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raw-lesbian-energy · 3 days ago

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The Promening

Summary: Prom arrives and everything goes wrong.

Fandom: Murder Drones (The Explorer Drone AU)

Pairing: Sera-V, mild Nuzi

Features: Self-Insert Character

Word Count: 7,058

Warnings: Mild cursing, murder, dismembered body parts, violence, brief cannibalism

A/N: Sentences between “{ }” brackets are in Russian (so whenever Doll is speaking lol)

—————————————————————

It had been three weeks since the incident with the eldritch snake-crab that had been J, and Uzi was still as gloomy as ever. At first, she had just been upset about N, but now prom was coming up, and the teen wanted to do anything but attend it.

She already knew her dad wouldn’t let her skip, even though she had made her hatred for the event clear. She refused to look at any dresses, avoided anyone on the committee, and tuned out any talk of the event. No one was going to ask her to go anyways; Thad would’ve been the only possibility, but he already had a date.

She was drawn from her angsty thoughts as her internal clock reminded her of the time, making her realize she was going to be late for school. As much as she wanted to just stay home, she knew her dad wouldn’t tolerate it, especially since she had missed a lot already from her time at the spire with N. The thought of him made her gaze wander up to the ceiling covered in papers, her eyes focusing on one particular sketch among them. It was a very badly drawn sketch of her and N, but Uzi could still tell effort had gone into it, which made guilt churn in her core. This guilt made itself heard as she let out a long groan, already sure this would be a very long day.

——————

Seraph idly tapped her pen against her cheek, her brows furrowed as she got lost in her own head. A lot of things had occurred over the week since she had talked to V, but what had most of her attention was the fact students had suddenly started going missing.

Of course her first instinct was to ask V, but she could tell the murder drone hadn’t been responsible, and N didn’t seem vicious enough to do it by himself. She decided to turn to the school’s security footage instead, but all cameras at the crime scenes had been scrambled, which left her with nothing to work with.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a frustrated groan, drawing her gaze over to where Uzi was sitting. The purple-haired drone was crumpling up a piece of paper, tossing it haphazardly at the recycling bin before grabbing for a new piece. Only after a few moments did she crumple that one as well, and Seraph noticed her pile of paper was quickly growing smaller. A frown crossed the teacher’s face at the sight, and she quietly got up from her desk, grabbing some more papers and walking over to her. She reached Uzi’s desk just as she was crumpling her last piece, her shadow drawing her attention up.

[You okay?] The text blipped onto Seraph’s visor, helping to avoid drawing the other student’s attention. Uzi’s scowl only deepened in response, her gaze turning away as she grumbled something the teacher couldn’t hear. Seraph decided not to push further, instead silently setting the papers down and retreating back to her desk. She could feel Uzi watching as she moved, only sparing her one last glance before sitting down and returning to her own work.

After what felt like forever, the final bell rang and the students quickly got up to clear out. Seraph calmly watched them go from her desk, though she kept her focus mostly on Uzi. The purple-haired drone had haphazardly thrown her papers between the pages of her notebook, trudging out of class with her head hanging low. The explorer drone made no movements to follow, instead focusing on cleaning up her own space first before stepping out of the classroom.

“Maybe I should have a talk with Khan about her…” she thought, turning to head back to her unit. As she began the walk, however, a psychotic-sounding laugh suddenly reached her audio receptors and she stopped, turning around to see Uzi pulling the missing persons flyers off the bulletin board down the hall. She promptly skipped away with them, still laughing, abandoning her books and backpack in the middle of the floor as she left.

“…Okay, yeah, that talk needs to happen now.” Seraph determined, quickly moving to grab Uzi’s discarded stuff. A few of the pages came loose as she picked up the teen’s books, revealing them to be covered in the strange symbol Seraph had seen on Uzi’s first project. She had no idea what the symbol meant, but she chose not to dwell on it as she finished packing Uzi’s things and headed for the Doorman unit.

She made a quick stop at her own unit to put away her belongings, but just as she re-emerged, she saw Lizzy and Doll walking away with an annoyed Uzi in tow. The sight alone made her both confused and concerned, and as soon as the three were out of earshot, she promptly went to the Doorman unit for answers.

Knock knock knock!

There was a few seconds of silence before the door slid open, and Seraph was greeted by a cheerful-looking Khan gazing up at her in surprise.

