#MD fanfic

[nuzipilled]

THE GANGS ALL HERE 🗣️🔥‼️ information below the cut, “B” cast ( Doll, Lizzy, Thad) have not been included yet as they dont have a role in the main story yet. feel free to ask any questions, me and @kylelily123abc4 will do our best to answer them (:

UZI

Uzi is a 21 year old woman with an undergraduate in medical engineering, which she was coaxed into by her parents (Namely Khan). She is incredibly adept and smart and prefers the technicalities of weapons engineering, and majors in art on the side. She would like to do it full time, however her parents insist it’s not a “real job.” She volunteers at the local hospital N, V and J are relocated to from overseas so they can continue inpatient care until they are stable enough to be discharged and resume physio / psychotherapy as outpatients. She meets N during his time there and immediately clicks with him, and eventually begins to visit him on her off hours, and continues to visit him even after her contract ends. They end up establishing a relationship together and, after finding it is much less expensive commuting to school, moves in with N, V, J, Cyn and Tessa in their apartment for the semester.

She spent most of her childhood moving around and being bullied—the most significant moment having been when her first kiss was stolen by someone who only dated her because he was dared to.

Uzi is a big fan of all things anime, edgy humor, hot topic, and nightcore. she’s got the soul of an unabashed 2000s emo girl stuck in the modern day.

N

Private first class Nate (all his friends call him N) Is a 23 year old man who was fostered from a family in Utah alongside his sister Cyn under Tessa, another childhood friend, and the Elliot family in Melbourne Australia from the ages of 8-18. When of applicable age, he went back to the United States to enlist in the marines and live with Cyn, a former child prodigy who was scouted and given multiple scholarships due to record breaking academics and reflexes on simulator games.

He was severely traumatized during his first deployment overseas along with his other childhood friends, V, and J, after their humvee hit an IED during a routine supply run. All three were critically injured and the sole survivors of their team of 6. He, along with J and V spent a total of 12 hours alone in the desert before they were airlifted to an emergency hospital in germany, then, once stabilized, returned to the states to resume inpatient care in Salem, Oregon.

Despite his honorable discharge and severe ptsd diagnosis, N does his best to remain upbeat and positive, almost to a fault, oftentimes repressing “bad” thoughts or feelings.

He ends up meeting Uzi in the hospital and they form a relationship together, her eventually moving in and living with V, J, Him, Tessa, and Cyn in their flat after they’re discharged from the hospital.

J

Sergeant Jane (Only preferring J when around close friends) is a 26 year old trans woman who was fostered from an immigrant afghan family under Tessa, another childhood friend, and the Elliot family in Melbourne Australia from the ages of 4-18, having realized she was a woman very early in life. She began socially transitioning at 12, and began HRT as soon as she aged out of the system. She was the first to be involved with the Elliots and was pushed to enlist in the australian military, quickly moving up the ranks to sergeant and was eventually posted in the united states to assist in training other cadets. She was severely traumatized during her second deployment overseas along with her other childhood friends, V, and N after their humvee hit an IED during a routine supply run. All three were critically injured and the sole survivors of their team of 6. she, along with J and V spent a total of 12 hours alone in the desert before they were airlifted to an emergency hospital in germany, then, once stabilized, returned to the states to resume inpatient care in Salem, Oregon.

Having been their squad leader, J often blames herself for the incident, even if she doesn’t talk about it or say anything out loud. J is an ass kisser. She will do anything and everything to succeed and has a Holier Than Thou personality, often very uptight and not about any bullshit. Her relationship with N specifically is horrible, and she harbours lots of jealousy and resentment from their time growing up due to favoritism.

She has a long standing, massive crush on Tessa Elliot, her longtime confidant and friend, though it went unrequited for their entire childhood and into their early adult life, J often being subject to Tessa’s dating endeavours and crushes in the meantime.

V

Lance Corporal Victoria, (Who prefers to go by V present day) 4-18 who was fostered from a family in Vermont under Tessa, another childhood friend, and the Elliot family in Melbourne Australia from the ages of 8-18. She enlisted in the military alongside J and eventually N, and was transferred to the states to assist in training procedures for new cadets with J.

She was decommissioned during her second deployment overseas along with N and J after their humvee hit an IED during a routine supply run. All three were critically injured and the sole survivors of their team of 6. She took the brunt of the blast, sustaining the most severe wounds and was airlifted to an emergency hospital in germany, then, once stabilized, returned to the states to resume inpatient care in Salem, Oregon.

The doctors operating on her told her she would never walk again--V proved that wrong by walking the next week. It was a miracle—however V simply states it was due to “having that dog in her.”

She is very resilient, but is often grumpy with a dry sense of tone and humor. She used to have feelings for N when they were kids, but it's since faded as they grew and disappeared during their time in active duty. Though despite this, she still cares for him as a friend, even if she rarely shows it.

She is the first to be discharged, having been set up in an apartment downtown by Tessa, who lives with her and eventually is joined by N, J, Cyn, and eventually Uzi. She is a gym rat with a heavy workout regimen that she will make everyone else's problem if its interrupted.

CYN

Cynthia (Who ONLY goes by Cyn present day) is N's little sister. She is still in active duty in the military air-force. She was a child savant who graduated highschool at 14 and college at 18, moving on to become one of the best UAV operators in history, with successful missions reaching into the hundreds. Cyn is autistic and physically disabled, having been born with cerebral palsy, and uses forearm crutches as mobility aids--but make no mistake, she is incredibly intuitive and adept. often knock-kneed and walks with an awkward gate, and speaks with very ‘robotic’ mannerisms. She sometimes struggles to show empathy in a ‘socially normal way’ or have a conversational filter. She has a very dark sense of humor as well, that for those not used to her may find jarring or off putting. Cyn hates being referred to as a child or incompetent because of her appearance or her disability, she will even go to an extent to prove the point that she does not need assistance. Tends to be protective of N, to a lesser but still protective of V and J and much later down the line Uzi becomes a close friend of hers.

In her off time she enjoys painting warhammer figurines, collecting cards and playing video games. She has a very kitsch, macabre sense of interest, often owning eclectic, odd knick knacks and memorabilia, namely a taxidermied wombat she’s affectionately named “Suzie.”

TESSA

Dr Tessa James Elliot is a very talented surgeon working out of a public hospital in Brisbane, Australia, descending from a very rich family. She is N, V and J’s childhood friend and frequently travels to different parts of the world to assist in surgeries or specialist care. Tessa paused all of her work when she learned of their incident overseas, flying to America to personally attend to their care–with some bribery and finagling due to HIPPA not allowing biased treatment. She just cares too much to not do anything. Tessa is a joyful, social butterfly. Excellent bedside manner and a good sense of humor but sometimes comes off as socially awkward. She is J’s lifelong crush despite not being aware of it, having spent some time dating around but nobody ever seems to be the right fit. She often complains about her recent dating endeavors to J much to her chagrin.

Tessa is, for the lack of a better word, weird. Think Cyn with a little more charisma, often not having a conversational filter or saying things out of the blue. She is not disturbed by otherwise off putting things like death, bodily fluids, nudity, gore etc, and has a bit of a dark sense of humor that she portrays very upbeat and positively. She is incredibly smart and adept bookwise, however socially she comes up a bit short.

there is an alternative version of these guys however it is 18+ for nudity. you can see it on bluesky here and twitter here

[igotthis-egg]

I love drawing middle aged men😻 Here’s Khan~

Btw am I like the only one in this fandom that really likes Khan?? I understand the reasoning behind why you guys don’t like him, but I like the fact that he’s not a static character and is actively trying to improve himself. I am a certified Khan lover. Argue with the wall.

[dodgeballstuckonthegymceiling]

Hi! If it wouldn't bother you, can you do platonic N, and V with a disassembly drone who's rather dissociative, and has memory loss issues? Like they tend to forget who they are, the people around them, zone out a lot, particularly during fights. Thanks!

This took me like two hours to write but it was so worth it! First ask I've responded to in a long time, so I wanted to make it as good as possible :)

N and V & Drone reader with memory loss issues

★ N was really excited to meet you when he found out Tessa had brought home a new drone! He made you a "welcome home" card. Got V, J and Cyn to sign it and everything! It didn't bother him that your memory was a bit off sometimes.

★ When you first met V, she thought you were just dumb. Tessa had to let her know what was going on with you. She thought it was really funny at first but the novelty quickly wore off. Now it's just annoying and sad (but mostly sad.)

★Back when you both were maids in the old manor, she'd knock over a table or something like that so you would get distracted and spend time cleaning it up. Not talking to her and asking silly questions. It worked very well!

★ After Cyn killed Tessa you didn't recognize N and V as much as you did before. V pretends not to care. The first few times she actually didn't care. But after a while it started to make her melancholic tick her off. You really don't remember her, do you?

★ N, on the other hand, gets visibly sad when you forget who he is. A few times he's even cried! He knows it's not anyone's fault but a part of him wants to believe that it is his.

★ Maybe this is what Cyn wanted? A drone who won't remember who's a friend and who's an enemy. Just so she can keep you fighting whoever she wants. Perhaps Cyn won't need to trick you if your head is already doing it for her.

★ It's not entirely her fault you're like this though. It's just how you are. It's who you are. But your issues did get a lot worse after she reformatted your memories.

★ N likes to leave little sticky notes around for you, just in case you forget something. Like if there is something he left in a common place for safe keeping, he label's it with a note so you don't worry about it.

★ Sometimes you snap back into "maid mode" and start cleaning some random mess up in the middle of a fight. N just lets you. It's easier to help you later than try and get you to stop now. V just yells at you before going back to ripping the limbs off some poor drone.

★ Yes, you've had a few "incidents" in the past. But N is proud to say that you haven't attacked anyone in a fit of confusion for a full two weeks now!

[durgodraws]

[abandonedpost]

My Highest Worldly Bliss: Chapter One

@electronix-arts @traumatizedartist @sock-man37 @confettiiz @poltergeist-bunn (just tagging everyone who expressed some interest in the teaser — thank you so much by the way, I really appreciate it!)

Hi everyone! I know the poll isn’t technically over yet, but most people thus far voted for me to upload chapter one to Tumblr today, and had I waited… well “today” would’ve been over lol.

Here’s chapter one of my very first fic! Haha i feel so self-indulgent. Feel free to let me know what you think and give some feedback. Excuse the formatting issues! I’m new to this 🥲 Read it under the cut 👇🏼👇🏼

Soft white eyes met a glimmering violet glow.

And he knew, in earnest then, that he would never be the same.

——

Dawn broke over the horizon of Copper-9. The nearby sound of drilling overpowered Khan’s senses as he blinked sleep out of his eyes. The day greeted him like any other, with a sly grin and slap to the face. A long day in the shafts lay ahead.

He was never fully content living a life of servitude. The human masters had made his kind to mine their exoplanets, so each day, they would dig their way further through the bedrock, dust and hot air hanging heavy around them until it clogged their sensors and slicked their hair back. Yet the drone always longed for more: a life of his own; freedom from the shackles that kept him bound to the colliery.

Such were the dreams of an ambitious man. Better yet, a foolish man. He knew not to articulate his fantasies of revolt, or he’d have caught his death for it by now.

But Khan was lucky, his bright mind and ingenuity had impressed the humans. During a shaft collapse a few months back, he’d taken the reigns and stabilized the structure long enough to evacuate all the workers. Having saved them a pretty penny, the humans rewarded him with a promotion to construction. Meaning no more physical labor.

“What’s on the agenda for today?” The worker drone grabbed his clipboard, scanning the text to find his assignment. He flipped the page to find it in big bold letters, coupled with a map.

