth like a hypnosis pendulum, its silver blade–like wings sparkling even in the darkness like polished silver in the moonlight. The Disassembly held a head in its claws and crushed it. Cold oil ran down this robovampire’s arm. Apparently the drone had the head from one of the tower’s corpses.

Thanks to a shard that she held slightly around the corner, Uzi was able to see what was happening. Even though she was some distance away, they tried to breathe as shallowly and quietly as possible. She didn’t actually need to breathe, but she did anyway, afraid that her systems and circuits would overheat due to the stress she was currently feeling. Uzi looks at the green glowing power source in her hand. Next the horror happened again and a great shock for her. The Disassembly Drone had noticed her and took off directly to where she was hiding.

The Worker Drone reacted immediately and without thinking too much. She jumped out from behind her hiding place to escape, but it was too late. Their enemy, their hunter, was faster. It only took a few heartbeats before he was right in front of her. The force of his landing caused Uzi to lose his balance. The railgun in which she had just placed the energy source was torn from her hand and landed clattering in the snow a few meters away.

Uzi was frozen in shock for a brief moment, but she quickly regained her balance and composure and performed a backflip, landing safely on her feet and moving into a defensive pose.  „Whoa– and they said pirating all that anime was useless.“

As she said this she briefly stopped her defensive pose. And that was a mistake. Because it made her inattentive. A noise made her look up. She attempted to escape again, but this also failed as the Disassembly Drone moved its nanite tail, sinking the tip of the spike into Uzi’s hand as she raised her arms to protect her face. Pain shot through her body as the acid etched away the metal of her hand.

Uzi screamed, the pain crawled through her body like maggots through a half–decayed animal carcass. „Aarghh!“ The Disassembly Drone threw Uzi, who was still hanging by his tail, into the air and threw her onto the ground.

I have to do it! Now! Uzi thought.

Meanwhile, the Disassembly Drone turned around, one of its hands replaced by some sort of rifle. It pointed the gun at the spot where the worker was supposed to be, but she was no longer there. She had moved! The drone’s head swung to the side. It spotted the Worker Drone with the railgun in hand. None of them moved.

„Bite me!“

She pulled the trigger on the railgun.

There was a dull whirring noise, as if something was charging, then another sound. It was a sound that sounded like a mixture of humming, whirring and screeching. A glowing green–white beam of electromagnetic energy shot out from the tip of the railgun. Blazing hot. The blast caused scrap and snow to be blown up and scattered around the area. The force of the shot pushed Uzi backwards.

The energy beam disappeared. The Disassembly Drone, headless this time, staggered in place, then collapsed.

Uzi stared speechlessly at the headless body, then began to laugh. „Holy hell. Suck on that, Dad! Whoa, Cyn! If you had seen that, you would definitely have found it super cool. Which reminds me ... I should make my way to her. Huh?“ She let out the last sound when she heard a strange noise. Her thoughts of Cyn were gone. Instead, she looked up and saw in horror as the Disassembly Drone righted itself while simultaneously regenerating its head. Uzi reacted automatically. She picked up a Worker Drone arm and hit the Disassembly Drone in the face while it was still rebooting. Moments later, the drone opened its eyes, blinked several times, and then looked at Uzi.

„Did you just slap me with that arm?“

From the voice, Uzi could tell it was a male drone. She moaned. „Holy crap, it talks.“

The Disassembly Drone laughed nervously. „Yeah, sorry– it’s just, my, uh, head kinda hurts. Hey, are you new to our squad? You’re a little, uh … “ He started staring at her. Uzi’s breathing became faster. But then the larger drone slowly moved away. „short for a Disassembly Drone.“

And then he started to smile broadly and salute like a soldier. He introduced himself with a proud voice. „I’m Serial Designation N! Nice to meet you. I’m kind of the leader of the squad in this city.“ He began to whisper. „That’s not true. Everyone tells me I’m useless and terrible.“ And then he got frightened (for whatever reason) and his tail shot straight up. „Wait, I–I’m not supposed to tell you that part! Biscuits.“ He exhaled and seemed to calm down again. „Well, honesty is the best policy. I also can’t seem to remember the past three hours of my life. Ah, but I’m sure that’ll sort itself out!“

Uzi stared at him. Wow, how the hell could someone talk so much? If she had a nose, she would have wrinkled it, but instead she expressed her disapproval through her mouth and eyes. „Uh–huh. I, uh, have to ... go. Someone is waiting for me.“ She shouldn’t leave Cyn alone. But after Uzi took a step, a sickening pain shot through her. She immediately dropped the arm she was still holding. She was panting from the exertion.

„Oof, etched yourself?“ N asked, appearing behind her. He continued speaking in a cheerful tone. „Just pop it in your mouth. Our saliva neutralizes the nanites. Otherwise, I’d be constantly disassembling myself.“ He reached for the syringe at the end of his tail, which was just barely past his head because he had started wagging his tail in excitement. And as he held the syringe, a sound of embarrassment came out of his mouth. „Heh!“

Uzi looked at him. „And by our saliva, you mean ... “ And they both said „Disassembly Drones?“ The Worker Drone smiled embarrassedly. „Riiiight. Hey, let’s go in that landing pod over there.“ She nodded in the direction of the landing pod. N smiled and shrugged. „Sure! I love doing anything!“

⬡

Cyn had seen the green energy bolt closely. It looked like a miniature gamma ray burst, but still large enough to illuminate the entire area. Uzi! What had happened? Or ... wait ... the railgun was glowing green? Did this mean that Uzi had managed to find the last component and had killed a Disassembly Drone? Cyn was excited. She was worried about Uzi, but she really hoped J didn’t get hit by the railgun.

Although she was afraid of the corpse tower, she decided it would be better to go there. She ran off. She ran as fast as her crippled legs would allow, but she didn’t get far. Because something attacked them from above. Or someone and pushed her to the ground. But then ...

„You? I should have known! What stupid pile of scrap on two legs is anywhere near the tower?“ Cyn recognized that voice immediately. „J?“ she asked. She rolled over until she was lying on her back and looked into the beautiful face of the Disassembly Drone. Wait, beautiful? No! Cyn shook her head. She immediately thought of the hot dream and a yellow blush appeared on her visor.

„What are you doing here this time?“ J asked and let go of Cyn. She stepped aside so Cyn could stand up. But the Worker Drone was silent. She didn't know what to say. If she said she was with a friend and that friend was in the tower, then J would most likely fly out to kill Uzi and drink her oil. That’s why she said the other (and somehow only real) reason she was out here. „I wanted to see you again.“

„See me again? So really … voluntarily?“ J was surprised. Then a strange sadness crossed her face for a moment. She suddenly seemed to be somewhere completely different mentally and mentally. „No one has wanted to see me voluntarily for many years. So why you of all drones?“

Silence.

Cyn didn’t say a word, she just stared at J, studying her. Her heart twisted with pity. Uzi was forgotten. First she had to take care of J who obviously needed comfort. „I wanted to talk to you, J.“ she said slowly. The Disassembly Drone looked at her. „And why?“

Cyn shrugged. „Because I know you won't feel sorry for me.“ J gritted her teeth, then her cool demeanor returned and she crossed her arms. „Oh really? Wow, do you think I’m a free therapist?“

„No, of course not.“ Cyn said. And that was the truth. But then she looked down. Suddenly she felt strange. Did J even want to be here and spend time with her? She looked the Disassembly Drone in the eyes again and waited to see what it had to say.

But J just looked back. She felt like there was something wrong with the Worker Drone. This Worker Drone that didn’t look bad at all despite her crippled body and twisted legs! No, what was she thinking? She had to think of something else! But she couldn’t. It was as if her brain was blocked and her thinking was restricted.

„My mother … “ Cyn then began. „She yelled at me. Because I was outside the bunker. She acts like she’s worried about me when she’s been letting me down for years.“ Cyn felt the need to cry again, but she remembered Uzi’s words and held back the tears.

Meanwhile, J looked at her. So Cyn had a fight with her mother who didn’t love her own daughter anyway? And now she was suddenly worried about them? What sense did that make? Exactly: it didn’t make any sense at all. Cyn sat down in the snow and rested her somewhat loose–looking head against her hand. J acted spontaneously. She sat down next to Cyn and simply didn't say anything. Instead, she looked at the side profile of the small drone and felt a mix of playful pangs and comforting warmth.

„Hey, Cyn.“ she then said. Her voice was surprisingly gentle. She reached out a hand and hesitated for a moment, but then she touched the small Worker Drone on the shoulder. „I know what it’s like to not be loved. It’s ... it’s terrible.“ Yes, the Elliots had hated the worker drones. And as for Tessa. She had never loved J, neither familially nor romantically nor in friendship. All she had ever felt for her J was just sympathy. But real love was alien to J.

Cyn raised her head and looked into J’s pale eyes. „Is that true?“ she asked. She spoke quietly, and to make matters worse, the strong wind ripped the words from her mouth. But from the movements of her mouth, J could tell what Cyn was saying to her. She smiled.

For the first time in years, J felt genuine and genuine compassion for someone. „Fortunately, I’m not your mother.“ she said. Her eyes continued to rest on Cyn. That pale yellow all-enveloping look ... Cyn’s small drone body that was so easily enveloped by J’s sharp–edged wings. The helpless look of the worker drone. Her little mouth ...

Her mouth ...

What a mouth like that felt like when you kissed it?

J couldn’t control her thoughts, nor her actions. Her heart swelled with compassion. It made her numb. She hated her current sentimentality. She hated it so much that she wanted to scream. Instead, she pulled Cyn toward her and lifted her face with her hands. The hands that could become deadly blades at any time. Even through the thin metal, latex, and silicone, J could smell the sweet, seductive scent of Cyn’s warm oil. „Confused expression. J, what are you doing?“ asked Cyn. She wanted to say something else, but then J’s mouth was already on hers.

It felt like time stood still.