“Seraph!” He exclaimed, his chipper tone matching his expression. “I wasn’t expecting you. What can I do for you?” Seraph’s expression flashed with concern, but she promptly corrected to a more calm face.

“I’m here because I need to return Uzi’s belongings.” She stated, holding out Uzi’s bag. Khan’s eyebrows raised, and after a moment, he took the bag back from the brunette.

“Oh, thank you.” He said, though hesitation flashed across his screen. “Did she, uh, forget it in your class?”

“Actually, she left it out in the hall.” Seraph admitted, her concern showing more clearly now. “She had… abandoned it, to take the missing persons posters off of the bulletin board.” Khan’s brow furrowed at her words, his grip on the bag tightening somewhat. The action caused a stir of guilt in Seraph’s systems, and she let out a small sigh.

“Mr. Doorman,” she started again, “I feel like you and I need to have a talk about Uzi.” Khan met her gaze with a quizzical look, though Seraph could see the underlying worry in it.

“What about her?” He asked.

“Well,” Seraph took a breath, “Her behaviour compared to the other students is… concerning. She’s kept isolated, her classmates don’t treat her well, and if I try to ask, I’m met with very short and cold responses. All in all, I’m worried about her.” Khan blinked, and the same flash of worry passed over his expression, but he kept neutral.

“I see.” He replied. “Well, I did talk to her other teacher, and two of her classmates will be taking her to prom tonight. That should help her be more social!” He gained a hopeful smile as he spoke, while Seraph’s expression gained an edge of disbelief.

“You mean Lizzy and Doll?” She blurted. “They’re the two that bully Uzi the most.” Khan’s smile dropped at her response, and Seraph felt her guilt double almost immediately.

“Mr. Door-… Khan,” she tried, taking a gentler tone, “I want to help Uzi, and I’m sure you do too. But forcing her into things, and worse forcing her with people she does not get along with, is only going to hurt her.” Khan’s expression flickered with regret at her words, but he managed to steel himself, meeting her gaze once again.

“Well, if that’s the case, how about you come help chaperone the dance tonight?” He suggested. “That way we can both keep an eye on Uzi and make sure she has a good time! She honestly could use some better role models too…” his voice wound up trailing at the end, but his words made Seraph’s expression soften a bit.

“Well, I’ve been assigned as a chaperone anyway.” She admitted. “I just need to get my outfit on, but I’ll meet you there.” Khan perked up in response, and the gleam of hope on his screen helped ease Seraph’s guilt a bit.

“Sure, sounds good!” Khan said, sounding more excited. “I’ll see you there, then!” Seraph nodded and waved as she left, heading back to her own unit next door. Her outfit was already laid out on her bed, and she took a moment to look it over before taking her day clothes off to put it on. It slipped on her easily, and as she looked into the mirror to adjust her top hat, she couldn’t help but feel a small tug in her processors.

“I wish V could’ve come…”

Seraph froze, eyes hollow as she stared at her reflection. She quickly shook her head to clear the thought, as well as stop any others like it from forming.

“Come on Seraph, you know better than that.” She muttered. “V can’t come because she would cause a school-wide panic. The students’ safety comes first.” She glanced back at the mirror again, taking a breath to clear the small blush on her screen before fixing her hat one last time. Feeling as ready as she could be, she headed out of her unit, turning down the hall to head back to the school.

——————

Meanwhile, back at the pod, V was growing increasingly annoyed at N. His sulking had reached a whole new level, and it was taking all her willpower not to jump from her chair and chop his head off. But she still had him believing she was chained down, so she kept herself seated.

Her new plan was to have him to free her, and with Seraph having told her about the prom, she saw a perfect opportunity. Given his inability to catch enough to eat, she hoped that he might just be desperate enough to go along with it.

First step was to have him get them nice outfits, which he had done with surprising efficiency. A full black three-piece suit for himself, and a lovely strapless red dress for her. She had to admit, he had an eye for fashion. Now all she had to do was convince him.

“We can’t interact with the workers anymore, V.” N told her. “We’re too dangerous.”

The response made her eye glitch. She had hoped he would’ve been more compliant, but she wasn’t giving up easily.

“Uh, exactly.” She replied. “We show up, fabulous, the sad purple one lets us in- cause she has no friends- we kill everyone and pop her little head off.” She kept a casual and proud tone as she spoke, but N still remained unconvinced.