Cabin Fever Labs

Ceiling collapse on basement floor, building integrity compromised.

“Huh,” he thought, “Never heard of that place.”

Grabbing the map, he set out on his mission.

——

“Stop it! Don’t touch me!”

“The more you squirm, the more it’ll hurt, 002.”

“Please, I’m sorry! I’ll be good, I swear!”

——

Khan didn’t expect the walk to take as long as it did. It felt like hours since he’d left the mines. His head was pounding, legs ached, and he contemplated giving up halfway.

“Screw the humans. They don’t deserve my help anyway.” He huffed, feeling the hot sun burn down on him.

Yet, against his better judgment, Khan persisted, wading through waist-high vegetation as he finally stumbled upon the Cabin Fever complex. It was at least ten stories high. Blacked-out windows lined the building in a grid-like pattern, and a large, metal door towered before the drone. It was locked, so he had no choice but to ring the bell.

A buzzer rang not long after. “State your name and the purpose of your visit,” came an annoyed voice on the other end.

“Uh, hello? I’m Khan. I-I’m here on behalf of JCJenson… to survey the ceiling collapse? I’m the Head of Construction at the copper mines.”

“Come in.” Another beep and Khan entered.

——

“Subject 002’s test results have been… alarming, to say the least.”

“What do you suppose we do?”

Purple eyes blinked open, and a blurry haze of white fluorescent light overwhelmed them. It took 002 a moment to realize where she was: the torture chamber, strapped to the patient bed. Everything hurt, and for a moment she cursed death for being too elusive a mercy for her. In the distance, she heard the voices of the Doctors.

Ever since that symbol had first plagued her processor they’d taken every opportunity to subject her to the latest “treatments”. Psychological torture, physical beatings, and solitary confinement had become staples of her daily routine.

“I think we ought to separate her and 048. It could be that two infected drones interacting is worsening the problem.”

This immediately set off alarms in 002’s mind. They couldn’t take 048 from her, she was the only good thing about this hellhole!

“I’ll inform Dr. Piers of the change. I’m sure we can accommodate 002 in 017’s room.”

Anger surged through her body. The mere thought of the Doctors taking the last good thing in her life away from her made 002 seethe. A thousand possibilities soared through her mind, until the symbol from her visions appeared in her hand once again.

“I said let me go!” A flash of violet light cut through the leather straps holding her down, and 002 fought back tears as she burst through the torture chamber door and down the hall.

——

Khan made his way to the basement of the labs, looking for the hall with the collapsed ceiling.

“There you are.” He whispered once he finally found his assignment. It was… a disturbing site to say the least. The ceiling tiles had been shattered beyond recognition, seemingly by force, and the wall nearby had been splattered with… oil? It sent a chill up his chassis.

He began surveying the damage when a female voice picked up behind him.

“So… they finally let someone see what goes on down here, huh? You some fresh meat or sumthin’?”

Khan was startled, jumping a bit before turning around, and then his shock turned to awe as he laid eyes on the most beautiful drone he’d ever seen. Her clothes were plain: a sleeveless grey dress, ID tag, gloves, and no shoes. Yet there was an undeniable fervor in her eyes, which were the most brilliant shade of purple-pink.

“Helloooo?” she asked, “Ya still in there or?” She tapped her fingers on his faceplate, effectively snapping him out of his trance.

“Uh— hi miss?” He tried to form a full sentence but was too taken aback, a vibrant white blush forming on his cheeks.

The woman played with the ends of her lavender hair and stifled a giggle, “I’ve never had a guy get flustered over me before. You sure you don’t belong down here with the rest of us defects?”

Embarrassed, Khan tried to reassert himself, “Ma’am, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m the Head of Construction, and I’m here to survey the ceiling collapse. Do you need help with something?”

——

Now that ticked 002 off. She couldn’t believe it! This… cute weird, weird man with a hard hat and too much audacity had the nerve to waltz into her home and ask her if she needed his help!

“Okay, nuance alert ‘ma’am,’” she said mockingly, “You’re in my neck of the woods right now! So how about we switch up the roles and ask if you need my help, hmm?” And to really get her point across, 002 held up three fingers, and the symbol appeared once more. In an instant, all the damage had been undone.

——

“Oh, uh. What was that?” It was a stupid question, but the construction worker couldn’t think of any other way to phrase it.

He watched as a deep, violet-pink blush covered the woman’s face. She crossed her arms and huffed, stepping backward “It’s uhm… it’s nothing. Just a virus I have,” Then her voice got quiet, “Bet it freaks you out, huh? Just like everyone else.”

Khan was about to say something to the contrary when heavy footsteps began racing down the hall. Humans. He watched as the purple lady’s eyes went hollow and she stepped back.

“I-I need to go,” she stammered, “I’m not even supposed to be talking to you.”

“Wait!” He shouted back, but it was too late. He caught a final glimpse of her light as the beautiful violet woman turned a corner and disappeared.

“I didn’t even get your name…”

[rory-multifandom-mess]

This might be an odd request, but if you’re interested could you do Jhad angst with prompts 2 and 21? I get it’s a pretty niche ship, but I’ve seen your other work and I’m interested on your take of the pairing.

Brother I shit you not I was JUST talking about this ship right before you sent this ask I am not even kidding. The timing on this was amazing. Here’s the screenshots of my exact reaction

ANYWAY I’d gladly do this pairing!! I think it would be really cute and I may or may not be thinking about writing a slow burn for it eheheheh

2. “Please don’t leave me” and 21. “I’m better when I’m with you”

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

.

.

.

Alone. A word that kept repeating in J’s head.

She was alone again, just like before, just like she always was. Just like before the manor, and after the massacre. She couldn’t win. She just couldn’t win.

Tessa was her friend, yet she was ripped away from her by that damn thing. V was her friend, yet she ruined that by siding with it.

Why couldn’t V just understand? It was the only way to survive. There was no escape, even in death… Though apparently she was wrong. Because they won. Solver was gone, and she was alone again.

J sighed as she gripped the blow torch harder, repairing the ship she had unceremoniously blown up.

She grit her teeth together, memories of their battle flashing before her, of Cyn using Tessa’s skin as a suit.

Suddenly, the blowtorch snapped in half from the pressure, the metal dented.

“Damnit!” J exclaimed, angrily throwing it into the snow beneath her. She jumped off the ship and kicked the broken torch further away, fists clenched by her side.

“Yikes-“ A voice said nearby, by the exit of the corpse spire.

J immediately swiveled around, one of her hands switching out for a rocket launcher as she aimed in its direction.

The worker drone flinched and fumbled with whatever it was he was holding before putting his hands up, eyebrows raised.

“Woah, J, relax!” He said.

“Oh.” J huffed, lowering her arm.

It was Thad, the one worker drone she managed to befriend. Well, more like he befriended her, despite her previous attempt to kill him. Granted, it was at least a few months after she had attacked that bunker.

She’d first met him in the woods, just outside of the abandoned city where “Tessa” was scouting out. She’d put J on watch duty.

At first, J didn’t bother to interact with him. But then she kept seeing him, and he’d only look even more sad and cold each time. Eventually, it turned into pity. She’d visit him while Boss was scoping the planet.

She would never admit it, but she slowly grew acquainted with this strange Worker Drone. Maybe it’s because it reminded her of the manor, when life was simpler. Maybe it’s because he reminded her so much of Tessa, goofy and dorky and funny and caring all the same. It was a breath of fresh air.

That was, until boss pulled her away from him too, because she finally had a lead.

J wouldn’t see him again for a while, at least not until everything came to a head and it was finally time for Solver to finish what it had started on the planet. They hadn’t gotten to talk at all, of course, everything was so intense, but she had noticed that he was hesitant to attack her before the planet had suddenly broken into pieces.

“What do you want? Here to mock me?” She asked with a snarl.

“Uh… no,” Thad said, scratching the back of his head. “I wanted to check up on you, actually.”

Her gaze softened as Thad walked further in.

“Y’know, that whole big battle seemed really intense. Thought you could use some company, since…” He trailed off.

J crossed her arms, putting her weight on one of her legs. “Because everyone hates me now?”

Sweat ran down his visor. He blinked and nodded slightly.

“I wanted to give you this.” He held out the item he had been holding to her.

It was a plush of a pink rabbit, its ears, arms, and legs floppy. It had button eyes and a white belly, yet it looked dirty with oil and debris. J took it from his hands and turned it slightly, looking at it.

Her expression softened more.

She loved plushies, even now after all this time since the manor days. She had missed just being able to hold one close and play with it. She gently squeezed its torso.

“…Thank you, Thad.” She said, glancing away and furrowing her brows, “But I don’t… I don’t need plushies.”

Thad raised an eyebrow. “Then why did you hesitate?”

J stopped for a moment, then moved the plush to her other hand, her claws extruding from the other as she pointed them at Thad.

“Don’t forget I can kill you right now!” She threatened, baring her teeth.

Thad put his hands up again, but only chuckled. “C’mon, J. You know you don’t have to hide anything anymore, right? You don’t have to pretend to be something you’re not. It’s gone. It can’t hurt you anymore.”

J froze. How did Thad know any of that? He was just a worker drone. There was no way he could’ve just said that on a whim.

He was right. She knew that. But— how?-

“I, uh… I asked V, N, and Uzi to give me a run down on everything,” Thad admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “I didn’t fully understand everything, but from what I got, it… sounded pretty rough. For all of you.”

J felt her legs start to shake. First, anger, but then confusion and relief, all hit at once. Someone knew, someone, for the most part, understood, wanted to understand, wanted to understand her. Her expression twisted, trying to keep the emotions at bay, but the softness of his voice, the tone, the look he was giving.

It all made her so weak, in such a good way.

J lowered her arms and hung her head, arms shaking, her fists clenched around the bunny plush.

“And yet, after all of what they told you, you still want to talk to me?” She asked incredulously, her voice shaking slightly.

“Of course I do. You were there for me when I was stuck in the woods, even if you were mostly mocking me.” He chuckled at the memory, then added, “I’m repaying the favor.”

J glanced away from him, hugging her arms.

“Thanks, I guess.”

Thad smiled up at her, then looked past her at the ship.

“What’re you working on?” He asked.

She followed his gaze, then groaned.

“The ship. I was repairing it after I blew it up- You know, as an… apology to V. And N and Uzi, I guess,” She explained, “But I just broke the only welder I had.”

“Oh!” Thad perked up. “Want me to go grab you one?”

J looked at him again, confused. “Why?”

Thad shrugged. “Why not? I don’t want you to be lonely out here forever, J.”

Her core shook.

“Be right back, kay?” He said, turning on his heel and sprinting back out of the spire.

J watched after him until he disappeared behind the corpse walls. She looked down at the snowy footprints he made in his wake, tracing her eyes over each ridge of the shoe tracks.

She turned back to the ship, her mind wandering as she hugged her arms.

Now that she thought about it more, Thad really did remind her so much of Tessa in many more ways that she thought. They were both so bright and bubbly all the time, yet they bruised so easily. They were fragile, one and the same yet two separate people. Two separate things.

She was athletic, just like him. He was kind, just like her. He smiled with his teeth, just like she did when she laughed. She would glow when she was happy, and so would he.

He made stupid jokes just like she would, and would sometimes mess with her just to get a reaction. J gripped her arms tighter and closed her eyes.

The day of the Gala. Tessa’s left arm was hurt. It was bruised, yet untreated. J wanted to help, but she couldn’t.

“I’m ‘right, J.” Tessa would tell her, smiling nervously and rubbing the bruise with her hand.

She could tell she wasn’t alright. It hurt still, even moreso emotionally, she figured. But J never got to express how much she cared, because in the end all she was to Tessa was a pet. Something to be admired and laugh at, something that wasn’t supposed to have or understand the same complex feelings that a human possessed.