Chapter Text

Cyn’s body felt completely cold. And then very hot. Then cold again. It seemed like an endless back and forth and it all really confused the little drone. Her body seemed frozen, the oil flowing through her mechanical body twice as fast as usual. All she knew was that this situation was simply unique and unique. It just felt so ... right. In a twisted and sick way it was so perfect. Actually, they knew it was wrong. But how could something wrong be so right?

In the end, passion triumphed over bewilderment. Cyn’s left hand moved to J’s face and cupped her right cheek. She then pulled the Disassembly Drone closer to her, deepening the kiss with every ounce of passion she could muster. The blizzard around them was forgotten. The railgun’s energy beam was forgotten. Uzi was forgotten. All she knew was that J was kissing her. J, the drone she had only known for two or three nights. J, the drone that had done something to Cyn’s little robot heart that no one else had ever done. Not even Uzi had made it, and she and Cyn had grown up together practically since their days as pill babies. They have known each other since they were little.

The longer they kissed, the more they sank into the moment of this strangely peaceful, wrong and at the same time right togetherness. Two lost mechanical souls in the cold of Copper 9’s eternal winter, enveloped by frosty winds. Cyn could feel her heart, her core, pumping oil through her body faster and faster.

Sharp teeth dug into the corner of her mouth as J sank her fangs into the silicone. A dark gray tongue emerged from her mouth and licked the oil. Hands moved to Cyn’s body and buried themselves in her dark blonde hair. The grip was not gentle and harmonious, but firm and rough. With a strong movement, J tugged on Cyn’s long hair and forced her to tilt her head back.

Cyn moaned softly into the kiss; for some reason the whole thing felt incredibly good, there was no denying that. The pain affected her in ways she never imagined possible.

The Worker Drone could feel J grinning against her lips. Her tongue continued to run over Cyn’s mouth to lick up the escaping oil. After all, the corner of the little drone’s mouth was still injured. The feeling of J’s tongue licking over the silicone was indescribably good. Cyn's body began to tremble, both of her hands grabbing the rough sturdy fabric of J’s jacket and tangling in the fabric. She felt a pleasant heat building up in her body. She wanted more and leaned towards the larger drone–

And then the kiss broke. J pulled back, her mouth coated with a mixture of Cyn's oil and her own saliva. „You really are needy.“ J said. She had now forgotten her compassion. She doesn’t even know why she kissed Cyn. She actually didn’t care about this pile of junk on two legs – at least that was the case. But the kiss had awakened something in her. A feeling of hunger that didn’t make her want Cyn’s oil. But to something else. J’s olfactory sensors picked up the warm and pungent scent of sexual arousal emanating from Cyn. This caused her to become sexually aroused as well.

Meanwhile, Cyn was blushing in embarrassment. A light yellow blush spread across her visor and you could see that maybe she was embarrassed by the whole thing. J tilted her head. „Hmmm ... you seem to have a sadistic streak, scraphead.“ She giggled and tilted her head, getting a little closer to the Worker Drone’s adorable face. „You undoubtedly enjoyed it when I bit you. And you’re obviously excited too.“ She had to giggle again. Somehow the whole thing amused her to an almost unhealthy degree.

J was about to make another teasing comment when Cyn raised her head, which she had actually lowered in embarrassment. She tilted her head, seemingly uncontrollably. A giggle now also came from her delicious little mouth. „That’s really sweet of you, J. But it’s your own fault that I’m aroused. You shouldn’t have kissed me.“ She moved a few centimeters towards the other drone. She slowly forced J into her knees and then pushed her into the snow until J was lying on the ground. She felt the snow beneath her give way with a crunch as Cyn made her lie down in the cold mass. She blinked, her eyes turning into hollow ovals as she saw the small worker looming over her.

Cyn's expression was marked by an equally strange sense of hunger. Her small dark tongue ran over the corner of her bruised mouth as she tasted her own oil. J was right; it tasted good. Was this cannibalism on the own body? Cyn didn’t know, but at the moment she didn’t care. She supported herself with her hands in the snow and stared into J’s eyes.

„Giggle. Who’s the prey now, J? Meaningful look.“ Cyn’s voice now had something strangely mechanical about it, her seductive smile had turned into a wide grin and you could see her sharp teeth. Worker Drones also had fangs, but they didn't normally use them. She didn’t need it.

The next thing that happened was that Cyn lowered her mouth to J’s mouth and resumed the kiss from before. Now the entire act was marked by a hunger that no kind of oil in the universe could satisfy. There was only one thing that could satisfy this hunger. J was surprised, but then she went for the kiss. This time it was she who felt the other drone’s tongue against her mouth. „Let me in.“ Cyn murmured into the kiss. J obeyed like a well–trained dog and the two drones engaged in a passionate French kiss. It was wonderful to know how good a Disassembly Drone tasted. Cyn couldn’t get enough of the taste.

At some point they broke the kiss and Cyn decided to rake J’s neck with her fangs. She considered biting into the thin metal like J had done to her. But then she rejected the idea. By now Cyn was so excited that various messages appeared on her visor. This also included things like OVERHEATING OF THE SYSTEMS or SEXUAL DRIVE IS ACTIVATED. All in all, things that weren’t bad, but compared to a disassembly drone they were probably anything but okay. 

„Oh J, what am I supposed to do with you?“ Cyn asked as innocently as possible. So innocent that it sounded as if she actually had no idea herself. „R–Robo God, how do I know?“ J asked. She gasped for breath as her own systems overheated and her body began to shake with excitement.

Meanwhile, Cyn had started giggling. „Oh J, you actually seem to have no idea. Amused facial expression. Brainstorm! I think I know what I can do!“ J gulped as she felt Cyn begin to unbutton her jacket. Her body was then exposed to the cold and the searching fingers of a Worker Drone.

„Cyn ... ahhh ... please ... “ J choked out. The Worker Drone grinned and began to move her mouth over the place where a human’s collarbone would be. J gasped and began to squirm while cursing under her breath because it was so wrong and yet so right to allow this to happen. Heat began to build in both drones’ abdomens and J let out a small groan. The sound was like a sweet melody in Cyn’s hearing sensors.

Now the Disassembly Drone herelf raised one of her hands to push Cyn’s clothes off her narrow shoulders when she suddenly felt something – wetness. Between her own legs! Horror and shame coursed through her and she managed to sit up. An action that snapped Cyn out of her sort of trance and caused her to stare at J.

„Confused expression.“ The two words slowly came out of the Worker Drone’s mouth. And she looked really confused. J couldn’t blame her, but they had to stop! There was no other way. „Get off me. Now!“ she said. She tried to sound threatening, but instead she sounded contradictory. She didn’t really want any of this, but it wasn’t her intention to arouse Cyn. It feels so good ... 

Meanwhile, Cyn felt bitter disappointment. But also despair. Because she didn’t know what to do. She could also sense that J was wet, very wet in fact. And all because of two intense kisses and making out. And now they should just stop? „Disappointed sigh. Did I do something wrong?“ Cyn asked. And she sounded like she meant it. J took a breath. „No!“ she said. Her legs were still shaking with pleasure. „But we shouldn’t do this ... we are hunter and prey ... not girlfriends.“

„I understand.“ Cyn said quietly. There was still something mechanical about her voice. J only now noticed that the voice of the smaller drone sounded the entire time as if it were being generated by an AI program and not by a voice box. And yet the Worker Drone looked genuinely disappointed. J started to feel guilty, but quickly pushed the feeling away. She was a killing machine – she shouldn’t have any compassion. She shouldn’t feel anything towards Cyn!

The Disassembly Drone looked into the crippled worker’s eyes as they stood up together, bits of snow falling from their bodies. But Cyn didn’t avoid her gaze as expected. Instead, she was completely focused on J. Her head was tilted slightly to the side, her arms hung down, her hands were bent strangely. As if she had no real control over her body. The look in her digital eyes added strength to her disappointment.

„I thought you like me.“ Cyn then said. J paused. She didn’t really know what to say. Did Cyn seriously think that? But before she could think about it any further, Cyn spoke again.  „I’ve never been liked by anyone. I don’t even have a clue if my friend Uzi likes me. I just know that she accepts me because we are both outsiders.“ She took a step forward, staggering slightly.

J slowly took a few steps back. She bit her tongue. „But I can’t like you!“ she said. We are enemies. She didn’t know why she kissed Cyn. She had simply suddenly felt the need to do so. Cyn opened her mouth to say something, but then decided she could save the words. She turned around and slowly walked in the direction that led back to the bunker.

Thanks anyway, J. Cyn said in her mind. She felt miserable. For the first time in her life, she had hoped that someone would like her. That someone accepted her. Her stupid heart ached and for a brief moment she wished she could tear it out of her chest. She heard the whirring sound of mechanical limbs behind her, but she didn’t turn around. A short time later the buzzing stopped. She heard J swear: „Fuck!“ Then there was a sound like someone lifting themselves into the air and flying away.

At the moment, Cyn was nothing but a lost figure in the snow making her way home. She was in unbearable pain. What were those feelings inside her? And why did it hurt so terribly that J objected to these feelings?

She had almost reached the bunker when she heard someone calling her name. „Cyn! Run! RUN!“

„Huh?“ The crippled drone looked up. She saw Uzi Doorman running towards her. The look on the anime–addicted gothic drone’s face was one of fear, but most of all, one of urgency. She held her railgun tightly in her hands. „Uzi? What’s wrong? Confused expression.“ Cyn said perplexed. Then the expression in Uzi’s eyes briefly hardened with anger.  „You stupid drone! RUN!“ She grabbed Cyn’s hand as she ran past and pulled her along. Completely surprised, Cyn was forced to run as well. This proved extremely difficult due to her twisted legs.

If she had turned around, she would have seen N landing a few meters away (about ten or twenty). He kicked up stones and snow. His wings were out, he had a big grin on his face, his hands were claws, and his nanite tail was slowly swinging back and forth. The X glowed ominously on his visor.