“I’m not freeing you for prom murder, V!” He argued, growing louder as he spoke. “J went holo-spooky snake crab, and we maybe grew up in a haunted mansion!” He stepped closer, grabbing the back of her chair and getting much too into her personal space for her liking.

“Aren’t you worried we have no idea what we even are?!” He near shouted. She was quick to shove him away, her chair spinning in the process and leaving her with her back facing him. The pod fell silent for a moment, and V felt an expression of worry cross her screen, her gaze shifting to the broken mirror on the wall. She remembered how it shattered when Uzi looked into it, how that cursed symbol had flashed on the worker’s screen and vanished again.

“Promise me you and that purple thing will stop prying into that stuff.” V spoke at last, her voice softer now. N didn’t reply, and through the fragments of the mirror, she could see a concerned look etched on his screen.

“If you free me now,” she tried instead, turning her chair back to face him, “I promise we’ll only kill what we need to survive. Just you and me, N.” N’s gaze flickered over to the key on the console, but he made no move for it, instead looking back at her.

“…What about Uzi?” He asked. V’s expression quickly shifted to annoyance.

“She’s a worker, N.” She replied, her tone growing stern. “We can’t bring her along.”

“And what about Seraph?”

V froze, her eyes turning hollow as a shot of panic rushed through her systems. N was looking right at her, his expression showing nothing but sadness and hurt.

“I heard you two talking the other day.” He spoke again. “Were you planning to leave her here too?” V hesitated, her gaze flicking away for a moment before she steeled herself.

“She doesn’t matter to me.” She lied, folding her arms. N’s saddened look deepened, though it now held an edge of sympathy.

“Are you sure?” He asked. V glared at him coldly.

“Yes, I’m sure.” She spat. Despite her harsh tone, N could see she wasn’t telling the whole truth. It wasn’t the usual anger he saw from her, her shifting gaze and tightly folded arms making her seem almost afraid.

“V…” he hesitated, trying to find his words, “…if you’re hiding something, we can figure it out together.” There was a somewhat hopeful tone in his voice, and V’s stern expression cracked slightly. A brief flicker of panic went across her screen, though N didn’t seem to notice.

“Even if we each only have pieces,” he continued, “please, what do you kno-”

His sentence was cut short as V swung her sword, slicing his head clean from his shoulders. His body stumbled and collapsed against the wall of the pod, and V stood before him, a mix of sadness and guilt on her screen.

“What’s best for you.” She replied. “Even if you hate me for it.” She gave him a quick salute in an attempt of respect, then grabbed the red dress and flew out of the pod hatch to head for the bunker. She knew N would be angry when he woke up, but she couldn’t let him stop her. This had to be done, one way or another.

——————

“Any sign of her yet?”

Khan and Seraph stood by the wall of the gym, looking out into the crowd of drones. Prom was in full swing, with many people chatting and dancing, but neither chaperone had seen Uzi yet.

“Nope, still no sign of her.” Seraph answered Khan, managing to keep her voice steady. Khan frowned, his gaze turning to the clock on the wall to check the time again. Seraph felt a pang of sympathy as she watched him, already having a feeling Uzi was skipping but not having the heart to say so.

“Hey, I’m sure she’s fine.” She tried reassuring him. “Maybe her dress tore and she’s just looking for a way to fix it.” Khan looked up at her, managing a small smile in thanks for her efforts, but all attention was quickly drawn as a spotlight was activated and Lizzy walked out on stage. The sight of her alone made Seraph’s concern for Uzi increase, but she kept quiet as Lizzy stepped up to the mic and grabbed it.

“Okay, listen up, nerds.” She spoke, her voice carrying through the gym speakers. “We’re doing this a little early, but since the entire prom court mysteriously disappeared, your queen by forfeit is, uh… this.” As soon as the words left her mouth, a figure landed behind her on stage, kicking up a small cloud of dust. Their body was obscured in the shadows, but there was no mistaking the haunting glow of their bright yellow LEDs.

Panic swept over the crowd, and Seraph felt time stop. The frantic cries of the students were muffled to her as she stared up at V, in a strapless red dress, poised and ready to kill. She only briefly looked away to see Khan, who also had a terrified expression, his body frozen as he watched the scene onstage.