J knew she was more than that.

Then, before she and Cyn had reached the cabin fever labs. She found Thad in the woods again, hunched over and sitting in the snow, holding his left leg tightly. When she walked over, he looked up at her and smiled.

“Hey! What’s up?” He’d say, cheerfully, attempting to mask the pain he was in, albeit terribly.

“What happened to your leg?” She would ask, sounding stern and uncaring, her arms crossed across her chest, portraying faux feelings of apathy toward him.

“Oh— It’s nothin. I’m alright, J.” He’d promised, smiling up at her nervously.

Her heart swelled. He even talked like her sometimes.

J opened her eyes again and looked up at the glittering stars above her, a complacent expression playing on her face.

It was a surprisingly clear night out that night, the stars clear and twinkling softly, looking back down at her.

Thad was everything Tessa was and more, wasn’t he? He cared about J. He wanted her to have friends, to learn how to live with them so she wouldn’t have to live alone forever, regretting the decisions she made and the pain she caused.

He held his hand out for her, much like Tessa did, but this time, as a friend. Not as an owner, guiding a lost dog to her home. Thad had picked her up despite her flaws and tendencies, to try and guide her down a path of love and joy.

Not to mention, he was as handsome as his personality. J would never admit it herself, but he looked nice. Nicer than most male worker drones she had come across and ultimately slaughtered. For a moment, she wondered why he, of all drones, had hair, despite most males not having any, from what she could tell. So full of mystery as well, wasn’t he?

Just then, J froze, her head snapping back down as she stared into the distance, her eyelights hollow and blush forming beneath them.

“…Oh no…” She said slowly, the realization kicking in. “No no no!” She exclaimed, hiding her hands in her face.

She had fallen for him. And hard. Either it was because he was so much like Tessa, or because he was just himself, it didn’t matter. She liked him; no, she loved him, just as she had Tessa.

But— how could he ever love her back? She tried to kill him— She tried to kill everyone. She sided with the thing that was trying to eat the planet and kill everyone else with it. N, V, and Uzi undoubtedly hate her, and worst of all— …She was a failure. All of this time trying to be the best, and she couldn’t even do one thing right.

She failed Tessa. She failed to be the best maid, she failed to keep her safe. She failed Cyn, and the company. She was sent to do a job, yet she couldn’t even complete it.

She was pathetic.

The sound of snow crunching underfoot broke her from her thoughts, a gentle tap on her shoulder.

She flinched and turned her head.

It was Thad, looking at her with concern. “Are you okay?”

Don’t look at me like that.

“Yeah. I’m- I’m perfect!” J said, straightening her posture and turning to him, her tail swaying close to the ground. “Just fine.”

Thad tilted his head, then shrugged. He held out the welder to her.

“Here. Just don’t break it this time,” He joked.

She rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah yeah”

J’s wings appeared from her back again and flared out as the anti-gravity jets roared to life, sending her up so she could gracefully land on the top of the landing pod again, carefully welding the metal pieces together. She watched Thad out of the corner of her eye.

He put his hands into his pockets and watched, leaning back and forth on his feet. Despite his body language, he didn’t look bored. He seemed more intrigued than anything, looking over the ship in its whole, or at least as whole as it was at the moment.

J glanced at him.

“Why are you still here? Shouldn’t you go back to the bunker now?” She asked, putting on an annoyed facade.

“It’s the middle of the night, man,” Thad explained, “No one knows I’m here. And I don’t have to get to school for another two hours.”

J huffed. “Well, you better not distract me,” She said.

Please talk to me.

Thad put his hands up and nodded. “You got it, J.”

No, not like that. Stop acting like her.

J drew her eyes away from him and back at the metal she was welding, trying to focus. But her thoughts always went back to him. She couldn’t get him out of her head. Just the thought of hugging him was enough to make her mind spiral, and the idea of holding him made her feel like melting.

She was hyper aware of all movement in the area - a side effect that came from being a disassembly drone - so every small subtle move he made was enough to gain a glance from her. When he shifted his weight, or moved his hands, or took a few steps forward, she’d notice and look at him.

Suddenly, his words broke through the icy air.

“Hey, J.”

J glanced up at him, then back at her welding job.

“What?”

A smile slowly grew on Thad’s face, getting an idea.

“What’s this thing for anyway?” He asked, knocking on a metal panel, “Trying to build some kind of forest creature?”

J paused, looking at him in confusion. “You, of all people, should know what a space ship like this is for.”

Thad shrugged. “I mean, if you look at it from an angle, it kinda looks like a messed up spider.”

J simply rolled her eyes and returned to welding the metal panels. She moved to another support and lifted another metal panel, holding it against the metal already attached to the ship.

Thad seemed to stare at her for a moment, then glanced away.

It was times like these where J wished solver granted them the power of mind reading. She wanted to know what was going on inside that little brain of his. Two out of her six eyes squinted at him, the remaining four focused on the welding.

The only thing that filled the air was the crackle of the welder and the howling of the wind for a moment, until Thad interrupted.

“Hey, JJ!” He called.

“What, Thad?” She asked, the eyes on her display deadpanning.

“I bet your humor is as hard to catch as a frisbee in the wind!” He said with full confidence, a wide dorky grin on his face, his hands on his hips.

Stop doing that. Stop being like her. What is wrong with you?

J stifled a smile and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well maybe you aren’t trying hard enough.”

“Ooh, playing hard to get! I like it!” He teased, pointing at her with finger-guns and winking, “Challenge accepted.”

J shook her head. What was he doing? What challenge? What was the point of this? What was he going to gain out of this?

J’s mind raced so much, she nearly welded her hand to the ship.

Now he was doing the one thing she told him not to do. Distract her. Granted, him merely being there was enough to distract her at first, so maybe he wasn’t at fault.

“Ooh! I got a good one,” He said, a mischievous look in his eyes as he rubbed his hands together.

“What’s white and has wheels?” He asked, anticipation in his voice.

J paused for a moment, thinking. She tilted her head slightly. In all the jokes that Tessa had told her, this was one she was unfamiliar with. Her mind went to the first most logical answer she could think of.

“A bike?” She said, hesitating.

“The snow! I lied about the wheels!” Thad basically shouted, throwing his arms into the air with a large grin across his face. She noticed that some of his teeth were strangely sharp.

“That doesn’t even make any sense,” She said, rolling her eyes and returning to her welding.

“Sure it does!” Thad said with a snicker, “You gotta stop thinking so literally about everything, J.”

She stopped, if only for a moment. She remembered when Tessa had told her that, after making a dumb joke like that, with the same gesture and the same, proud grin.

Her grip tightened on the welding tool.

Thad paced around, thinking of what to try next. She glanced at him.

Seriously, what was he doing? He kept saying random jokes, despite the fact she told him not to distract her. It’s not like she was going to do anything to stop him, she liked the jokes, it just—

WOAH. No! She did not like the jokes! She didn’t like jokes! Jokes were stupid and wasted time— There wasn’t any point to them, they made no sense—

Suddenly, she heard a thud and flinched, breaking her from her thoughts once again. Her head snapped to the sound, only to see Thad stumble back from one of the ship’s legs and fall into the snow, holding his foot with a pained expression.

J couldn’t help but snicker at his misfortune, confused but delighted.

He opened an eye and looked up at her, surprised to hear her snickering. She turned her head away quickly and covered her mouth, stifling her laughter.

She lowered her head and shook it, trying to keep herself calm. Behind her, she heard Thad call her name. She looked up and turned her head to him, curious.

Right as she turned her head to him, he began sprinting up a mound of snow, only to purposefully slip and tumble down the mound, landing on his stomach. He looked up at her expectantly.

J simply stared at Thad, her eyelights half-lidded. She shook her head and averted her attention back to her welding. She was almost done with the panel.

Honestly, watching him get thrown around was kind of funny, especially since he was throwing himself around. All that, just to get her to-

The realization hit her like a bowling ball.

Those silly jokes, the stupid looks, the dumb actions that would end in him getting hurt— they were all for her. To get her to laugh and ‘loosen up a little,’ as Tessa would put it.

Dear God, he’s just like her. Why is he so much like her? What is wrong with him?!

“Oh!” Thad suddenly exclaimed, causing J to stop welding. It was alright, though. She had just finished a panel.

She groaned, trying her hardest to keep her front up, and hopped off the ship, picking up another panel.

“What did one corporate say to the other?” Thad asked, excited to tell the joke, eagerness in his voice.

J raised an eyebrow as she shook the panel off, dusting snow from it. She was intrigued this time. Thad didn’t seem the type to know anything about corporations.

“What?” She asked.

“Nothing, because they’re bad at diplomacy!” He announced proudly, almost way too excited to see her reaction.

J stifled her laughter, quickly raising the new panel over her face so he wouldn’t see the look on her face.

She was smiling because of his dumb joke. It was funny, of course it was funny, and it made sense- and she was sure Thad picked up on her attempt to cover her laugh.

She tried to play it off, lunging back onto the pod with the panel in hand. In the corner of her eyes, she saw Thad’s goofy grin, and knew that trying to hide it had already failed.

A silence fell between the two of them as Thad began to pace, presumably thinking of more jokes, scratching his chin. Whenever he’d think of one, he’d stop and blurt it out. Of course, most of his jokes needed her to respond, but J didn’t mind that.

With each joke, J would giggle just a little bit more than before, even snorting quietly once. She couldn’t help it.

The way he delivered each joke with enthusiasm and the tone of a comedian, his stupid, adorable little face, full of excitement and pure joy, his face brightening whenever he’d hear her giggles.

She had to admit, his charm was irresistible.

She slowly began to forget her worries, forgetting how much Thad and Tessa had in common.

After a prolonged silence, Thad stopped in his pacing again.

“Oh! What do you do if you get the bird flu?” He asked, that same silly grin playing on his face.

J leaned back and looked at him with a smile. “What?”

“You get— …Uh…” Thad trailed off, glancing at the snow.

“Wait, I— I forgot the punchline,” He chuckled softly as he spoke, furrowing his brows as he tried to remember.

J snickered. “Take your time.” She said smugly, turning back to her welding.

Silence fell between the two again as he wracked his brain, trying to remember. J almost forgot he had even started to set up a punchline.

Suddenly, Thad’s head jolted back up as he shouted.

“Tweetment!” He exclaimed, his voice so loud it echoed through the barren outdoors.

J finally couldn’t hold in her giggles anymore, a hearty laugh erupting from her throat as she leaned back from the spot she was welding. Her legs slipped, sending her careening off of the pod and into the snow, still laughing and smiling, snorting every once in a while.

Thad grinned at her, admiring her smile and the way she laughed. He loved every snort, every giggle, every time she would roll on the ground, clutching her sides as she couldn’t stop from laughing.

He had succeeded in getting her to let loose, at least for now.

He chuckled, approaching her from the side and leaning forward slightly to hover over her face, placing his hands on his knees.

“It’s nice to see you smile like this, Jaybird,” He said softly, his expression kind and full of adoration.

J’s heart exploded in her chest, butterflies in her stomach as her eyelights hollowed at what he had just said.

Tessa’s voice echoed in her head.

“It’s nice t’see ya smile like this, Jaybird!”

That same smile. That same nickname. That same damned expression and tone of joy and pride. Those damned green eyes.

J quickly sat up and shoved his face away, turning away from him and curling up in a ball, her hands on her head.

Thad yelped and stumbled back slightly, trying not to fall.

Damn it all! Why do you have to be like this, you stupid toaster! Why? …Why me? Is this my punishment? Is this what I get?