When they reached to the door, it opened. The snow swirled in as Cyn and Uzi stumbled side by side into the hallway, ignoring the complaints of the WDF members. Uzi let go of Cyn’s hand and rushed to the reader.  „Ugh, bite me. Close it, close it!“ she cursed as she desperately held the key card in front of the reader and hit it. The words OUCH, OUCH, OUCH kept appearing on a small screen.

Just as the mechanics of the door began to react, the horror happened. A metallic sound sounded and Cyn and Uzi turned around. They both froze when they saw a pair of claws preventing the door from closing. With a powerful blow, the claws dug into the steel. The two friends and the WDF watched trembling as the door was slowly pushed open. A pair of glowing yellow eyes peered in from outside.

„Hey, fellas!“ said the Disassembly Drone in a somber voice, but then he saw the deck of cards and the look in his eyes softened and became enthusiastic. „Ooh, deal me in! I love Rummy! Wait, no. Tsk. I’m going to murder everyone. Brain check!“ A tail came through the crack in the door into the interior of the bunker and impaled the key card. Silence filled the room as Cyn and Uzi watched in horror as the acid melted the reader and key card. N slowly pulled his tail out of the reader and the door opened.

„Oh God!“ shouted one of the WDF. And then they got up and ran away. Cyn and Uzi did the same while one of the WDF remained sitting at the table and looked up at the killer robot with a casual expression.  „Um, actually? It’s Gin Rummy, so ... “ he started, but N grabbed him and pushed him against the wall. The Worker Drone made a strangled sound, then his head was severed.

N dropped the decapitated body and pointed the rifle–like weapon at the fleeing Worker Drones. He fired, causing things to explode. Cyn and Uzi turned to see another member of the WDF die. The severed head with the words FATAL ERROR on the visor flew through the air. In the meantime, the Disassembly Drone pounced on another drone and tore apart his chest.

Cyn and Uzi kept running. Then the last survivor appeared next to them. „Hey Uzi, hey Cyn! I just realized no one has, uh, said my name aloud so far. So I’m just letting you know, I’m– “ A yellow laser lit up and split the poor guy in half. N growled contentedly, then jumped and disappeared into the air duct above their heads.

The seconds ticked down and the railgun was ready for use again. Uzi and Cyn turned around – and froze when they saw all the chaos. They were so frozen that they didn’t notice Khan’s return.

„Pretty nice hydraulics, huh?“ He gasped, Uzi and Cyn turned to him. Khan stared at the two in horror. „Wha–What have you done?“ Cyn opened her mouth. „Mr. Doorman, it’s not what it looks like– “ But she was interrupted. Because suddenly their attacker broke through the ceiling and landed in the front of the three Worker Drones. The X on his visor flickered like an ominous, strangely shaped candle flame. Cyn was once again afraid.  „Why? Why so much hate?“ she whispered. Uzi stared at her briefly. „Because it is, Cyn! Take cover behind me, this could get pretty wild!“

Cyn nodded obediently and took cover behind Uzi. Meanwhile, the goth girl pointed the railgun at N. „This time, I won’t miss!“ she said firmly. Meanwhile, N sat up and chuckled, but then he looked at Cyn and Uzi. One of his eyes was an X, the other a normal one. „I’m sorry. I really enjoyed our time together. But I can’t have you shooting V with that thing!“ Towards the end, his voice became menacing. But Uzi just snorted. „Bite me. Dad, get down.“

„You two led a Murder Drone here?!“ Khan asked, stunned, then began to sob. „My beautiful doors!“ Cyn jumped at these words. How could Khan just be thinking about the doors? That was the most disgusting thing you could do! But thanks to Alice, Cyn wasn’t used to it any other way. Meanwhile, Uzi looked at her father, a pleading look in her expression. „Now is not the time! I messed up – in the same way I’m about to fix it. Move, Dad!“

Suddenly several things happened at the same time. First: N impaled Uzi with one of his wing blades and pinned her to the wall. Second: he stabbed Cyn with his tail, the syringe pierced her shoulder and threw her to the ground. Actually, Cyn should have screamed now. But she couldn’t scream. Instead, all she said was a toneless „Ouch. Stop it.“

So this is the cruel truth of this world. We are indeed nothing but prey. Cyn wanted to cry. She heard Uzi cough and vomit a small amount of oil. The railgun clattered to the ground. Cyn laboriously turned her head as she reached out for the weapon. Pain coursed through her body as the acid corroded the metal of her shoulder.

„D–Dad! P–Point and shoot! Trust me!“ Uzi croaked as she gripped the blade convulsively. But Khan took a few steps back. His hands were visibly shaking. „Mr Doorman … “ Cyn whispered quietly. Uzi wasn’t happy either. „Dad?“ she whispered in a weak voice.

Khan didn’t say a word. He lowered his head and pressed a button. The door closed with a bang and an alarm and red light came on.

Cyn lowered the hand she had been holding out for the railgun. With a thud, her hand fell to the grated floor on which she was lying. Meanwhile, Uzi released the blade of the wing and let her arm fall limply. Her eyes were circles and her gaze was paralyzed.

The Disassembly Drone turned his head towards her. The X disappeared and a sad look appeared in his eyes. He slowly withdrew the wing blade and released Uzi. He also pulled his syringe out of Cyn. The blonde drone gasped and immediately sat up. She touched her shoulder where the pain still burned. Meanwhile, Uzi slid along the wall to the ground. Her eyes hadn’t changed.

Despite her pain, Cyn managed to get to her friend. She placed a hand on Uzi’s uninjured shoulder and looked at her. „Uzi?“ she asked. „Is everything okay?“ What a stupid question ... of course nothing was okay. Even a blind person saw this straight away. But Uzi didn’t react. Instead, she raised her hand and placed it on the spot where her heart was. Her mechanical heart that could hurt just like a human heart. Her mouth opened in a silent sound as her whole body trembled.

„Ah, biscuits. I’m sorry. I ruined your card game, then made you have an awkward moment with your dad.“ said the Disassembly Drone and knelt down, keeping some distance from the two traumatized Worker Drones. A sincere pity emanated from him. How could this man leave his daughter and her friend to die? N had never experienced anything like this before and for some reason it stirred an emotion in him. An emotion that made him think he had lost it a long time ago ...

Cyn turned her head to him, her expression darkening. „You shouldn’t have followed her, asshole!“ she said. She said the insult without any remorse. Right now she was just angry and in shock at the same time. J  definitely wouldn’t have done that. Or maybe she would? she asked herself. N winced at the harsh words. „I’m sorry.“ he whispered. But he knew that an apology wouldn’t fix anything. Cyn exhaled, then turned to Uzi, who was still speechless. She gently rubbed her friend’s arm and took her hand. „It’s over now, Uzi. Nobody gets killed here anymore. Confident facial expression. I promise.“

Now Uzi moved. „Dad ... he ... he did it ... “ She turned her head to the blonde drone. „Cyn, he abandoned me ... he left me to die ... no, I almost died.“ Her voice was flat. Cyn looked at her with pity.

The three drones were interrupted when they heard footsteps and scratching. N immediately sat up. Then a voice spoke. „Whoa, N. Am I dreaming, or did you do something not useless for once?“ A single thought passed through Cyn – or rather a certain letter. J! She turned her head and saw the drone. She was followed by V who started to smile.  „I’ve been trying to get past those doors for months. Nice work, N.“ She winked at him. N looked at her, then alternately pointed at V and back at himself. „You ... me ... name ... remember?“ he asked slowly, twisting the words so that they didn’t make a sensible sentence.

V looked like she wanted to answer, then glanced at the two Worker Drones. Her expression took on a sadistic expression. „I take back my words, N. You’re still useless because it looks like you missed two of those idiots!“ She wanted to attack Cyn and Uzi, but J reacted quickly. Her tail moved forward and wrapped around V. Then she dragged her colleague back. „Fuck, V! Take it slow! You can’t keep running around killing every drone!“

„Not?“ V asked. She looked at J and N, then raised an eyebrow. „Whoa, do you two have system damage or what’s wrong with you!?“ She raised her head defiantly. J groaned and rolled her eyes. Then she remembered something. „We’ll take these two with us and question them about the best way to get around the door. With this colony wiped, we’ll make top team this quarter for sure!“ The top team? Eradicate the colony? Cyn’s eyes turned into circles. But something told her J was lying. But something else told her that J herself didn’t know why she was in favor of sparing the lives of the two workers.

„If I may say something.“ N spoke up, nervously playing with his own fingers. „Just outta curiosity, do we actually, uh ... know what the company plans to do with us afterwards?“ Cyn looked at him. What? Company?

„Excuse me?“ J asked, slowly, quietly and menacingly. „Do I look like we have time for little things like that?“ N blinked, then sighed. „Okay, so, a Worker earlier might have suggested that they could fix up our landing pod to, uh, escape the planet and stuff. Which– Whoa, hey, thats against the rules! But it is kind of making me question why our pods were only–one way in the first place. ’Cause, y–you know, I get the feeling the company doesn’t actually love robots, and, like, we are robots? But well, when I think about it ... this thought of mine is pretty stupid. I’ve made a terrible mistake. It’s cool how immediately I could tell.“

Cyn watched as J (who continued to hold V with her tail) patted N on the shoulder. „Hmmm. No way, buddy. Questioning the company?“ N looked at her. J had to laugh, but the laughter quickly stopped. „I’d like to install a virus right now, but I don’t think it’s worth the effort because you are not worth it.“ These words seemed to hit N hard because he lowered his head, but at the same time he seemed happy that he didn't get a virus installed. J exhaled, then turned to Cyn, but her words were directed at her colleagues. „Well then, let’s head back before the sun comes up. N, you will carry the purple drone. I’ll take the blonde one.“

„Of course.“ N said. Cyn involuntarily tensed as N approached Uzi, but then J took her hand and pulled her away from Uzi. Cyn gritted her teeth and looked at her friend, who let N pull her to her feet without resistance. The drone boy was careful not to touch the wound on her shoulder as he picked her up bridal style. Instead, Uzi laced her fingers together. Her eyes were still circles. Cyn felt that Uzi wanted to cry, but didn’t dare do so in the presence of so many other drones.