“Easy, judgy-bots.” Lizzy’s voice cut over the crowd, drawing Seraph’s attention. “V’s my friend. She’s done with the murder or whatever, we’ve been hanging!” As she spoke, a projector screen rolled down from the ceiling, the projector displaying various photos and selfies of V and Lizzy. Seraph looked up at each of them as they flashed by, feeling a storm of emotions flood her processors. She still couldn’t bring herself to move either, watching as V walked up to the front of the stage.

“Yes, best friends.” She said, her voice carrying that same sadistic tone Seraph heard when they first met. “So easily manipulated~” Her psychotic laugh soon echoed through the gym, her claws switching out for guns when she suddenly froze.

“Prom queen?” She blurted. Everyone in the gym fell silent, and Lizzy managed an awkward smile in response. Another girl then stepped on stage with a crown, causing V’s expression to twist with embarrassment. Seraph felt her thoughts and emotions stop short, the realization that V was being crowned prom queen rendering her completely confused. Lizzy, however, was quick to regain composure, taking advantage of the silence.

“So, forgive and forget, or I’ll get my dad to dock your frickin’ grades!” She snapped. “And you can’t sit with us, Rebecca!” The blonde pointed into the crowd, the spotlight falling on another drone with blue hair and purple bangs. She was momentarily stunned by the sudden attention, but her expression soon turned angry.

“Fine, I forgive her!” She snapped back, folding her arms. “Settle.” This response prompted many of the other drones to relax, murmuring their agreements and even applauding for V.

“Clap harder, losers!” Lizzy shouted. The crowd quickly erupted with applause, cheering and chanting for V to give a speech. This was enough to snap Seraph out of her shock, and she soon started to move, weaving through the students to try and get to the stage.

V, who was still recovering from the awkward situation and the crown being placed on her head, was quick to notice Seraph in the crowd. Her core stuttered for a moment at the sight of her, guilt rushing her processors as she saw her expression. She retracted her wings and claws without thinking, a flash of fear for how she looked making her move to the front of the stage.

CRASH!

Everyone froze as the roof of the gym suddenly caved, with N and Uzi landing a few feet behind the crowd of students.

“Unhand them, you fieeee… eend?” Uzi’s bold tone soon turned uncertain as she stared at the crowd. “I’m confused.” Seraph also found herself confused, but in the moment of looking back, she noticed a flash of red out of the corner of her vision. She turned to see Doll standing there with a murderous grin, her hand poised strangely, and the symbol that the teacher had seen on Uzi’s drawings was glowing at her fingertips. Doll pointed her hand right at V, and that was all it took for Seraph to know that something horrible was about to happen.

“On second thought, you’re way hotter than Doll.” Lizzy suddenly blurted, panicking. “Run, idiot!” V hardly had time to process the words before Doll closed her hand into a fist, a wave of energy rushing through the crowd at the disassembler. Metal bars shot out from underneath the stage, two piercing through V’s arms and another through her left leg.

At this, panic ensued.

Drones began screaming and running, scrambling in every direction to escape the new threat. The gym doors locked, trapping everyone inside. V struggled to escape the bars, sounds becoming muffled as panic took hold. Lizzy was tossed like she was nothing. The other drone’s neck was snapped, her body crushed into oil. Everything was happening so fast, and she was helpless to stop it.

“{Hello, V.}”

The voice cut through the fog like a blade, and V’s gaze snapped forward to see the worker responsible. Doll glared at her with nothing but hatred, and before V could speak, a wave of pain overtook her as memories from someone else were forced into her vision. A small droneling hiding in a cabinet, watching as V herself caught and killed two adult drones, laughing maniacally. The memories vanished as quickly as they came, but it was all V needed to realize why this drone was out to kill her.

“{Anyway, you get it.}” Doll said, her right eye glitching from normal back into the symbol. Another metal bar stabbed through V’s stomach, causing her to choke as oil spurt from her lips. Seraph’s eyes hollowed at the sight, and without even thinking, she rushed forward and grabbed at Doll’s arm.

“Doll, that’s enough!” She tried, though her voice was far more panicked than she wanted it to be. “Please, this won’t solve anything!” The symbol disappeared as Doll focused her attention on the taller drone, her expression looking scarily bored.