Her mind raced, a swirl of emotions, anger and sorrow and melancholy, her core pounding in her ears.

“J?” Thad asked, concerned, rubbing his face.

She didn’t respond, her arms beginning to tremble.

She hated him. No, she hated herself. How could she let this happen? How could she allow herself to fall so heavily for this little drone? He was so much like Tessa, yet so different at the same time. She craved to hear his voice and feel his touch all the same as she did with Tessa, yet somehow stronger.

Thad’s worry only grew as he stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. “C’mon, Jaybird, talk to me. What’s up?” He asked again.

That stupid nickname!

He was so much like her. But what if he was too much like her? What if she had fallen for someone with the same quirks and personality and phrases as her first crush, just for them to be ripped away again? Just for her heart to be taken and stomped on and spit on all over again? What if he didn’t like her back? What if he was just there because he thought she was pitiful?

“…You’re so much like her,” J finally muttered, not lifting her head, her voice shaking. Despite her doubts, despite everything— she decided to tell Thad what was going on. Maybe not about how badly she wanted to kiss him, though. Not yet.

“…What?” Thad responded, sitting next to her in the snow.

“Tessa. Cyn was wearing her skin, you know.”

Thad’s eyebrows raised. “…Oh.”

J chuckled sadly, hugging her legs. “I’m such an idiot, Thad.”

She paused for a moment, waiting for Thad to react, though he didn’t.

“I sided with that thing because I thought there was no point in fighting. I knew what it could do. V and I both did.” She sniffled. “It toyed with us. It used us to slaughter billions, all three of us.”

As she began to explain, Thad sat beside her and rubbed comforting circles on her back, listening closely.

“It used us to kill Tess’s family. It used us to kill her. It wore her skin like a badge… I still remember her screams.”

Finally, J’s head lifted. She looked out at the snow, her eyelights hollow, digital tears wavering in the corners of them.

“…I tried to fight back, Thad. Before all of this— I wanted to stop it. But I never won. It would always kill me and then clone me again. There was no escape, even in death.” J paused again, then huffed. “Guess I was wrong.”

it became silent between the two. The air around them turned sour, dampened by J’s experiences.

She sniffled and sobbed, internally berating herself for being so vulnerable in front of a stupid adorable worker drone. She was pathetic.

“…Geez,” Thad finally muttered, “I can’t imagine how I’d feel if I was in your situation.”

J didn’t say anything.

“I… I don’t think you did anything wrong, J.”

She turned her head to him.

“Sure, you made some mistakes,” Thad said, shrugging, “but you were just scared. You did what you thought was right, even if it wasn’t the best. Everyone makes mistakes.”

J stared at him. “How can you not be mad at me?”

Thad thought for a moment, glancing at the stars. Then, he looked back at her. “Because everyone has their own story. You were forced to kill someone you were super close to. You gave up, because you couldn’t fight back. You only wanted to survive.”

He paused, then smiled. “In the end, that’s all any of us want, right? That’s why the Worker Drones fled under the ice when you guys showed up.”

J looked into his lime green eyes. Her heart swelled. He was genuine. He didn’t hate her. He actually understood her. He was finally someone who cared enough to see her side of the story, to listen to her grief and fear and empathize.

Something Tessa failed to do.

Tears welled up in her eyes again as she dropped her head back into her knees, hugging her legs.

Thad frowned, his brows furrowing in concern. He gently leaned on her, awkwardly slinging his arm around her shoulders and patting her arm.

“It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay, J,” He reassured, speaking slowly and softly.

Stop doing that.

She hated this. She hated being vulnerable like this, sobbing pathetically into her knees while a Worker Drone leaned on her, comforting her. She hated that it was working. She hated that she needed comfort. She had said it before, she would say it again. She didn’t need anybody.

…But deep down, she knew that wasn’t true. Without someone to boss her around, what was she worth? If she couldn’t do a job, what was the point? That was the real reason she had started to put that stupid pod back together.

Most of all, J hated how much she crumbled around Thad. She hated how much he reminded her of Tessa, and how she fell for him just like she did her. Just because they cared. Just because they were trying to save her from a terrible path. She hated how pathetic she was.

She was suddenly broken from her thoughts by the sound of an alarm. She hadn’t even realized she stopped crying. How long were they sitting there for?

Thad jolted upright, slapping his face.

“Crap! I stayed out too long! I’m sorry, J, but I gotta bolt!” He said in a panic, quickly scrambling to his feet.

J perked up as well, but quickly turned, her knees hitting the snow as she reached up and grabbed his wrist.

“Wait!” She called.

He stopped and looked back at her, surprised.

She looked back up at him. Blush spread across her visor as her jaw hung open, eyelights hollow.

Wait. What am I doing?! She thought, panic rushing through her wiring.

“…Uh… P…Please… don’t leave me.” She asked quietly, glancing away, “I… I, uh… I feel better when I’m around you, Thad.”

She groaned and pulled her hand away, covering her face.

“God, I’m so pathetic, aren’t I…?” She asked no one in particular.

Thad didn’t seem to move for a second. Then, he dropped down onto his knees and gently grabbed her hands, pulling them off her face with a soft smile.

“No no, it’s okay! What’s one missed day of school, right?” He shrugged, “It’s Friday anyway. I’ll stay. I promise.”

J looked at him in the eyes, her processor running at two miles an hour. She felt so conflicted— she wanted him to stay, but her pride— like it wasn’t already damaged enough— but it’s a Worker Drone! I don’t need pity from a worker drone—

“…Thank you.” She muttered, cracking a small smile.

Thad smiled back.

“No probbles.”

J snickered.

“Such a dumb abbreviation.”

She didn’t care. She could sit like this for the rest of forever.

.

.

.

HOOLLLYYY SHIIIT. LONGEST ONE OF THESE EVER I APOLOGIZE FOR ALL OF YOUR DASHBOARDS. ANYWAY. I'm so sorry this took fucking ages to complete, my personal life has been so so busy.

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED ANYWAY!! This was so so much fun to write, I love exploring J's character. AUGH. Don't worry Thad eventually helps her get over Tessa :D