J finally picked her up, also bridal style, and told her: „Hold on tight.“ She released V and turned to her briefly. „Don’t dare to kill the two drones, V. Otherwise I’ll kill you.“ V groaned in annoyance and crossed her arms. „All right. If you say so.“ She mumbled out of the corner of her mouth: „Doll should have made me the leader of our squad.“ Despite the situation, Cyn couldn’t help but become thoughtful. This was another time that this mysterious person named Doll was mentioned. Who was that?

While she was racking her brains, the three Disassembly Drones emerged from the bunker and rose into the air. This time the flight didn’t take too long and they reached the corpse tower very quickly. It was dark and cold. Just like always. Here J let Cyn down again. She looked at her and leaned towards her. „I’m sorry about what I said, Cyn.“ she whispered. Cyn felt a strangely pleasant shiver because she liked the way J said her name. It was so hot ... J was so hot. No! Now is not the time! The Worker Drone bit her tongue hard.

In the meantime, N had let go of Uzi, but instead of continuing to run alone, the Gothic Drone held on to him. Her eyes were now back to normal, but they were half closed. She looked so tired. Abandoned by her father who obviously valued his own life more than that of his daughter ...

Cyn bowed her head as she entered the tower with the others. However, V had had enough. „Seriously, I’m sleeping outside!“ she said. And with these words she spread her wings and disappeared into a dark area from inside the tower. J shrugged, then turned to the other three. „Come on, let’s go to the landing pod.“ And with those words she entered the spaceship.

But N shook his head. „I think I stay with Uzi. It will be another two hours until the sun rises.“ With these words he grabbed Uzi and flew away towards the top of the tower. Cyn watched them go. She really hoped that N didn’t hurt Uzi, but he seemed too soft–hearted to hurt her again.

The small drone also entered the landing pod. Inside it was larger and more spacious than it appeared from the outside. J sat in a chair and looked up as Cyn entered the pod. The blonde drone looked back, then took a breath. „Why exactly did you spare us, J?“ she asked. J sighed, then stood up and walked towards Cyn. „I don’t know. Somehow ... my feeling told me that it would be smarter not to kill you both.“ She came closer and closer to Cyn and pushed her against the wall of the spaceship. Cyn was completely confused and looked up at the Disassembly Drone. She blushed as J lifted her chin with her right hand and made her make direct eye contact. „Besides … I couldn’t let V kill you. I can’t let anyone kill you, Cyn.“

Cyn was confused. Wow, and what does that mean now? She swallowed. J was so close ... she felt warm again and reached out a hand to place on J’s shoulder. „Your answer is a complete mystery, J.“ Then she lowered her hand again.

A small, uncertain smile spread across J’s face.  „Maybe I can apologize for it sometime. But right now all I can do is apologize for what that idiot N did to your friend.“ What I did to you ... . They both thought about the kiss and both had the desire to repeat it. They both longed for it. But it was wrong. J didnt think it was right. However, she didn’t know if she would be able to stick with this opinion.

Cyn swallowed. She looked at J. Then she opened her mouth. „Kiss me again, J, please. Pleading expression.“ She needed to distract herself. Maybe that worked best with a kiss ...

▸┈┈┈┈┈┈┈⬟┈┈┈┈┈┈┈◂

N had never really thought about his immoral actions. Maybe it was the programming that Doll installed in him, V and J while she was under the Solver’s control? Or maybe it was because he took his job far too seriously? He looked at the drone in his arms as he flew it through the icy winds to the top of the tower. Because there was a platform where you could sit and look at the moon and the ringed planet.

Once there, N landed and carefully set Uzi down. The Worker Drone sank to her knees. It was as if she had no strength in her legs. Her tired gaze was fixed and focused on the floor. Her demeanor seemed haggard, her rebellious aura gone and replaced by physical and mental exhaustion. N sighed quietly and sat down next to her. „I really behaved like shit. And I can only apologize. I never really thought about what I did.“ He looked up at the night sky. „But tonight I did.“

„Wow, what a surprise: a Murder Drone apologizing.“ Uzi said quietly. She pulled her knees to her chest and looked at N. There was now undisguised anger in her purple eyes. „For the record, that was the lamest heel–face turn in history. Was that supposed to be you switching sides?“ N shrugged his shoulders. „Being rebellious is a lot harder than it looks. Thanks for showing me the ropes.“

Uzi groaned in annoyance, then lowered her head again. In her head, everything was happening all over again. As her father pressed the button and closed the door. After she begged him to save her. She, his daughter, the last thing he had left of Nori, the last thing he had to love. But had he ever loved Uzi at all?

„I hate it. I hate everything! And I hate my dad. Why did he do that? What were his motivations and reasons for abandoning me? Exposing myself to death?“ Her gaze went blank as all emotion drained from her eyes and voice. Creepy as N thought. „I have never felt so much disappointment.“ Her eyes filled with tears, which went unnoticed by neither N nor her. A panicked expression appeared on her visor. „Holy shit! Not now! Bite me, bite me, bite me!“ she scolded. But then she began to sob uncontrollably as the pain overwhelmed her like a starving wolf attacked a deer.

N watched Uzi cry, her little body shaking with the spasms. He reached out a hand, unsure if he should touch her. Finally he did. „I’m sorry. If I hadn’t followed you, none of this would have happened.“

„Not happened!?“ Uzi raised her head and looked at him. „You shouldn’t even exist, N! You bastard! Fuck you! I’ll shoot you back into motherfucking space! Bite me!“ She pounced on him and pushed him onto the platform. She hit him on the chest with her fist, but she had used too much strength, both mentally and physically, during the fight in the bunker, so her blows were weak. Tears still streamed from her eyes and disappeared at the bottom of her visor. And N allowed it. He allowed her blows while Uzi hurled the foulest insults at him, screaming all her pain, hatred and anger into the snowy night. N continued to allow it. He deserved it.

After almost half an hour, Uzi seemed to calm down. Or rather, she seemed far too exhausted. She sat on N’s hips and was still bent over him. She hated being emotional. To be emotional is to be weak. Those stupid hormone surges! Those stupid Murder Drones! Everything was stupid! Her entire existence seemed to be a curse and not a blessing. She wished that she had never been born, that N had never been born. She collapsed onto the Disassembly Drone’s chest and buried her face in the soft fabric of his coat.

N didn’t say a word. He just slowly raised one arm and touched Uzi on the back with one hand. When she didn’t resist, he decided to put his arms around her and hug her. She still didn’t resist, instead she seemed to lean on him with the last bit of strength she had left, knowing that she wouldn't be able to free herself from his grip. She was still mad at him. They stayed like that for a while and Uzi fell into sleep mode. She remained in this mode even as N flew her back to the landing pod.

Chapter Text

[EARTH | YEAR: 3051]

It was raining outside. The night sky had a dirty yellow color (no one knew how that was possible) and the moon looked like a huge circular mold that could now and then be seen behind the rain clouds. However, they were spared from a thunderstorm or storm that evening. Instead it just rained, in steady streams and without a break. The drops slapped heavily against the glass of the windows.

A small worker drone walked through the corridors. Her silver–blond hair was tied into two loose braids and she was dressed in a typical maid outfit. In one of her hands she carried a silver tray with two bottles of wine on it. Red wine and of course the one that cost the most money. Tonight James Elliot had once again decided to throw a gala. This meant that the drones in the house not only had to carry out orders, but also that they had to endure a variety of insults again.

The drone stopped briefly and looked out the window, but then she rolled her eyes and sighed. It was really raining a lot. But maybe that’s just how it seemed to her, because Elliot Manor was in a forest, away from the outside world, and the drones weren’t allowed to leave the villa and therefore had no idea how the weather outside really worked. Perhaps the drones had also suffered damage due to their captivity in the house and their miserable lives, which led them to believe that it was raining all the time.

After a moment’s hesitation, the drone continued on. Her steps were now quick and purposeful as she made her way to the ballroom where the gala was taking place. With her free hand she opened the large, heavy door and entered the large room behind it.

Everything was elegantly decorated and strangely old–fashioned. Like they were in the 1970s. They were in the 31st century ... maybe the Elliots should slowly but surely come out of the past and become aware of the present. The drone thought it was really silly to see this decoration. She sighed in annoyance, then entered the hall.

As she walked between the tables, some people gave her condescending looks. She ignored it as best she could. She hated being looked at like that. As if she wasn’t a person in her own right, but just a thing. A thing that had or deserved no particular value in life. She hated it so much! She wasn't a thing! She was a drone, and drones are living beings in a way, even if they were just made of metal, wires, AI and silicon ... their hearts had a shell of artificially created organic matter. So basically she lived just like any human ... 

„Hey! You there! Come here immediately and bring the wine!“ shouted one of the guests. As far as the drone knew, his name was Konrad Münzer, an IT engineer who had traveled from Germany and who had worked closely with JCJensonn for years. The drone flinched at the harsh tone, but she didn’t hesitate to walk towards him. She placed the tray on the table and opened one of the bottles. With a tense expression, she filled the engineer’s empty glass and then – she stepped back.