Also so sorry to all the people who are waiting on their requests , especially to those who have been waiting since August. Life has been busy and I've been unmotivated. I'm hoping to get back to it whenever I can though!!!!

~~~~~~~

Prompt Post! Lizzy x Doll; "Stay with me forever"/"Because I love you!" N x V; "I thought you didn't want me"/"Why haven't you kissed me yet?" V x Thad; "I'm in love with you" V x Thad "I missed you so much"/"I can't stay away from you" N x Thad; "Can I kiss you?" N x Thad; "I want you. Only you." V x Thad; "I thought you didn't want me." Sam x Uzi; "The way I feel with you"/"I can't stay away from you." Uzi x Thad; "Please don't leave me"/"I'll always love you" N x Thad; "Please marry me"/"Why haven't you kissed me yet?" N x Uzi; "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen"/"I'm better when I'm with you" J x Thad; "Please don't leave me"/"I'm better when I'm with you." <- You are here!

[bald-homophobic-v]

WAIT CHAT THIS IS AIMED AT THOSE IN THE MURDER DRONES FANDOM WIKI: DOES ANYONE REMMEBER THAT FIC ONE OF THE MODS (I THINK) WROTE A BUNCH FOR? IT WAS LIKE SOMTHING HUMAN AU I FORGOT WHAT IT WAS CALLED I HOPE THE RIGHT PEOPLE SEE THIS BECAUSE I C R A V E READING IT AGAIN

(ignore the tags im tryna get outreach so i cna maybe get a answer)

[space-dem0n]

New fanfic out!

—

Uzi never expected it. Of course she didn't. But as she lived and breathed, the sound would come out of the two. When they were happy, when they were stressed, when they were comfortable. But still, to think murder drones could purr.

——

Or, four times N and V purred around Uzi, and one time she purred around them.

[regretfullyrave]

Lies Behind Locked Doors

And here it is! The very first chapter of my Vuzi fic, am soooo happy to finally be able to post it! If you enjoy the story please let me know, it helps a TON with motivation

A special thanks goes to @i-am-beckyu who beta read and help me to get this thing finally finished <3

You can also read it on AO3!

Chapter 1: Stand-off

Wc: 6.5k

Tw: Canon typical violence, oil = Worker blood, more feral Murder Drones than in canon

Summary: "Outside the reinforced doors of Outpost 3 an unlikely alliance is made between a Worker and a Disassembly Drone. Uzi is an angsty teen left for dead by her colony and V quickly finds out some Worker Drones are more valuable alive than dead. But can an alliance, and maybe something more, build on lies last or is it doomed to end in a massacre?"

One arm flew up in the air, the other followed, oil painted the powdered snow as it had so  many times before and pooled at where they landed. A tangled mess of wires followed them suit, and then some bits of metal. Uzi continued her scavenging through a pile of scrap, paying little mind to the bodies- body parts it contained. A gruesome sight but she grew accustomed to it. Besides, it would be worth it, these trash piles usually contained something of value. As long as one wasn’t too squeamish to get their hands dirty.

Uzi took in the sight of her black, oil-covered hands, the substance sticking to her fingers oozing its characteristic odor that quickly reached her receptors. Not squeamish, she wasn’t, but what would she give for any kind of cloth to wipe them off with. She dove back into the pile, the less time she wasted on hypotheticals the more time she’d have to– Oh, look! 

A circuit board poking out of the pile, she could definitely find a use for one of those! For what she wasn’t sure, but they were so hard to come by she would just find a use for it as she went. That’s how she preferred to go about things anyway. 

Uzi bent down to move a piece of scrap sitting atop the circuit board, shoving it aside and reaching for the gadget, she found herself struggling to un-wedge it from the two heavy pieces of metal it was stuck between. Her brows furrowed, she wrapped her fingers around it more firmly, pulled and pulled and… 

She raised her head in alarm, paused, listened in. Just the eerie silence of lightly falling snow and the rhythmic mechanism of her own motor. She bent down again, focusing on the damned little thing, her fingers were too slippery. Just the eerie silence of lightly falling snow and whooshing of wind. 

Uzi dashed inside a nearby construction site before she even processed the sound, disappearing into the darkness.

And the source came crashing down with a show, lifting a cloud of snow that hid its body from sight, only spread wings cut through the white curtain, like an angel. 

She crouched behind a deteriorating concrete wall, peeking out to keep an eye on the thing. Luckily it seemed all its interest was directed towards the junk pile in front of it, more specifically, the pair of arms Uzi pulled out of it moments prior. The machine lifted them up, one after the other, and carelessly crushed the remaining oil contents out into its awaiting mouth. The limbs were far past cold, mostly drained, the drone chewing on one like a hungry wolf chews on a licked clean bone but even that lasted it only a few seconds.

It had a gander on the pile, probably spying out a little something to sink teeth into. Uzi cursed under her breath quietly, she had to get out of here, but that stupid circuit board had her lingering around. Maybe the thing is gonna move on quickly, it's not like there is anything to kill here, this part of town is a dead zone, no sane drone goes out here.

The murder machine stared at the ground between its feet, cocking its head to the side sharply. Its gaze trailed slowly from where it stood in the snow to the construction site, Uzi's eyes followed the trail. Her breathing hitched. The trail she left behind in the snow. 

Time to go.

Uzi ducked behind the wall. This is fine, this is okay. Just stay behind frozen solid walls because of course these things have thermovision, why would they not have thermovision, right? With their blade-like claws and wings and that syringe-looking all-dissolving thingamajig- Yeah, why not thermovision too! 

What she was sure to be claws slipping and digging into concrete echoed throughout the site.

As silently as possible Uzi headed in the direction she had left her stuff about half an hour ago. She navigated the bare hallways, only half constructed and never to be finished, until she came to a doorless doorway. She made sure to stay close to the walls, they were her best chance of getting out of here undetected. She peeked her visor out of the doorway and caught a glimpse of her purple backpack right where she left it, just a few meters away. 

Just as Uzi was to rush from her spot, grab her stuff and get the hell out of there, she hesitated. 

She listened in, more intently this time, but her audio receptors caught no sound other than the wind outside. Nothing akin to the noises of a Murder Drone on the hunt. Had it simply moved on or given up already? That wasn't right.

In a moment of contemplation Uzi’s gaze trails upwards, just a force of habit far too many have pointed out to her before. Her eyes hollow out and her motor skips a beat when she catches a glimpse of yellow, and that glimpse turns into a very clear silhouette. It’s almost perfectly still, hanging from the ceiling, five bright lights sit like a crown atop a wide glowing cross and another, equally as bright light, orbiting it like planets do around the sun. It would be a lie to claim the sight didn’t fascinate her, like the lure of an anglerfish, but only momentarily, before the survival drive caught up. That second of allure was gone and got replaced by fear at the realization this oil-thirsty thing was prowling just above Uzi’s stuff. 

Instead of hunting for her, wasting energy, it was waiting for her to come to it, straight into its grasp, and it knew she would– she would have, weren’t it for that dumb habit she would have waddled her way right in there without a second thought. Why would she ever think to check, she knew what these things were capable of and yet she never considered, it never crossed her mind. 

What hadn’t crossed her mind either was the elevated position giving the Disassembly Drone a certain advantage when it came to field of vision, although it couldn’t see far into hallways, it was perfectly aware of its surroundings and every single entry point into the hall, unlike her. 

She failed to notice the yellow cross snapping to her softly glowing purple optics the second she stuck her visor into that doorway, disappointing. 

Uzi took a step back, then another, trying to swiftly but silently back the hell out of there upon having realized her own murder plan, all her stuff be damned. The murder machine could choke on it for all she cares, that’s the only dinner it's going to get today. And she managed to do just that, when about half way the narrow hallway she came from, her fast paced crouch turned into a mad dash. Still trying her best to mind any debris and deteriorating scrap on the floor so as to not make any noise that would alert to her position was sharp-witted, but ultimately pointless. Although she may not be fully aware, the hunt is on. 

She leaps out of the building like a doe, with little time to think where to go next Uzi heads the most obvious route, straight ahead across the snow covered street and right for the buildings on the other side, too predictable.

If she can just get there they are sure to provide her some shelter, a sense of safety, to at least prolong the unfair game of hide and seek. But she never gets a chance to reach them.

Like a meteor, the Murder Drone comes crashing from the sky in front of Uzi blocking her escape route. She tries to get use of the snow cloud that momentarily blinds both drones by changing direction, but having lost all of her momentum while trying not to literally crash into her pursuer makes it a very clumsy attempt at best and one that almost results in her tripping over her own foot. She stumbles and the little distance she manages to get is crossed in a second and this time the crash is inevitable. It weaponizes its speed and weight to send her flying through the air. 

Before Uzi can register any pain from the collision she hits the frozen ground with a surprised groan.

She lays disoriented on her side, clutching at her midsection, it’s not where the blow landed but it feels like all the pain from around her body came sending sparks of electricity to this very spot, overheating and burning the area with such caliber she can’t be sure how much of it is just phantom pain and how much is reopening of not yet healed wounds. She drags her legs closer to her body to protect it from a blow she dreads coming, get up.

Uzi tries, tries to stand up on her feet but is too slow and out of it to avoid the next hit coming. Claws tear at her arm leaving behind a nasty trail of black, what are you waiting for.

She hisses through gritted teeth and despite the pain is quick to retaliate. She kicks at the Disassembler multiple times aiming at the peg legs in hopes of getting it off balance and down on the ground, one of her kicks almost meets with the slashing  blade claws of the drone towering over her. But she is relentless and gets a good kick in, the hunter stumbles backwards and Uzi has enough time to recover and regain her footing.

Never look back. 

But Uzi does, she turns on her heels to face her attacker. Just momentarily to reassess the situation, get a good sense of what she's dealing with and maybe attempt to fight back once more. Grave mistake. 

The second she does she's met with an X shining as bright as the midnight sun, reflecting off of her visor and piercing her like thousands of daggers— like the blade wings, each catching a hint of the yellow glow, warping it and distorting it in unimaginable ways, creating a complex array of light that burns a hole of terror into her core.

It's an empty second, no movement, no life, just stale existence. It lasts an eternity. 

The Disassembler's knees lower to the ground as it crouches, getting into striking position. One last chance, Worker. 

Move.

But Uzi doesn't.

The Disassembler shoots like a bullet and hits with the same amount of force and precision easily tackling the much shorter drone to the ground with its whole body.

The motion rips Uzi out of the blank, fear overridden state and boots up whatever sense of self-preservation that was involuntarily programmed into her. Even with the weight of the other drone pinning her down Uzi still puts up a good fight, wrestling with one of the drones arms and successfully, with the help of both of her oil-stained hands, overpowering the claws hovering over her core. That victory is only short-lived. One peg leg is enough to crush Uzi’s right hand to the floor and hard as she tries she cannot yank it from under it. 

Uzi grits her teeth, she pushes at the other drones shoulder with her weaker, oil-gashing arm, miraculously she manages to further the distance between her and her attacker but her forearm is forced over her head and quickly joins the other in powdered snow. In panic she twists and turns, squirms and kicks at nothing but snow under her boots and the drone laughs at her, viciously. One knee is enough to immobilize the poor flailing Worker Drone for good. And she's forced to watch how the Disassembly Drone's claws flex and glisten and close in and blades press heavily against her neck and— 

“And you're dead.” The Disassembly Drone deadpans, her claws making a mock slashing motion over Uzi's neck. 

An equally bright timer appears on her visor, replacing the eerie X that adorned it a moment prior. It reads 0h 03m23s19ms. 

Her restraints let go at once as does the weight pushing her deep into snow, Uzi sits herself up with strained limbs, wincing as pain spikes, familiar old and fresh new, travel through her body.

“Three minutes and twenty seconds,” the Disassembler reads out loud, far too busy fixing loose strands of hair covering her face to further acknowledge Uzi. “That's your new record. Fifteen seconds better than last time,” she puts one strand under the other.

Uzi groans. “Twenty three seconds.” 

The Disassembler hums while checking all her six claws one by one as if deciding whether they need sharpening or not. “No, I gave you a three second head start.” She finds the latter three a lot more interesting, her eyes hollowing. 

They are covered in oil. 

“Oh yeah, when exactly?” Uzi retorts, she fought for those three seconds and she will fight for them again. 

“Af-tah yuh sa-wh me,” she mumbles, finding it hard to articulate with claws in her mouth. 

Uzi's visor contorts in disgust. “Have some common decency, V!” 

V reluctantly pulls the claws out of her mouth, like she is genuinely offended. “What? Hey! I could be out hunting right now,” she goes back to licking the oil again, though this time she doesn't end up shoving them into her mouth like a feral animal. “Consider this— an appetizer.” 

“You'd wish,” Uzi huffs and crosses her arms, at least she tries to, but sharp pain coming from her arms makes her recoil with a hiss. Only now as she's looking at the three distinct gashes in her arm do the dots properly connect, adding to the disgust and frustration that make her insides twist. The sound doesn't escape V. 

Uzi pokes at the wound with her finger, wet, oozing oil, quickly coating it, it's still coming out with no sign of stopping any time soon. V is staring her down intently. It's not bad, very far from anything inner circuit damaging, but it sure stings like hell.

“Was this really necessary?” She waves off the oil covered finger, black droplets staining pure snow. 

“Yes.” V nods resolutely, then adds, “what's a little game with no stakes at risk,” she switches her now clean claws back to normal drone hands.

“But how am I supposed to ever get better if you just make me worse for wear every single time!” Uzi pouts, totally not like a child, but like a grown adult who's got a point.

“Look, you wanted this to be,” V air quotes ““authentic”, whatever the hell is that even supposed to mean.”

“It can be without you having to dismantle me every time!” The Worker half shouts.

V stares at the Worker Drone with an unimpressed blank stare. How over-dramatic. She thought to herself, it wasn't even like what she was saying was true- not like she did it every single time. Just a lot. And it's not like hurting the Worker was necessarily her intention, she always gave her a choice, enough time to act, and she either would, or she wouldn't and she'd remember well to next time. That was V’s teaching method. Consequences. Don't do as you were told and you'll have a scar to remind you of your mistake. A bit brutal? Maybe, but better than being eaten alive. 

And if this was what this whole thing was about, at least what the Worker claimed it was, to not get murdered by the fir- second Disassembly Drone she happens to cross paths with, then by all means, this was the best method. 

You have to find out the running stove is hot once in your life to never try touching it again.

Uzi turns her back on the Murder Drone in a child-like display of resentment. “Hurts like a bitch, how fitting,” she barks.

The moment she does the distance separating the two drones turns to dozens of inches, there are shivers running down her back alerting her to the sudden presence behind her and she turns around with lightning speed and a flinch. 

Never turn your back on a Disassembly drone. V recites one of her own rules in her head with a chuckle, she straightens her posture, towering high above the Worker with a sly fox smile that Uzi came to associate with nothing short of malicious intent.

“You've lost. Those,” V points at the three distinct claw marks decorating her arm, “are the consequences.” She speaks matter of factly and leaves little room for any further complaining. That, of course, wouldn't stop Uzi from opening her mouth but the taller Drone quickly shuts her up again. “But, I will give you one thing.” Uzi doesn't fail to notice how the corners of her mouth curl. “All this- training,” V stalks in even closer.

“Uh-” Is all that Uzi manages to utter before her wrist gets roughly grabbed and squeezed in the other drones hand.

“Is such a waste,” she forces the Worker's arm closer with ease.

“Hey! Wha—” Uzi attempts to pull the limb back. 

The Disassembler’s mouth parts, revealing her sharp fangs in an unnaturally wide, deranged smile. “Of precious oil,”

In that moment Uzi yanks back hard, almost toppling back into snow she's still sitting in when her wrist escapes the hungry grasp crushing it. “No! Absolutely not! Eeew, that's so-that's so disgusting!” she yells, pulling her arm back and holding it close to her chassis protectively, oil staining her clothes be damned. “You are never getting to—,” she scrambles for words, disgust having clogged her throat.

“To enjoy your sweet, sticky oil, straight from the source?” V finishes for her happily in a sickly sweet voice.

“Bleh! Never!” Uzi growls, dragging her legs to curl on herself like she is trying to subconsciously hide the wound from her attacker. 

V huffs amusedly. “You are such a coward.” 

That comment has Uzi taken aback, for a moment she just stares incredulously. 

And that only makes V double-down. “You heard me, a little coward of a Worker Drone, hiding behind daddy's precious heavy metal doors her entire life because she is too scared a big bad Murder Drone is gonna come and eat her alive.”

Uzi glared daggers at V, as if that was going to make that smug, arrogant, bipolar, insufferable and all around shootable drone shut up and not just prompt her to keep on pushing Uzi's buttons. And she knew she shouldn't let any of it get to her, to get a reaction out of her was exactly what the other wanted, but the way she stood— one hand on her hip, side-stepping, towering over her, looking at her with challenge burning in those yellow glowing eyes... Uzi clenches her jaw.

V sneers, content with having put the purple-haired drone down a notch, she'd always happily remind her just where she stands next to her and that, at the end of the day, V herself is only doing all of this for her own gain. The lack of any further arguing is like music to her audio receptors. She turns around, fully content with declaring another petty battle as won, adding one more tally up mark to her win streak. 

But as she begins to walk off… 

“Do it then.”

V's satisfied grin falters ever so slightly. 

“Bite me!” For once she means it literally, there's weird unrequired determination fueling Uzi's words, but it doesn't make her sound any confident. Not to the sensitive sensors of the taller.

V simply laughs at her. It's all she has to do to completely shatter the already hastily put together pieces of fake confidence Uzi spent so much effort trying to muster at the last minute.

“You are hilarious,” V snickers, venom on her tongue. 

And Uzi wants to snap back so badly but she has nothing left to say in her, she is just waiting for V to take a bite of the lure she suddenly seems to have no interest in. And as thankful as she should be for that in reality it only leaves her agitated further.

“No, really, you are funny. I'd say you have some bolts in you— but I see your palms are heating up, nervous?” She flashes that challenging toothy grin of hers again.

A bright purple anger symbol appears on the top of Uzi's visor. “Screw you and your stupidly convenient infrared light glowing orb things!”

“Pfft, you should see your face right now.” 

Uzi crosses her arms, this time mindful of her new wound to not accidentally touch where it's sore, and huffs, clearly she's not getting anywhere with her baitless hook, the Disassembler will seemingly do anything to spite her. Uzi sighs. “Quite the chatterbox today, ey? Let me guess, you committed mass murder.”

V hums proudly, “And very successfully.”

The only thing that can make a Murder Drone happy apparently. And in V's case happy meant unnecessarily vocal and downright insufferable… but also nicer, evident in the distinct lack of name-calling and death-threats. Better to stay on that side of her. Just… in case.

“Those ‘glowing orb things’ do come quite in handy,” she simply shrugs, pride evident in her tone and posture.

Right, and are a nasty game changing surprise for any drone unfamiliar with them, to any drone besides her if she had to guess. “It’s cheating,” Uzi rolls her eyes. One moment they are used to hunt for her hiding in the frozen concrete wasteland as part of their, Uzi sighs and groans internally, deal, and another purely just to spite her and poke fun at her. And somehow, the combination of genocide and mockery just spoke V to her. 

V swings her tail behind her, low and unthreatening but still catching Uzi’s attention, “C'mon, do you want your Murder assessment or not?” The question is impatient but sounds oddly genuine, there is no bite behind it. 

Uzi nods, “right.”

“Let's review,” V suggests, touching the side of her visor where silver strands meet their reflection. She's going through her memory banks and playing over whatever she recorded of their encounter, Uzi can tell from that yard long stare and lack of movement from her optics. She stares too, just in a different direction, by now she knows V won't show her anything anyway. Something about ‘not wanting you in my head' or whatever. 

She'd have to get close to the Disassembler anyway and, although she didn't feel like she would just randomly get offed anymore, she was still on edge in its presence and would much rather prefer to keep the meter or so separating the two drones. Better to keep her distance, just safety measures.

“Your hiding skills are downright abysmal,” V interrupts that train of thought with a compliment. 

“Hey! At least I heard you coming! It’s not like you noticed me either,” Uzi objects, recalling the whooshing of wind, a sound similar to racing wind currents, but not quite right, it's an odd whirring noise that barely overpowers the raging storm but when it does it's unmistakably mechanical. 

“Spectacular and wrong. I expect you to stay alive ‘till I at least manage to start the timer,” V's finger lingers on her screen. “Speaking off…” she trails off, and for the first time that night there is a noticeable hiss behind her words.

Uh oh. Uzi winces, attempting a small sheepish smile.

“Enlighten me, Worker, how the hell do you not notice you left a trail in the snow! And it's leading straight to you!” Oh, she is livid now, her tail lashes from side by side behind her and that display has Uzi scooting away, her eyes hollowing. So much damn time wasted on this scrawny defective runt and she would get herself murdered, just like that! Any Disassembly drone would’ve found her and swiped her head off clean with one lazy swipe!

Uzi casts her glance downwards, playing with the zipper of her jacket awkwardly to avoid eye contact. “Aha-hah, yeaaah…that, not my proudest survival moment,” she mumbles.

V casts her an ugly glare and without having to speak a single syllable Uzi shrinks further on herself. “Okay! okay! I screwed up that one bad, deathly bad, I admit it… But you have to admit I at least fought well!” 

V facepalms and growls. “You're not supposed to fight me! Fighting is what gets your limbs ripped to shreds, singular in your case, and torn from your still twitching body.” But that growl is quickly replaced with something more sinister. “Ever seen limbless bodies crawl away?...” She waits for an answer, then continues. “I have. Crazy to think how far a single uselessly turning joint can get you.”

“Do you think any of them got away?” the murder bot questions, ceasing the movement of her tail and letting it rest low to the ground.

Uzi doesn't answer that, not verbally but her shoulders do noticeably slump. Finally she shakes her head weakly.

V smiles down at her. “Yeah,” she breathes out.

Uzi chews at the soft synthetic plastic that makes her lower lip nervously. “Any other compliments?” She asks sarcastically, but it's a lot more timid than it is normally.

V sighs, surprisingly her threatening aura seems to soften just a little, “You weren't an obnoxious red smudge on my visor the entire time… and didn’t fall for that old ceiling trick, eh, not completely, that's an improvement,” she huffs.

The Worker Drone was left staring puzzled, she had seen mood swings in her life before, she was a teenager surrounded by dozens of other teenagers for Robo-Christ sake, but how the Disassembler went from rather casual to a death-thirsty, ill-intended bully and back in the matter of a few sentences was beyond her. She wondered whether this was what being a heartless killer came with, unpredictable spikes of malice and need for oilshed, or if this was something else occasionally showing up with the root cause going much deeper than the surface she could see.

“Get up,” V prompts her, for once it doesn't sound like a direct command and that's partially why Uzi finds herself slowly rising to her feet. It's not a steady climb, more like going up an unsteady ladder threatening to topple over at any moment with one arm held close, trying not to hoist the damaged insides under her relatively repaired stomach plating. 

Yellow light reflects off her visor, V is following her movements intently and although she doesn't offer any help, not that Uzi needs it, she does move out of Uzi's way, giving her more space to balance herself upright at her own speed.

Those healing nanites are taking their sweet time. 

When up on her feet, the Worker dusts herself off from the snow sticking to her clothes and adjusts her beanie with care. She's about to speak again when a large blade wing steals the air from her fans. 

With a single swift motion from the pair the Disassembler takes off high into air. 

“Wait! Where—?” By then it's pointless, her words reach nothing but the surrounding buildings, she is gone so fast it's hard to tell which direction she even went.

Uzi stands there for a bit, looking up at the sky… 

Then she kicks snow with her boot, waiting, standing around…

And finally she silently marches off back the direction of the scrap pile.

She crouches down, one foot in the pile shoving off something claiming the gadget as its own and refusing to let go of it, while her hands pull with newfound strength until it all finally lets go, the circuit board in her hand.

She looks it over, then pockets it.

Cool. 

Whatever.

Uzi stands idly in heel-high snow, looking up at the night sky where tethered clouds allow her. The thought of going ‘home’ crosses her mind repeatedly but she cannot will her legs to move. Home isn’t the place she came to associate the word with anymore, although it never was a particularly pleasant destination now– well, solitude does a lot to a drone. Oh, there it is again, that cold pang in her chassis.. and the prickly burning in her optics too. She shakes her head, readjusting her beanie. And the feeling is gone just as quickly as it came. The barren wasteland of ice is quiet again. Just the eerie silence of lightly falling snow and whooshing of wind…

Uzi spins around 180 degrees like a viper and doesn't miss the cloud of snow lifting off just a few feet away from her. Relief immediately floods her jumpstarted circuits like a coolant when instead of a death-bringing X she is met with a pair of perfectly normal drone eyes. 

“V!” she calls out.

“You left this back there,” V gestures nonchalantly to the purple bat-winged backpack she's dangling on one finger like she didn't just burn through her oil reserves to get it. Even now hearing a Worker call out for her by her name feels— weird. It's not a cry of terror or anything akin either and that is— it doesn't feel right, she shifts her stance, suddenly finding herself back on that awkward middle ground she despises so much. She has half a mind to tell the Toaster to quit calling her, especially by her name, but then she'd be undoubtedly flooded with questions she doesn't want to delve into. Not now, not ever if she can help it. So she keeps shut, shaking off that odd feeling that rests on her shoulders.