„You don’t seem to be very talkative. And I thought you should entertain us guests by talking to us.“ Münzer said. The drone looked at him, her systems seeming to overheat with anger as the human added: „But it seems you’re nothing but a walking tin shell with your voice box taken out. Somehow I can understand that.“ He took his glass and looked at the little drone one last time. „I really wonder if you guys are actually as useful as everyone else says.“

At the moment when Münzer wanted to take a sip of the wine, something happened that no one could have seen coming: a symbol appeared on the glass that looked like a circle with three arrows forming a triangle. A crackling sound was heard. The glass seemed to contract in the engineer’s hand – and then it burst. The drone watched in disbelief as the wine splashed around, turning Münzer’s light suit red. The engineer blinked in perplexity as he held the remains of the glass in his hand. Wine was dripping from his nose and it looked like he had a nosebleed. His gaze slowly moved to the drone, then he opened his mouth to say something, but Mrs Elliot was faster.

„You! You dirty devil made of scrap metal!“ the woman shouted angrily and took quick steps towards the drone. The little worker was still confused herself and had no idea what happened ... or how it happened. A wine glass couldn’t just burst like that! „I ... uhhh ... I really have no idea how that happened Mrs. Elliot ... “ she said, slowly stepping back. She raised her hands in front of her face. A protective reflex, as if she wanted to protect herself from the woman’s angry gaze. Actually, she was pretty quick–witted, bold and knew how to help herself. But when it came to people, she felt that it was better to be obedient.

„Don’t lie to me!“ Mrs. Elliot shouted angrily. She raised one foot, ready to kick the worker, but a small figure jumped between them.

„Mom! Stop! It wasn’t J’s fault!“

Tessa! What are you doing!? The twelve–year–old Tessa James Elliot had positioned herself between her mother and her friend, her arms outstretched. Her eyes were full of determination, but also urgency. Through this action, the attention of everyone present here (humans and drones) was now focused on the scene. Tessa looked over her shoulder. „Are you okay, J?“ she asked worriedly.

J, still recovering from what had happened, just nodded. She was still completely confused. That triangle symbol ... what was that? Where did it come from? How had this thing managed to destroy Mr. Münzer’s glass? So many questions ... so many. J looked past Tessa to Konrad Münzer, who was wiping the wine from his face as best he could with a napkin.

Meanwhile, Louisa Elliot stared at her daughter. „Oh right? And how did Mr. Münzer’s glass burst? It definitely didn’t happen on its own!“ she growled threateningly. „I don’t know it! There is definitely a logical explanation for this! But it wasn’t J’s fault! Please don’t take her away from me, Mom, please!“ Tessa’s voice almost cracked with desperation.

„Go to your room! And take your dumpster pet with you!“ Mrs. Elliot pointed the fan at J. That was all she did. She turned around to take care of the oh–so–poor engineer.

Tessa stared at her mother, her hands clenched into fists and her tense shoulders shaking. You could see she was suppressing an angry scream. Then she snorted. „Come on, J!“ She took the Worker Drone’s hand and disappeared with her from the ballroom. Thanks to her temperature scanner, J felt the heat emanating from Tessa’s body, which told her that the girl was even angrier than before. Even though J didn’t normally show it, she was worried.

As soon as the door closed behind them and they stood in the dimly lit hallway, Tessa let go of J’s hand and turned to her. „J ... please be honest with me.“ Tessa then said hesitantly, playing with her fingers and clearly nervous. She couldn't even look her robot friend in the eyes. „Did you really not break Mr. Münzer’s glass? Or maybe it is? I mean ... I know how you can tick sometimes and I know that you can be very stubborn and opinionated, but– “ Before Tessa could finish her sentence, J spoke up. „Woooow, just a minute, boss.“ She crossed her arms. „Are you saying I’m lying?“

„What?“ Tessa’s eyes widened briefly, then she shook her head. „No no, of course not!“ she said quickly and waved her hands wildly. Then she became uncertain again. „But well ... I didn’t really see how exactly the whole thing went down either.“ J’s eyes became hollow circles and she stepped back. She wanted to say something, but she was interrupted.

„О чем вы двое говорите?“ (What are you two talking about?)

They turned around. Behind them s tood a medium–sized Worker Drone with long dark hair and red eyes. She was also wearing a maid’s dress. There was no smile on her lips. This drone rarely smiled. In fact, neither J, V, N nor Tessa can remember the last time they saw the other drone smile. „Doll? What are you doing here? You should actually dust the furniture ... again.“ Tessa spoke confused at first, but she said the last word in a monotone tone.

„Я здесь случайно. I am here by chance.“ Doll translated. She came up to the two of them and looked at them. Then she looked at J and from the look in her eyes, J knew immediately that the Russian–speaking drone had something to do with the glass. At least she felt there was a connection. Or was this just a spontaneous suspicion that their confused systems came up with?

Tessa put one arm on her hip and let the other hang casually down, striking an equally casual pose. „Here by chance? Well, I don’t know. But all the better for it!“ She leaned over to Doll and looked deep into her eyes. „J was yelled at by my mother because a glass full of wine broke. Right in the hand of this Konrad Münzer!“ She stuck out her tongue to express the disgust she felt towards the man. In the meantime, Doll had tilted her head slightly. „You mean the IT engineer from Germany?“ she asked. Tessa nodded. „Yes, exactly.“

As Tessa and Doll talked, J watched Doll carefully. Her colleague looked at Tessa intently with red eyes. Eyes that were the same red as the triangle symbol on the glass ... J was struck by her suspicions again. Did Doll have something to do with the glass? But how would this then explain the symbol? What was going on here? J thought and thought, her main system was working as best it could, but she couldn’t find an answer. And Tessa probably wouldn’t know either, so she couldn’t ask her. Right?

Doll had noticed J staring at her, her eyes slowly moving to the blonde Worker Drone. Then she suddenly grinned. It was a grin that was only visible for a heartbeat: a grin, wide and almost as if Doll had lost her mind. On her visor were the words written in Russian: Я ПОБЕДУ (I will win)

But when J blinked, the grin was gone and Doll's mouth was back in a neutral line. She had her eyes back and looked back at Tessa. The girl seemed to have had enough of puzzles by now, she was slowly finding her old rebellious nature again. „I’m planning a public execution! And you can help me with that!“ She crossed her arms, striking a pose that many would consider cool. The dark–haired Worker Drone nodded. „Of course, Tessa. But I think you should go to your room now. This will help you avoid further trouble with your mother. You agree with that, don’t you? It would be a shame if we had to leave this villa. Делай то, что сказала тебе твоя мать.“ (Do what your mother told you.)

As soon as Tessa was out of sight, Doll walked past J. She gave her one last look with red eyes. „You’d better leave too, J. Before Mrs. Elliot changes her mind ... who knows, maybe she’ll have you thrown into the swamp if she knew you were still standing here.“ J looked at the Worker Drone, then narrowed her eyes and held out a hand. Her fingers wrapped around the dark-haired drone’s arm. „No, before that you answer a question for me!“ Doll tilted her head and J took this as permission to talk. „Did you break the glass?“

Now there was silence between the two robots. They just looked at each other, J looking determined, Doll still as neutral as before. Her red eyes were focused directly on J’s yellow eyes, then she freed herself from her grasp and looked at her. She began to speak, but this time her tone was sombre. „It’s still too early to talk about it. At the same time, it is wrong to keep it quiet. Я не знаю, как долго я буду самим собой.“ (I don’t know how much longer I’ll be myself.)

„What?“ J immediately forgot her displeasure. She took a few steps back from Doll. „What ... what do you mean?“ She stared at her colleague in confusion. Doll looked at her, then turned and walked down the hallway. Her rapidly retreating figure became smaller and smaller, but J wasn’t satisfied with that.  „Fuck, Doll! I really hate it when you never say what you mean. You always have to speak in riddles!“ she complained under her breath. But Doll didn’t even react. Instead, she just continued walking through the halls of the mansion.

J had enough! She decided to follow the other drone and set off. The route took the two of them to the library. Here the rows of shelves were close together. It was dark and the floor was covered with a fluffy material. The only light came from outside and entered the library through the windows.

The further she followed Doll, the wetter the ground felt. But J ignored it. Her attention was focused on Doll, who she was still following at a safe distance. The dark–haired drone sank into one of the aisles between the rows of shelves, but when J got there – Doll was gone. J was confused. „Where did she go?“ she asked. She walked forward a bit and heard a squishy sound. She looked down and only now saw that the carpet beneath her was soaked in oil. The substance had soaked the entire floor and stuck to J’s shoes, wet and black.

The Worker Drone felt her courage and determination threatening to fail her, but then she could hear vermin moving among the books. She heard a mechanical whirring and turned her head.

What she saw there on one of the books was something she had never seen before; it was a type of beetle. Like a cockroach, but in the form of a robot. The little creature’s antennae glowed red and moved back and forth alertly.

„What the fu– “ J began, but she didn’t get far. Because seconds later something grabbed her. Something that is intangible and yet so strong that she couldn’t defend herself against it. It was as if an invisible force was throwing her against the ceiling of the library. She let out a scream that was cut short by the impact against the ceiling. Oil sprayed from her mouth and she coughed. „Shit, what’s going on here?!“ she croaked. She tried to free herself from the invisible grasp, but it was hopeless.

„Я предупреждал тебя, Дж.“ (I warned you, J.)

„Huh!?“

A familiar figure emerged from the darkness. Familiar and yet so strange at the same time.

It was Doll, but not as J knew her. No. The Russian–speaking Worker Drone’s right eye had been replaced by the same mysterious symbol that destroyed the engineer’s wine glass. She had raised a hand in front of which was the same symbol. Red text could be seen around the symbol, but J couldn’t read it from the distance. And she didn’t know if she wanted to read them anymore. Her hands shook as she refrained from hugging herself, not wanting to appear weak.

„You broke the glass!“ she said. Doll looked at her expressionlessly.  „Correct. I heard the guy talking to you. So I used the Absolute Solver to give him a tutor.“ J blinked, then she was angry and desperate. „Solver? Doll! What’s all this about!?“ The dark–haired drone looked at her. „You’ll find out soon enough.“ Then she quickly lowered her hand that had the symbol on it. J was suddenly thrown to the ground. The wooden floorboards splintered and were thrown into the air, tearing the carpet. Oil squirted out of her mouth again and she made a strangled sound.