“I was going to get it,” Uzi deadpans, no way is she leaving days worth of scavenging behind, unless it involves her becoming a corpse for someone else to scavenge from in the process.

“Sure. Your breakneck speed was making my joints freeze over, had to warm them up a bit,” she flexes the joins of her wings, fanning them out a couple of times with audible clangs of metal against metal. 

A cheeky smile catches Uzi off guard. “Think fast!” 

But not as much as the weight of all her precious loot crashing into her arms with such force she barely manages to keep her footing, stumbling for a bit before getting a firm grip on the thing. “Hghh— thanks,” she huffs under the weight. 

V smirks. “Not bad.” 

“I know,” Uzi regains her attitude with her balance. “I have reflexes for days, thank you.” 

V’s wings fold back behind her as she rolls her optics. “More like three minutes and twenty seconds.” 

“Twenty three,” Uzi corrects, lifting her index finger.

“Drop it,” V growls lowly.

“Never!” Uzi stomps her foot.

And she earns a stern genuinely tired look from V.

Uzi clears her throat, switching her pose to a less maniacal one while feeling the awkward silence falling between the two drones again. “Sooooo what do I do— better?” 

Now that was the million dollar question that plagued Uzi's mind as much as it, begrudgingly, plagued V’s. How do you survive your own planned disassembly, or at least, how does one buy more time? Prior to all of this, it was something that never would've crossed V’s mind, she would rarely ever worry about death although it came for her every twelve hours, when the night sky paled in fear of the single blazing star. And what would she do then? She would hide. Easy as that. Find safety in an old building or the mass drone graveyard she called home and recharge peacefully where the fire demon couldn't get her. Workers caught up to that tactic, they hid too, just from their own demons and only came out when Disassemblers couldn't, if ever. That's why everyone in this Workers colony still lived, including her. 

But this freak of a Worker didn't have that luxury anymore, she couldn't hide away and live a lazy, cowardly life in some fortified bunker. She survived by staying under the radar, like a mouse in a mansion. You know it's there, but where? Behind sturdy walls, no hope of ever busting them down. If this all proved anything, it's that no Worker can survive an encounter with V, which is something she’d pride herself in normally, but currently was draining her battery.

Finally V sighed watching the purple haired drone adjust the straps of her backpack firmly on her shoulders. “If you want to live, you gotta be unpredictable. If I can predict your next move, I'll chop your foot off before you make it. Abort the Worker Drone pathfinding.”

Oh right, that shouldn't be hard at all, abort the code programmed into her circuits since manufacture and become some rogue ai, more rogue than Worker Drones already were, sounds just easy enough! “And how am I—”

“Never head straight. Never let your intentions show. And never let anyone know what you are thinking,” V cites the three new ‘never-evers’ to be added to the ever adding list, a couple of new sticky notes to decorate the walls of Uzi's new living compartment. What colors shall these be? She makes a mental note of them for now. They are important, every bit of information is crucial, but currently, they fall flat on their face. “And work on your hiding, seriously, you're making yourself look embarrassing.”

Uzi knits her digital eyebrows together. “Is that all you have?”

V shrugs. “What do you expect? I hunt, I don't cower. Honestly, you should just come for murder tips instead,” she giggles and Uzi can't tell if it sounds playful or threatening. “I'd help you dispose of the body.” 

“What an irresistible offer,” Uzi deadpans, she may know a few drones deserving of an unceremonious end but… there are other, more creative methods that would allow her to keep her hands clean.

V sighs, admittedly she will have to think of something. If she wants this drone to live, which she supposes she does, some things will have to change because this is barely getting them anywhere. Hopefully she can come up with something when she gets back to the Spire for the day. 

Speaking of…

The Murder Drone displays her claws for the final time that night, the razor edges reflect moonlight up to where they sit lodged in the concrete of a nearby decrepit building. The blades slice through the construction like it's made of butter and she makes a swift climb up. How fast? Uzi tries to calculate, but can't manage to, before she begins a stopwatch of her own the drone already sits perched atop, surveying the area. If she had to make an educated guess, it could scale vertical surfaces about as fast as she could cross horizontal ones. So very fast.

V scans around the area, switching through different modes of her optics to detect any organic movement or signs of nearby life. No other heat signals than hers and the purple Worker’s which immediately jumpstarts lines of code in her programming, readying her for action, before she just as quickly shuts them off. Not this one. She reminds it and her code reluctantly obeys. For now.

She eyes the street carefully just to double-check, less worried about Workers eavesdropping on their little conversation and more interested in filling her almost full oil reserves to maximum capacity, but there is no one. 

From the height she spots a little mechanical creature skittering around not far from the Workers legs, but the finger sized keybug isn't worth the drop, even if they make good snacks. “You're leaving,” comes from down below and their optics meet, it's more of a statement than a question.

V cocks her head to the side, her silver bangs sliding off the sides of her visor and partially obstructing her vision. “Obviously.” 

She watches the purple drone’s posture change at her response, one hand holding onto her elbow while her gaze trails off to look at nothing on the ground. Whether it's nervousness from V staring her down like a hawk or just feeling at the damaged arm that's still oozing that sickly sweet scent of oil that won't quit flooding V’s mouth, she can't tell. 

“When can we do this again? Uh, like training to survive my own murder and stuff I mean—” Uzi's voice gets more mumbly as she goes on.

“Meet me at midnight by the old tower crane,” V thumbs down a long narrow street to give a general direction, although a giant crane is pretty impossible to miss, at least while flying above the city. “If I don't show up, don't wait for me.” Last thing she needs is for the Worker to become a sitting duck out in the open.

Uzi lets her hand slide off of her arm. “Alright, noted” She nods resolutely, not sure if the Murder Drone can even see it from that far. “Midnight, by the crane, got it!” With her precious loot secured on her back, Uzi is ready to walk off when the by now too familiar voice stops her dead in her tracks.

“Oh, and, Toaster?” 

Uzi stops, and V eyes her down from the roof, eyes suddenly alight with newfound interest. “How’s Door 2 doing?” They shine so bright they might just burn a hole straight through the Worker.

“Shut, locked, frozen solid, as dull as ever,” Uzi lists drily, then grumbles. “The whole of Outpost 3 is like a fortress, I've checked around the whole perimeter. Unless you have some murder-tech that can bust down the metal walls, there's no way to get in.”

“Hah, yeah, you tell us that,” V waves her hand off. 

Us? Uzi perks up internally. Who is us? Murder drones always operate alone in separate districts, they are programmed to stick to their designated hunting routes and stay far from other Murder Drones for maximum efficiency, aren’t they? Murder Drones will kill rogue Murder Drones that stray from the programming. This very Murder Drone claimed as much… Uzi's digital brows furrow, just a general statement or slip of the tongue? Maybe both. Interesting— add that to the ever piling pile of questions on sticky notes that decorated the walls of her home and mind.

“But—” V continues in a sickly sweet voice, “I am sure a little keybug like you can find a way in, right?” she cocks her head sharply.

“I am working on it,” Uzi replies, not wanting to elaborate on the bitter matter any further. She will find a way back in.

The Murder Drone giggles, for a moment it looks as though she's contemplating something before simply smiling with her fangs on display. “I’ll be watching you.” 

And just as suddenly as she appeared she is gone. With one beat of her giant metal wings.

And that leaves Uzi all alone in the world again. 

She feels the cold creeping to her core, it's a familiar feeling, the internal chill, her system will soon start sending low temperature warnings to get her on the move and avoid her joints freezing over. She sighs, the warm air from her vents creating a small puff of steam in front of her mouth. She spares the now lonely roof one last glance and a small smile tugs at the corners of her mouth.

“I'll be seeing you around too, V.”

[arobotjester]

chapter 5 of my fic DYFM is nearly done, so you know what that means!! out of context meme image based on a moment from the chapter!!

[15depressedducks]

Flowers Can Grow in Concrete C17

Why? Why? Why?WHy?WHy?WHY!WHY!WHYWHYWHYWHYWHY- No, Breath, Your calm, Your stable, Your professional. Don’t pay it any mind! She is just a toy, something that will break soon! They’ll learn to not get attached! 

First it was N. He is the one responsible for this. But that wasn’t unexpected! What was unexpected was V. She got weak, and caved for it. It’s her fault! Not mine! 

Then N decided to fight back! To not listen to me! So I let him go, and then he thinks he can KEEP DOING IT!? THEN V!? Then N thinks he can walk away from me in thE MIDDLE OF A CONVERSATION! THEN HE THREATENED ME AND THEN TO CHOP OFF MY AR- “N! WAKE UP! LET GO!” What’s going on down there? 

J peaked over her nest. Was one not enough?… Oh, no they had the pile of scrap between them, so cuddles, fun.

“N! Please!”

“Ehehehee! But you're the one who did it!”

“No! You were!”

“Well the other ni-” N teased.

“Shut it! Shut it! Shut it! Shut it!” Ugh, she sounds like a child, ironic really. N moved away from her.

“Now, let me think about what we cou-Ghak! Uzi!” The thing had jumped onto V. Heh. Deserved~! She smirked to herself.

“Hehe! I got you mom!” J’s brows furrowed. M-Mom?! Did V encourage this?! No, she didn’t, it looked like she locked up when it said that…

“Come on Z, Leave V alone.” N spoke softly.

“Awh, she never plays with us!” It was sitting on V, arms crossed and pouting.

“Get off me or I’ll leave you in N’s nest.” V said in a gruff voice.

“N will just get me!” It had a smirk on its face.

“Not if I do it when he’s gone~!” she moved her head around.

V made eye contact with J, then displayed ‘TTYL’ on her visor. What in the corporate agreement is she on about? V looked back to her makeshift family.

J frowned her brow. Tired from looking at the happy gross family she crawled back into her nest. She began to move some blankets around till she found a wooden chest made for toys. She opened it up, inside were some fabric and stuffed animals. Small and big, accurate and colorful, old and new.

The fabric that was in there was light blue plaid on a white background, soft mint green with lilac dots on it, and a light orange with a moody pink in the pattern called hound’s tooth.

She had a variety of animals: a dark blue bat that needed to be fixed, a lama with pink wool, a brown wyvern that you could shape and twist, a gray wolf with blue eyes and white patterns, a human-ish black cat sitting down with gray toe beans and green button eyes, a shark with a 6-pack, a blahaj, a penguin that had a rabbit eared hoodie, a black blob that looked like a gingerbread cookie with white circles for eyes, a normal zebra that had rainbow stars on it’s fur, and a light blue whale.

J grabbed the whale and held it tight. Tears formed as she put the chest away. She curled up with the whale and cried quietly.

They are replacing me.

They want me gone.

They think I'm useless.

They should kill me.

They have a replacement already.

They know what to do.

I was too rough.

I was too rude.

I was too heartless.

I was too careless.

I was too self centered.

I was too blind.

No one cares.

No one wants me.

No one is here.

No one is warm.

No one is looking for me.

No one wants me.

Why did I have to come back.

Why did I have to be so rude.

Why did I have to hurt them.

Why did I have to live again.

Why did I have to forget my life.

Why did I have to feel.

I should have died.

I should have stayed in the pile of corpses.

I should have had the elliots kill me.

I should have helped.

I should have been kind.

I should have fought harder.

What’s the point.

What’s the meaning.

What’s the purpose of me.

What’s the end goal.

What’s the way to stop hurting.

What’s the meaning of safety for me.

What’s the life I want.

I’m broken.

I’m unrepairable.

I’m unfixable.

I’m hurt.

I’m hollow.

I’m a shadow.

Something that should be left.

Something that should be broken.

Something that should be hurt.

Something that should be killed.

Something that should be gone.

Something that should be forgotten.

J clenched her teeth, it played like static in her mind. She felt like she was being consumed by a void. She grabbed her tail and stabbed her hand, she barely flinched from the pain. She let her hand decay. It was a weak pain, one she was used to.

It had melted so much to the point she couldn't move her fingers. It left a nice round circle before J popped it in her mouth. Her mind began to wander again.

Heart pulled from her chest slowly, feeling all the pain.

An empty shell.

Deader than the trees.

Deader than the humans.

Deader than the drones she had killed.

She was falling without her wings.

Some days the sun didn't seem half bad.

She could be free.

She could stop living in this hell.

Not forced to be a sheep to the Shepherd.

The Shepherd.

The Shepherd is to blame for this hell.

The Shepherd.

The Shepherd thinks it's a game.

The Shepherd.

The Shepherd slaughters those it dislikes.

The Shepherd.

The Shepherd uses us like toys.

The Shepherd.

The Shepherd.

J cried herself to sleep, thoughts just looping over and over. 

—————

J woke up groggy. Something must have woken me… She shoved the whale under her pillows and she saw V’s claw pulling her up. Oh, right, she wanted to talk.

“What do you want?” J spat out

“Are you ok?” V looked at her with a concerned look. No, don’t break now, stay strong, stay resilient.

“I’m fine,” J said duly.

“You don’t look fine… Your hair is a mess, your clothes are wrinkled, I heard you cry early, so let me ask this again. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” J snapped back, she bared her teeth. “And I wasn’t crying!”

“We both know that I have the best hearing here, so do you want to try that again?”

“I’m Fine.” A low growl emerged from her voice box.

V looked unamused. “Follow me.”

“Why.”

“I said we would talk, now follow, I have stuff to show you.”

J just glared at her, tail flicking around.

“Do it or I’ll carry you like a kid” V firmly told J.

“... Fine…”

“Thank you, now follow.”

V glided down to the bed they had dragged in. J followed suit.

“Sit. I need to grab something.”

J sat on the bed. N was playing with the trash pile. Oh company leadership, what does she want from me. 

J waited for V. Is she going to tell me that I need to leave? That I’m replaced? Of course she will, what else would she want to talk about.

When V came back, she had a box with a handle.

“What’s in there?” J watched the box as it was placed down on the bed, eyeing it as if it would move without supervision on it.

“Just some stuff.” V sat down beside J and began rummaging through the box. She pulled out a hair brush.

“While we talk I'm fixing your hair.”

“I can do that myself thank you very much.”

“No.” V reached for the bow that held her hair in place.

“No! Stop! I can do it!” J swatted her hand away.

“The only reason you haven’t is because you don’t know how to do it.” V pulled the bows out, J’s hair fell down.

“I-I can!”

“If I remember correctly, you always asked for someone else to do it.”

“I-Uh-Fine, you can.”

While V brushed J’s hair they talked.

“So what’s going on?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I know you dislike Uzi, But why?” V talked in a soft tone.

“Because we need to kill her? Why do you like her, hm?” J shot back.

“... I don’t have an answer for you, I don’t even have an answer for myself.”

“Besides, I don’t need to tell you anything.”

“I think it’d help you to talk. I know it’s not the kid, but it’s something.”

“It is the kid, It’s what she means.”

“Then what does she mean to you?”

J snarled “She’s a replacement.”

“How?”

“You guys hate me, it was just a matter of time until you replaced me.” J said coldly.

V was stunned.

“How can you be replaced?”

“She’s a better candidate in your mind, of course you’d pick her over me.”

“Why can’t we have 4 drones? Why does it need to be 3?”

“... She is a replacement. Stop it.”

“You need to stop it!”

“Would she even like me. I've attacked her 3 times, well tried to.”

“She would…” V stopped brushing J’s hair to grab something from her box. She pulled out a piece of folded up paper and handed it to J.

J took the paper and opened it up. It was a drawing with 3 tall drones and a short one. Above them read ‘My FmiLEy’ and below each drone was a name. From left to right it read  ‘moM    mE    dAd    ANT’.

“One of you told her to make this, or N did.”

“No… She made it herself… She considers you a part of her family.” V started to brush again.

“You told her to add me.”

“No, she chose to add you and call you her aunt.”

And that was the stick that broke the camel's back.

The tears fell slowly, but became rapid. She leaned into V, cries becoming soft but audible.

“Oh-Ah, you were holding it all back, huh?”

“Y-Yeah”

V started to pat her back “There there, you're fine, you're safe, I’m right here.”

J sobbed, hard.

“I-I just don’t want t-to be Forgotten…Replaced…Useless…Hurt…Killed. I just want to be helpful, not a disappointment, something that should be thrown away.”

“I promise you won’t” and a wave of calm washed over J. She stopped sobbing as hard. She melted into V, finding comfort in it. She felt drowsy.

“How d-do I know th-that for sure?”

“... You don’t, and there is no real way to prove it, but, you just have to trust…”

“But I don’t want to misplace my trust…” Not again…

“Sometimes, we have to take leaps of faith, if we don’t then, we’d be stuck.”

“Yea…”

“I think a way you could express your worries could be through poetry…”

“I'll consider it…”

V comforted J for sometime. J was lightly sleeping on her when she felt something grab her leg.

“Don’t kick, just look…” V whispered.

J opened her eyes, the thi-Uzi, Uzi had grabbed her leg and was smiling up at her.

“H-Hello?” Her voice was sore from crying. “W-What are you doing?” J looked at her quizzically.

“Hugging you! You looked like you needed one.” Her smile was so large and happy.

J’s expression softened. She is putting all her trust in me to not hurt her. 

Did she misplace her trust?

Did she worry about being replaced?

Did she block off all connections to her family?

Did she harm herself?

Did she hurt others?

Did she do anything I did to myself?

Did she do anything that I did to them?

No.

No she didn’t.

No she won’t.

So I’ll try to learn from her.

So I’ll try to play with her.

So I’ll try to be close.

So I’ll try to forget my worries.

So I’ll try to forgive them.

So I’ll try to care for them too.

So I’ll try to be better.

Just like her.

“Y-Yea,”

“I think I do…”

[igotthis-egg]

“First meeting”

This is my vampire au’s equivalent of Uzi first coming across N and having to fight for her life! In my Au, Uzi does not accidentally encounter him, but rather hunts him purposefully in order to prove that vampires can die—and things backfire. How do they come to be on good terms? Guess you have to find out :) stay tuned! I’m drawing a lot of content for this au and I am currently working on a written fic!

[dodgeballstuckonthegymceiling]

can you do a V x a feral murder drone reader?

thanks =]

V x feral murder drone reader

★ She thinks you're really fun to be around! Especially when you were still slaughtering worker drones in the night. if you had nothing better to do, she and you would play-fight to waste time! it usually ends with some dethatched limbs, but that's part of the fun!

★ Your personality is that of a half-tamed alley cat. You have a hard time trusting any new people and the ones you do trust stay around and look after you because they care.

★ Always encourages your unrestrained nature. Even if it makes N feel uneasy. what do you mean "that's going a little too far?" If you want something to sink your teeth into, she thinks you should. who is he tell you what to do?

★ The one thing she doesn't like about you is that you can be hard to reason with. Just downright stubborn. Even when it's something small, like changing your mangled jacket. You fight tooth and nail to keep the old one on when it doesn't need to be so hard.

★ You have an "act now think later" approach when it comes to doing things. She's had to bail you out of a lot of bad situations you've gotten yourself into. You haven't died yet, so you must be doing something right.

★ Inside the colony, she treats you like a lap dog. A very dangerous, sporadic and socially clueless lap dog. The worker drones all find you weird, more than Uzi, she at least understood social cues.

★ You stick around and keep her while trying to look menacing but that's about it. You never stay too long though. The outside will always be where you belong. There's too many people in the colony. it makes you nervous.

[durgodraws]

Maternal instinct (start of a new AU!)

Me and u/Sufficient_Plant8689 on reddit are working on a fic! We will be posting it chapter by chapter on reddit and Ao3 (I'll post the Ao3 links here)

The premise is V finds a worker in an abandoned warehouse. He requests she takes him back to the colony to be with fellow workers. She does, under the assumption that a nice worker family will adopt him and he'll be out of her hands... right?

[abandonedpost]

My Highest Worldly Bliss: Chapter Two

Pining, a lil’ bit of backstory, and some mandatory filler for pacing purposes later on 🫶🏼

Tw: Minor cursing

——

002 was heaving as she raced back to her holding cell. What on Copper-9 was she thinking?! Talking… to a worker drone?! If the Doctors ever found out about this, she’d never live to see another day.

But, the strange man with the white eyes confused her in a wonderful way. His concern seemed… genuine. Almost as if he wasn’t afraid of her. The thought engulfed her in the same fuzzy feeling that seeing his face for the first time did. She felt her core skip a cycle and the blush momentarily return.

“Snap out of it, Nori!” She whisper-yelled, using her real name now, not the number the humans had mandated for her. As she approached the holding cell she shared with 048, she breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door.

“[And where might you have been?]” The Russian drone was right in front of Nori’s face as she opened the door, looking unamused.

Nori jumped, “Oh my frickin’ god, Yeva! Warn a bitch before you jump-scare her! Nearly gave me a core attack!”

“[You’ve dealt with worse. Now tell me, where were you? You were supposed to be back 30 minutes ago.]”

“I got… held up in the chamber. Passed out after treatment.” She tried to make it sound as convincing as possible, but if anyone could see through her, it was her best friend.

“[You are a terrible liar,]” the taller woman scoffed, “[fine, don’t tell me.]” Yeva turned back around and walked toward her bed, brow raised in anticipation.

“Ugh, it was noth- it’s stupid, okay! Just some… dumb architect guy from the surface.”

“[Uh-huh,]” 048 said with a grin.

——

“You there, boy! What are you doing?” A low-pitched voice rang through the hallway, momentarily distracting Khan from the empty feeling in his core. The pretty lady was gone…

He turned around to tell the human what had happened, “Uh, I finished surveying the damage. As you can see it’s very minor,” he pointed up at the, now fixed, ceiling, “but there’s damaged wiring behind that wall. So I’ll need to come back soon.”

The drone nervously watched the human’s expression, waiting for them to notice his lie and send him to the dump for it.

“Ugh, fine, fine.” The person scoffed, “Just go back up to the lobby. They’ll have to send the mines another request to loan you for the day. Otherwise you won’t get clearance to come in.”

“That’s fine! I best be on my way, good day to you!” Khan quickly disappeared down the hall, a hopeful feeling in his chest. Maybe he’d see her again after all.

——

For the next, god knows how many, days, Nori’s processor actually… calmed down. She couldn’t pinpoint why, but she wasn’t complaining. It was rare for her mind not to show her visions of inescapable doom.

“002, report to the interview room. I repeat: 002, report to the interview room,” came a Doctor over the lab audio speaker

“Ughhhh,” Nori groaned as she pushed herself up on her bed, “screw you!”

Yeva turned and laughed, “[Seems like someone’s in trouble.]” she teased, “[Don’t suppose it had to do with some ‘dumb architect guy from the surface’?]”

“Y’know what? Screw you too, 048,” The violet-haired spitfire replied curtly, “It’s probably because of the scene I caused, storming out and all. That guy has nothing to do with it.”

“[Whatever you say, best friend.]”

Nori mentally cursed Yeva. She’d gone through all the trouble to convince the Doctors not to change her room number, and this is what she got in return.

It was embarrassing, but she couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s incessant teasing.

“Out I go. See ya soon, jerk.”

——

A week had passed, and Khan had yet to be contracted to go back to the Cabin Fever Labs. He grabbed his clipboard every day, flipping through the pages in hopes of finding it as his assignment. And every day, he was disappointed.

The man was miserable. But he didn’t feel it was justified.

“C’mon you big idiot,” he muttered to himself one morning when he woke up, “it was just some random girl. You barely even spoke.”

Khan swung his legs out of bed, and found his task for the day. He silently hoped it was good news, and then scolded himself for being so stupid.

“Great, office work, again.”

——

Nori sat before an array of pictures. One of two Doctors in the room came and cuffed her hands behind her. She resisted, trying to use the symbol to get him away from her, until the other stuck a magnet on her head to sedate her.

“No more… incidents.”

“Bite me! What do you asses want anyway?!”

“No need to get so feisty. It’s only inkblot testing today.”

That surprised her. Just inkblot testing? After all that? She calmed down momentarily, before her tranquility was replaced by an awful, gnawing gut feeling.

“O-okay,” she said with uncertainty, “let’s get this over with then, I guess.”

The first image was laid in front of her, “We want you to tell us the first word that comes to mind when you see each photo in the lineup.”


It looked like the symbol that her processor always showed her; the same one that appeared in her hand at will.

“Control.” She replied so quickly it scared her.

“Next.” One of the voices said. This time, it reminded her of one of the demons from her visions. A tall frame, pinched at the waist, wings that broke out of its back and stretched far into the sky, and a tail filled with some kind of fluid that seemed to glisten, even though the picture was in black-and-white.

“Doom.” Another immediate reaction.

The third one stumped her. For a moment, it looked like… her? No, not her. To the untrained eye, it may have seemed as such, but it wasn’t. Not quite.

“Shorter. No dress? Boots and leg warmers.” She mentally recited as she observed.

They looked like they had on a beanie… and were holding a gun?

And then Nori became 002 again as the visions flooded her processor.

——

“God forbid.” Khan muttered to himself as he perused the day’s paperwork. His office was a cluttered mess. He was a cluttered mess. Papers with scribbles and illegible writing were strewn on shelves, the floor, and connected to each other on the walls with red tweed.

All he wanted was to do something extraordinary. Something meaningful. He’d spent months trying to narrow his ideas down to a single project, but nothing spoke to him. And it wasn’t like the humans ever gave him a day off so he could actually think.

Plus, a certain someone had been occupying his mind lately.

She was all he could think about and he didn’t understand why. It wasn’t as if he was a monk, having never seen a woman before. He’d worked with much of the fairer sex in a professional capacity, so why was she any different?

His thoughts were interrupted by one of his superiors barging in.

“Khan,” they said, panting, “they need you back at Cabin Fever. Now.”

[rory-multifandom-mess]

Cold, cold, cold. My foot steps slow, dragging in the snow. I can't remember how long I've been walking, Holding my arms and biting my tongue. Cold, cold, cold. Everything is wrong, Why am I here? Cold, cold, cold. They'll come back for me. They have to. Alone, alone, alone. Can't think, can hardly breathe. My metal creaks beneath my chest. Is this where it ends? Alone, alone, alone. System failure, inevitable end. Is it too late to be saved? Alone, alone, alone. They aren't coming back for me, are they. -------

I like doing teasers for stuff, since it keeps the hype going. So expect little teasers for Frostbite in the Lair of the Solver like this to be semi-frequent :3