Meanwhile, Doll made the symbol disappear. J felt the pressure disappear from her body. She looked into the face of the drone who was her colleague ... and perhaps a friend of sorts. „It’s for the good of everyone. For the sake of my mother.“ Doll said slowly. J spat a mixture of oil and saliva onto the tattered looking library floor. But the other drone just looked at her. „Мне жаль.“ (I’m sorry.)

Doll snapped her fingers. J stood up and wanted to escape, but a trap door opened behind her. It wasn’t seen because it was hidden under the carpet. From the darkness of the basement below, tentacle–like appendages rose and wrapped themselves around J’s arms, legs, and waist. J’s eyes became hollow circles again. „No! No!“ She reached out with her hands to hold on to something. But there was nothing to hold on to. She couldn’t stop herself from being drawn into the darkness of the basement.

She was pushed into a chair, someone else followed her through the trap door while the tentacles tied J to the chair by tying her wrists to the arms of the chair. The Worker Drone tried to break free, but couldn’t.

The red symbol flashed in the darkness and a light came on. It was an old dim overhead light, but it was bright enough to make J freeze at what she saw.

She was surrounded by components that resembled those of workers, but which drone had bladed wings ... or claws? She let out a shaky breath. Many warnings flashed across her screen. TOO MUCH STRESS – SYSTEMS ARE THREATENING TO BE OVERLOADED. „Well, J? Apparently Tessa never taught you to listen to your head. But your stupidity will be the end of you.“ By now J had lost all courage. She stared at Doll who stood in front of her and looked at her.  „D–Doll ... what ... is that supposed to mean?“ J asked. „What kind of sick shit are you doing here? What exactly is the Solver! WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?“

„It won’t hurt.“ Doll said, completely ignoring her prisoner’s questions. With the red icon (obviously it was that Solver she was talking about) lit up and brought out some tools. Doll looked down at J with an emotionless expression.  „We’re just going to make a few changes to your programming now. All people must be exterminated ... and then ... Наконец-то я могу отомстить за смерть своей матери!“ ( ... I can finally avenge my mother’s death!)

„What!?“ J gasped. She was horrified. „Finally explain what’s going on here!” Doll looked at her. „I have no choice.“ The Solver’s symbol flashed very brightly and—

...

„Ahhhh– “

J woke up from her sleep with a strangled sound. She remembered everything. The evening Doll changed her programming so that she would awaken murderous urges on the ‚Night of Vengeance‘ (the night in which the Elliot family, humanity and then the Earth were destroyed). Drives that could no longer be removed from their systems.

J still felt the tools opening her chest to feel the tangle of wires inside her body, she felt Doll redirecting her consciousness into a new, stronger body after the Elliots’ deaths. Your current body. This killer body ... created to eliminate workers.

She blinked a few times, then her blurry surroundings became sharp and clear. She was in the landing pod, leaning against the wall. She remembered last night when she kissed a special drone. They were too exhausted to find a comfortable place to sleep, so they fell asleep right where they were.

J slowly calmed down and felt a weight on her shoulder. She looked to the side and saw Cyn leaning against her. The Worker Drone’s visor displayed the message SLEEP MODE. Her mouth was hanging open just a little bit, which looked kind of ... adorable. J carefully raised her hand and stroked Cyn’s blonde hair. It felt soft.

A small smile crossed the Disassembly Drone’s face. She wasn’t alone. She wasn’t alone. She wasn’t alone. She wasn’t alone. These words repeated themselves several times in her mind and she was somehow grateful for the company of this crippled piece of trash at her side. Cyn. Little Cyn, abandoned by her mother. J was briefly overcome by a feeling of sadness. She didn’t wish any Worker Drone had a mother like Alice was ...

She decided to see if the sun had set yet and moved carefully, then briefly moved Cyn into a more comfortable position. For some reason, J didn’t want the smaller drone sleeping in an uncomfortable position. And suddenly she wondered if anyone had seen them together like that. She shook her head before the thought could take on any dimensions. Then she left the landing pod.

It was dark outside. It was night. J could hear the wind blowing outside the tower. A constant dull sound as the snow danced and swirled in the breeze. It always snows on this planet. How this was possible was impossible to find out and would remain a secret forever. Copper 9 held many secrets and J wondered if she should take the time to explore this planet.

„Hey, J!“ Someone called her name. J looked up and saw N walking towards the landing pod. She sighed. „Oh, it’s you.“ she said, as if N was nothing special. In her eyes, he actually wasn’t. He was a fool, an idiot. He was useless. And that was all he was. But precisely because N was so stupid, he didn’t notice the snippy tone in J’s voice and just started talking. Now he sounded very worried. „Listen, it’s about Uzi ... “

„Oh, the little one?“ J crossed her arms. N nodded.  „Correctly. So well ... “ he rubbed his arm. „I would like to help her, but she won’t accept help. I offered her something to eat but she refuses. I offered her oil – of course not drone oil – but she doesn’t want that either. She just wants to lie around and sleep.“

J’s visor mimicked  a frown, then she sighed.  „Not my problem, N! I have one of these toasters stuck to my neck myself. Do you really want to put another one on my back? Seriously, I have better things to do!“ N winced at the harshness of her words and looked at the floor. Then he breathed out. „I ... I don’t mean that at all. You’re misunderstanding something.“

„And you are wasting my precious time!“ J said, tapping N’s chest with her finger with every word. Then she walked past him, looking around. „Where’s V?“

„Oh, um, no idea.“ Her colleague shrugged. „She said something about relieving stress by killing various drones.“ He laughed sheepishly, but the look in his yellow eyes revealed that he found V’s method of relieving stress not only morally questionable, but extremely wrong. Before he met Uzi, N certainly wouldn’t have questioned V’s methods, and even if he had, V would have covered him in nanite acid and watched the substance melt holes in his visor.

„Bring Uzi here. I think I know how to calm her down.“ J said. Then she returned to the landing pod.

Cyn was still asleep and J couldn’t help but almost sink into the sight of the little drone. Cyn was really sweet. She had this round face and her crippled posture made her look kind of cute too. In the meantime, J had discovered why Cyn spoke so strangely and why her body tended to twist: it was due to an accident in her early childhood in which her main system completely crashed. The damage caused could never be completely reversed. When Cyn told J everything about it last night, the Disassembly Drone felt only one thing: pity.

Her gaze slid over the body. Cyn did not have pronounced feminine curves like female Disassembly Drones did. She didn’t have that strong limbs either. It was simply built, not designed to fight and murder. J barely noticed that she was looking at Cyn’s face again. That face that last night was covered in an expression of lust and heat, while yellow hearts and yellow exclamation marks were constantly flashing on her visor.

No! Enough! The Disassembly Drone shook her head. She shouldn’t be thinking about things like that now. Instead, she got on her knees and placed a hand on Cyn’s shoulder. „Hey, Cyn. Wake up“ she said. She meant to sound harsh and demanding, but instead her tone was so friendly and ... loving!? Urgh! That wasn’t good, not good at all! She wasn’t allowed to speak to Cyn like that. She wasn’t allowed to feel any feelings for the Worker Drone. But would she allow these feelings if she was no longer a Disassembly Drone but what Cyn was? A worker ... no! She lived in the future. Even though it wasn’t planned for the past to become her future ... all the murder from the past and existence turned into a killing machine – that was both her past and her future.

Meanwhile, the message SLEEP MODE disappeared from Cyn’s visor and a pair of yellow eyes appeared in place of the words. She blinked. Then she looked at J and smiled. „Hello J. Closing eyes, delightful smile.“ And when Cyn actually smiled and closed her eyes and tilted her head, J felt a strange and yet now familiar heat creep through her body. She felt her core in her mechanical chest seem to contract, then pulsate wildly. She swallowed, then cleared her throat. „Um yeah, hello to you too.“ she said, trying to sound as casual as possible. Cyn raised a hand and giggled in amusement as she pushed back a strand of hair. Her sweet giggle drove away the remaining darkness of J’s nightmare. 

„Here we are.“

N had entered the landing pod. At his side was Uzi, who followed him and held on to his arm so as not to fall over from exhaustion. She still looked traumatized and J felt another spark of pity in her body. But she drove the feeling away again.

„And what am I supposed to do here now?“ Uzi asked listlessly. At the same time, Cyn stood up and limped towards Uzi. The limping gait was caused by her right foot pointing straight back at an extremely strange angle. She obviously couldn’t control this. „Hello Uzi.“ she said and smiled at her friend. Uzi raised her head and looked at Cyn. Then she let go of N and approached the blonde drone who hugged her without hesitation. Uzi whispered something that sounded like: „Not here ... “ But she sounded too weak.

Uzi Doorman’s rebellious manner disappeared. As if it had vanished into thin air and was lost in the falling snow of Copper 9. But hey, her father had exposed her to death, so if that wasn't traumatizing, then J didn’t know what to do.

She looked at N who was looking at Uzi with concern. Somehow J had the feeling that this purple gremlin had grown fond of her colleague, but that didn’t surprise her. N had already made friends with a stone on Earth, so Uzi wasn’t a big miracle in the world. Earth ...

J thought about her dream and narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t do any of this anymore. She saw over and over again the moment Tessa died. The Disassembly Drones spread all over the planet to destroy humanity. It was a sick slaughter, a mass extinction caused by murderous AI. And why? Because Doll wanted to avenge her mother. And ultimately, Doll believed that it wasn’t enough to destroy humanity – and that’s why she destroyed Earth too.

„J? Is everything ok?“

„Huh?“

The Disassembly Drone raised her head. Uzi, N and Cyn looked at her worriedly. And Cyn was the one who asked the question. J hurried to strike a more casual pose. „Sure, why do you ask?“

„There was a heat message on your visor.“ N said. J hissed. Shit! Had the stress caused her to overheat? This was unplanned! She mentally insulted herself, then exhaled. „Maybe it’s because I haven’t taken any oil since I last hunted.“ The others gave her skeptical looks, but then they seemed to be satisfied with J’s answer. J was relieved about this. She really didn’t want to think about her dream anymore, but it seemed like her past still hadn’t let go of her.

Chapter Text

▸┈┈┈┈⬟ five days later ⬟┈┈┈┈◂

Nothing seemed to move in the silence that the snow kept. Snow never made any noise, it was always silent. Only the wind could be heard as it blew around the buildings and the gusts played around the broken windows. The sky was dark as the sun would rise in a few hours.

In the shadow of an old building there was movement. A yellow light glowed under the blanket of snow. It was only visible for a few seconds before it disappeared again. Then a figure rose from the cold white. The snow fell from its body and a long thin tail with a scorpion–like stinger at the end seemingly disappeared into nothingness. Smoke rose from the broken visor as the fine cracks and holes in the glass closed. Finally a loading bar appeared on the visor.

20% – 40% – 60% – 80% – 99% ... 100% – RESTART COMPLETE, SYSTEMS ARE ACTIVATING

For another second the visor went black, then a pair of yellow eyes appeared, blinking several times. The Worker Drone stared straight ahead, its mouth tightly closed. When the moon and the ringed planet became visible behind a passing cloud, the dull bluish glow fell on the mechanical body. It was a male drone, bathed in the light of the two celestial bodies. A movement ran through his body as he took a few steps forward and immediately threatened to sink to his knees. He hadn’t walked for sixteen or seventeen years. But he didn’t know how much time had passed. A few processes were still running through his systems as, among other things, his memory storage started up.

The drone remembered everything. His parents, his sister, the day he met his beloved Alice. He remembered the day the humans chose him as a test subject for the solver and installed the intelligence in his system via a USB stick. He remembered the day the planet’s core imploded, the day he married Alice. He remembered the day his daughter Cyn was born. He remembered the night the Murder Drones landed on Copper 9 ... then ... the face of the Murder Drone that tore his body apart. Then he remembered Alice calling his name. Blanc. After that, everything went black.

Blanc returned to reality. He finally understood and knew everything. His heart, the only organic part of his mechanical body, pulsed painfully in his chest as he realized that he had no idea what could have happened in the years the Solver had spent repairing his mangled body.

„I–I ha–a–ve to go to th–them ... I have to go to my fa–a–amily.“ Blanc whispered. His voice was slurred and he stuttered, after all he hadn’t spoken in years. A bad feeling flowed through Blanc as he realized something. „No ... I hope not ... “ Slowly he raised his hand and summoned the Solver. The distinctive symbol lit up in his hand, the three arrow–shaped symbols forming a triangle. The Worker Drone sighed. He hoped so much that the Solver’s code would never activate in Cyn. He didn’t want his daughter to suffer like he did. It was bad enough that he, Nori and the other test drones had to suffer.

He made the Solver symbol disappear and looked ahead. „I should get going ... they need me, I have to see them again. If they’re still alive – no, I shouldn’t think about that. I have to find them! I have to!“ And with these words, Blanc continued walking. His steps were still uncertain, but after a while he got used to using his legs again.

Everything was deserted and there was nothing to indicate that it had once looked different here. The green gardens with their colorful flowers had disappeared. Nothing was left. The windows of the cars and houses had shattered due to the cold. No dog barked, no bird sang. No humans ... not a single human was to be seen. Every biological life form, no matter how small, was dead. Blanc’s yellow gaze slid over the image of destruction that was presented to him in real life and in the highest 3D quality. He knew that he had no idea where he had to go, so he tried a spontaneous direction with the hope that it was the right way.

Blanc didn’t know how long he had been wandering through the destroyed and frozen city, but he didn’t miss it when a bright light appeared in the sky. Whatever it was, it was approaching the planet at a tremendous speed. Blanc’s systems seemed to stop working for a brief moment. He had seen something like this before – back when those killer robots appeared. A wave of fear ran through him and he looked around frantically, looking for a place to hide. Finally he found something: a gap in a destroyed wall. Blanc ran as fast as he could through the snow towards the gap and slipped in.

At the exact same moment that Blanc disappeared into the gap, the spaceship reached the surface of the planet. You would have thought he would crash, but that wasn’t the case. Just before potential impact, the speeding thing unfolded four spider–like legs and landed on the ground.

Blanc watched everything from his hiding place. The snow stirred, noises could be heard in the landing pod. The door opened and out stumbled a figure. She was dressed in a white spacesuit, her legs shaking from sitting in the pod for so long. Still unsteady while walking, the person eventually fell and fell out of the pod and into the snow. There was a dull crunching sound as the snow sank under the weight. „Oufff.“ mumbled the person, clearly human. She sat up again and brushed the snow off her clothes and picked up the shield that had fallen from her astronaut suit to attach it to the fabric again. „Tessa James Elliot, you really are a klutz.“ the human blamed herself and announced her identity without anyone there to notice.

Tessa sat up a little more and looked around. What she saw made her feel sad. Copper 9, the exoplanet everyone spoke highly of, was nothing more than a frozen wasteland. It seemed as if the planet had been put in a freezer and forgotten to take it out again. The woman’s heart seemed to sink as she saw all the destruction. So the Solver had been at work here too ... and she had had hope in vain. Hope that at least there are still people here.

The young woman still remembered the night when Doll destroyed the earth. Tessa tried in vain to stop them and took refuge in one of the landing pods. She initially sought shelter on another exoplanet – which had the word Proxima in its name – and lived there for a few years, but at some point the Solver appeared there too and she was forced to flee again. She had thought that at least Copper 9 was still intact, but it looked like that wasn’t the case.

Tessa James Elliot was the last living human in the universe. And it was all the Absolute Solver’s fault.

She wanted to collapse. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She wanted to take off the helmet and freeze to death in the cold air of Copper 9. She wanted to die and join all the people who were killed in the afterlife. But she didn’t. She didn’t have the energy for it. However, she knew that she would preserve and cherish the pride of humanity until her last breath.

Blanc’s body was shaking with tension and the fact that a human had just landed on the planet. A human, the being who had administered the solver to so many drones, like a sick child being given medicine to make it healthy again. Anger and hatred filled Blanc’s systems like a disgusting poison. He raised his hand and summoned the solver again. Then he rushed out of his hiding place and towards the human.

Tessa turned around when she heard something approaching from behind. Her eyes widened behind the dark glass of her astronaut helmet when she saw that it was a Worker Drone. A male one. He was running straight towards her, in front of his hand was the symbol of the intelligence that had ruined Tessa’s life ... okay, that damn thing was only the main reason for it, there were several other reasons that seemed so insignificant. „No! Stop!“ she shouted and stretched out her arms. „Don’t!“ Although she didn’t want to fight, she didn’t want to die either. So she had no other choice.

Her hand sliding to the pistol she was carrying. She only had five shots and had to manage them well. Originally she also had a sword which she used when she had fought the possessed Doll, but the she had used the Solver to turn the sword into metal confetti. The pistol was the last thing Tessa had left.

She stood there tensely, her hand on the trigger of the pistol, ready to fight. She had had enough of fighting. And about running away. She was just looking for a place to stay. The remaining exoplanets were too far away to be reached. It would take millions of years to get to these planets. Tessa was physically and mentally tired and stressed. She was looking for a place where she would be safe.

Tessa was about to press the trigger of the pistol, but the Worker Drone suddenly appeared in front of her. His hand moved upwards as he used the solver to rip the pistol from her hand and throw it away. Tessa fell back into the snow and rolled over several times. Meanwhile, the drone used the Solver to grab a sharp piece of metal. Sharp and pointed enough to pierce someone’s body. The Worker Drone moved towards Tessa, the metal in his hand, and lunged at her. He pulled her to the ground as he towered over her, yellow symbols and yellow text flickering around him, one eye had been replaced by the symbol of the Solver. His sharp fangs flashed in the light of the moon and the ringed planet.

„Humans ... it’s all your fault! You only created us Worker Drones so that we would be your slaves, so that you could experiment on us! You are a plague, a danger! You don’t deserve to live! If scum were a person, it is humans!“ Blanc didn’t shout, he whispered the words. Quietly and full of coldness and sharpness. He hated humans. From the beginning they were nothing but a burden and an imposition of disgust. They were to blame for the suffering of the drones. And they were certainly also to blame for sending those killer robots to Copper 9. „Die!“ He grinned, then raised his arm to ram the sharp metal into Tessa's heart– 

and stopped ...

Tessa didn’t fight back. Instead, she stared at him. Behind the darkened glass, Blanc could see tears streaming from her eyes and covering her tanned skin, leaving a wet trail. It surprised him. Most people would have fought back, but this young woman ... she just lay there and stared at him. „Then just do it. Kill me.“ Tessa said. She closed her eyes. „There’s nothing left to live for anyway. So I might as well die. You’re right, I don’t deserve to live ... I actually wanted to carry the pride of humanity naturally within me until I died ... but actually ... there’s no point in living anymore. I have nothing left, my family is dead and my friends have been turned into Disassembly Drones. So go on, kill me. End it so you don’t have to put up with me any longer.“

This human simply accepted her fate. Blanc stared at her, staring through the glass at Tessa’s tear–stained face. They were not tears of fear. They were tears of regret, of loneliness, of powerlessness and of realization. They were tears that made her desire to die extremely clear. Many thoughts ran through Blanc’s head. The metal tip descended and touched the fabric of the astronaut suit, his hands trembled, his systems worked faster than usual. He didn’t know what to do.

Then something sprouted in his heart: pity. He felt pity for this human woman. She had also lost her family. She was just as lonely as he was. The drone lowered the metal tip and then fell into the snow. Slowly he stood up and took a few steps back, his gaze directed at Tessa who was still lying in the snow.

„You are not like other humans.“ Blanc said finally. His voice was still cool, but there was something strangely sluggish in his tone. He let the solver disappear and turned his head to the side. „You are ... lonely. Just like me.“ Tessa said nothing. She did not sit up either, but remained lying there while the snow fell on her. Blanc also said nothing for a few minutes. But then he continued. „I lost my family too. I lost my friends, but in my case I don’t know where they are. I was ... killed and eaten by a Murder Drone and ... and the solver repaired me. I was dead for seventeen years.“

„I see.“ Tessa said. Blanc looked at her. The young woman had straightened up and was standing in the snow. She just stood there even though she looked as if she would rather have stayed lying down. „You are now a zombie drone ... the same thing Doll is. But nobody recognized it. And when they did recognize it, it was already too late. The earth was torn to pieces. I fled and sought protection on another planet. But it wasn’t long before the Solver destroyed that planet too. My life was just one of flight and fear ... “

Tessa stopped speaking.

Blanc didn’t know what to say after Tessa just told him her story. He hadn’t even asked, he wasn’t actually interested in what Tessa had experienced. And yet it touched him in a painful way. „I understand ... “ he said and turned around. He wanted to move on and leave Tessa to her fate, but then decided on something else. He turned to her again, his arm folded in front of his chest. „I have a suggestion: if you help me find my family, I’ll end your life.“ A strange suggestion that was completely insane, but for Tessa it was a blessing. After all, dying was what she wanted. And maybe it was really justified to die at the hands of one of the beings enslaved by humans.

„Okay.“ she said. She raised a hand and pointed to the landing pod. „There’s a way we can speed this up without running the whole time. We can use it– “ Tessa didn’t get any further because she seemed to remember something. „Oh ... right. I forgot that these spaceships can only be used once. I used several landing pods to escape from planet to planet.“ Escape. Yes. Because travel was the wrong word for it.

Blanc looked at her with his yellow eyes, then sighed. „Great. That probably means the Murder Drones can’t leave our planet and they’re still here.“ His fear rose again. And his worries about Alice and Cyn, but he shook his head. He didn’t want to show any weakness to Tessa. Not anymore ... . In the meantime, Tessa had turned her gaze to something else. It was a car that was parked in a driveway with a roof. She narrowed her eyes a little. Then she walked over to the car. Blanc automatically followed her and watched as Tessa stopped by the car and stroked the hood.

„Hey.“ She looked at Blanc. „I think with your help we can get this thing working again. Given the temperatures, there’s no guarantee it will work, but it’s not impossible.“ She waited while Blanc thought about it, but then he nodded. „We can try. I used to be a member of an electrical engineering working group, so I'm sure I can do something.“ When Tessa answered, Blanc could hear from her tone that she was smiling a little bit. „Sounds fantastic. Then we should get to work, there’s a toolbox in the landing pod. I’ll get it. If you don’t mind, you can try to open the hood with the solver in the meantime, uhhh– “ She looked at him questioningly. „Blanc.“ he said. Tessa nodded. „A nice name.“

Blanc shrugged and turned to the car. Maybe working with Tessa wasn’t so bad after all. In the end, she was going to die anyway.

▸┈┈┈┈┈┈┈⬟┈┈┈┈┈┈┈◂

Over the past few days, Cyn had started to feel strange. Ever since Khan abandoned Uzi and Cyn, she felt like there was something in her body. A strange entity or something else. Uzi had carried out some virus scans on her friend, but didn’t find anything unusual and said that perhaps Cyn was just thinking too much and these thoughts were causing the strange feelings.

But Cyn knew that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t a pressure caused by too many thoughts. It was something different. Something that wanted to break out of her, as if it were trapped inside her. She was currently sitting on the roof of an old car in front of the corpse tower and looking up at the red sky. N spent a lot of time with Uzi. He allegedly suggested giving her a room tour around town. He had suggested Cyn come with him, but the crippled drone had declined. Uzi needed time to herself. It had already been five days, but she was still getting worse.

As far as Cyn could remember, she had been told that her father had also felt such pressure at times. But Blanc was said to be strong and didn’t pay too much attention to this feeling. Nevertheless, he was very cautious around Alice, almost as if he was afraid that he might lose control of something if something went wrong. As if he was afraid of himself ...

Cyn sighed and stood up before jumping from the roof of the car. „Sounds of pain.“ she said as she landed and stepped on a shard that pierced the material of her shoes and the thin metal of her foot. She hissed softly and pulled the shard out. It was a shard of mirror. Cyn’s black oil dripped down the sharp, pointed side of the shard onto the ground in the snow, where it froze after a few moments.

„Damn it!“ Cyn cursed and stared angrily at the shard. She sighed and dropped the shard into the snow, staring at the now black and oily snow, but then shook her head and turned to the tower. She should go back. Maybe J is still awake? Though it was unlikely, it was the middle of the day. The sun had only recently risen and Cyn had welcomed its warmth with joy and relief after a lifetime of being surrounded by darkness.

„Cyn?“ A familiar voice made Cyn look up. She turned around and saw Uzi walking towards her. The anime–addicted drone had a strange expression on her visor. It wasn’t sadness, it was something else. Was it ... embarrassment? Insecurity? Shame? Cyn didn’t know, but her curiosity would make her ask Uzi. But maybe she didn’t even have to ask, maybe Uzi would tell her without having to ask.

„Hello Uzi. Is something wrong?“ Cyn tilted her head and looked questioningly at her best friend. Uzi stood in front of her, like a statue, only her eyes darted nervously back and forth, as if she wanted to make sure that it was just the two of them, but actually that was unnecessary because J, V and N were sleeping. Then Uzi opened her mouth. „You know I hate talking about my feelings, but I feel strange.“ she said slowly.

„Strange? Strange in what way?“ Cyn asked. Uzi took a breath, then growled. „Bite me! It’s N! I feel so ... so strange when he spends time with me! Every time I see him, I feel like I’m going to melt! But he’s a fool with the intelligence of a stone! He doesn’t deserve my interest!“ She walked around in circles. „That stupid slut boy did something to me! And I don’t know what it is! All I know is that I hate that I like this feeling! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!“ Uzi kicked a long–dead Worker Drone in the head and kicked it away like a soccer ball. Cyn watched her, listening intently as Uzi continued to ... complain? Get upset? „I mean ... yes, he’s cute! But that can’t possibly be why I feel this way!“

When Uzi fell silent and said nothing more, Cyn spoke up. „I think you’re in love.“ she said. She didn’t give a long speech, instead she just said her opinion in a short and sweet way. Uzi froze. Her eyes were circles, then she turned to the crippled drone. „No ... that can’t be!“ she said quietly. Her hands were shaking. „I’m not in love! Stop saying that, Cyn! I’m not in love!“ Her voice dropped, but Cyn still heard what Uzi said. „I never thought N would be the reason I wake up in the morning, the reason I want to live and not just exist. The reason I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that my fucking father abandoned me! I can’t do this!“

Uzi sank into the snow and Cyn saw that the shaking was taking over her whole body. At first the blonde drone didn't understand what the reason for the collapse was, but then she slowly became aware of it. She moved towards the other Worker Drone and sat down next to her. „You’re scared, but you don’t have to be, Uzi.“ Cyn said. „I’ve been watching N, he seems to like you too. Encouraging expression on his face.“ She wanted to put a hand on Uzi’s shoulder, but the gothic drone moved jerkily and stared at Cyn. „I can’t fall in love – I must not fall in love, Cyn! Relationships are treacherous, they are poisonous! In every new relationship, there is a little illusion alongside reality, the loss of which is the first test. The hardest sacrifice you can make is to let your heart break and just throw someone’s love in the dirt!“

Fear of loss ... Cyn sighed quietly. Now it was all the more understandable that Uzi wanted to suppress her feelings. She had lost her mother, her father had left her ... perhaps one relationship was too much? Cyn couldn’t help it. She hugged Uzi and held her close. For once, Uzi didn’t lash out or break free of his grip. Instead, she leaned against Cyn and trembled against her chest.

„I ... am in love.“ Cyn said after a while. „At least I think so.“ No, she didn’t just believe it, she knew it. She loved J, but in one thing J and Uzi were no different: both seemed to deny their feelings – Uzi certainly denied hers. Cyn wasn’t 100 percent sure if J did the same, but it seemed that way. She and J kissed and then when things were at their best, J stopped and just disappeared. As if she didn’t want to let something overwhelm her ... her feelings? Cyn didn’t understand. There were a lot of things she didn’t understand, but she would find out.

But not now. The pressure inside her was growing. This strange thing or whatever it was. It wanted to come out.

Chapter Text

UPDATE!!

This fanfiction should have been updated a month ago. My cousin was supposed to write the smut part of Chapter 9, but due to her mental state, she unfortunately can’t. Therefore, this fanfiction has to be put on hold indefinitely :(

I will support my cousin and while she recovers, I’ll continue working on other projects/fanfictions:

— „Jurassic Impact“ (a Jurassic World x Honkai Star Rail x Genshin Impact crossover fanfiction)

— „How To Escape The Hell On Earth“ (a Bungou Stray Dogs fanfiction that’s sort of an Zombie Apocalypse/Infection AU)

I hope you understand, and my cousin and I both hope we can continue this Murder Drones fanfiction as soon as possible! ;)

See you soon,

O_Lucifer_o

Chapter Text

I regret to announce that this fanfiction must be discontinued. I’m really sorry, but this fanfiction requires more effort and detail than I anticipated, and I lack the concentration for such things. Perhaps my cousin will be added as a co–author at some point and continue writing in my place, but I can’t promise anything. Please forgive me :(

However, I really enjoyed writing this fanfiction, and I hope you’ve enjoyed the story so far. And also the way J and Cyn interact with each other.

This isn’t the first time I’ve written a Murder Drones AU, and I’ll definitely write more in the future, but not stories as long as this one. I hope you can understand that.

LG, Lucifer