“{Seraph. The one teacher to actually care.}” She said, her calm voice even scarier. “{This is not something that concerns you. Please, do not interfere.}” Before she could respond, Doll’s hand once again lit up with that symbol, and Seraph felt an invisible force grip around her waist. With shocking strength, the brunette was thrown backwards, slamming into the gym wall with a choked cry. The sound of groaning metal followed, and by the time Seraph could focus again, she had been pinned against the wall by twisted metal beams.

Horror flooded V’s systems at the sight, but it was instantly replaced by rage. With a growl, she wrenched her right arm free, switching her hand for a gun and firing right at Doll. The navy-haired drone hardly blinked. Her eye flickered, the bullets bouncing off a force field. With a flourish of her hand, a large kitchen knife appeared, launching forward and slicing V’s free arm clean off. V gasped in pain as her arm went flying, everyone else watching from the sidelines in horror, including Uzi and N.

“Holy crap, what is she doing?” Uzi blurted, turning to N.

“This isn’t what I expected at all!” N replied frantically. There was a beat of hesitance afterwards, but he spoke again, “I guess we should, uh….” he trailed off, but his intention was easy to read. Uzi let out a groan in response, but didn’t argue. Meanwhile, Doll had used her powers to tear down a ceiling fan, altering the blades to become jagged and sharper. With a flick of her wrist, the fan shot off, flying straight for V’s head.

V felt time slow as she watched the blade rush at her, her gaze turning away for only a second to see a pair of panicked violet eyes on the wall, watching helplessly.

“Seraph…” the name sent a wave of fear through her systems, “…if I die here, what happens to-?”

She couldn’t finish the thought as there was a sudden flash of motion, and N kicked the deadly fan off course. It wound up embedded in the ceiling behind them, and Uzi leapt out from behind V, kicking the knife from earlier right back at Doll. The red-eyed drone deflected it easily, and after a second, the symbol from her eye appeared on the locked gym door. The trapped students were quick to realize and rushed out, shoving Khan along with them as they made their escape. The older drone didn’t run though, instead watching the stage from the hall with a worried expression.

“{Uzi, you would really side with the Murder Drones?}” Doll spoke, a tone of betrayal in her voice. “{I’m not the only one who’s lost family to them.}” This statement caught both N and V by surprise, their focus quickly shifting over to Uzi.

“Bite me!” Uzi shot back. “Whoever started this wants us to fight! I’m not dealing with anything well, but…” she hesitated, her voice softening, “…I’m done dealing with everything alone.” Her gaze turned over to N, a small smile crossing her face as she met his eyes. N returned the smile, still looking mildly concerned, while V’s gaze once again flickered to the blip of purple light in the shadows against the gym wall.

“We move forward together, or not at all.” Uzi’s voice drew V’s attention again, a frown on her face as she looked over at the purple-haired drone. Doll, however, looked unamused.

“{Cute,}” she said, her tone soon turning annoyed, “{but I don’t need help.}” Her eye once again switched back to what Uzi recognized as the Solver symbol, and another metal beam erupted from the stage, stabbing through N’s leg. Using the opportunity, Doll tore two more ceiling fans down, launching them forward at high speeds. In a split second, Uzi was shoved aside, saving her as the blades sliced N and V to pieces.

“NO!” Seraph’s sudden scream was heard over the music, drawing Doll’s attention to her. The two drones made eye contact, and Doll’s cold stare caused Seraph’s core to freeze in pure terror. Doll reached into a back pocket in her dress and pulled out another knife, the older drone unable to look away as she raised it up…

…and was thrown off as a chair raced by her head.

Doll quickly turned her gaze, now glaring at Uzi from across the gym. The red-eyed drone took the opportunity to lock the gym doors again, ultimately locking Khan out of the gym as well. Seraph was hit with a flood of emotions as she looked down on the scene, feeling relief at not dying but concern for Uzi and fear for V. She couldn’t see either of the disassemblers now, just the pipes from earlier and a splatter of oil leading backstage.

Uzi, meanwhile, stood completely open in the centre of the gym, and Doll’s knife was now pointed at her. She had nothing within reach to defend herself, having already thrown the nearest chair, so when the knife was thrown right at her, she reacted on instinct. She held out one hand and winced as the blade pierced it, but was quick to recover, pulling it out and approaching Doll. Doll’s expression briefly flashed with surprise at Uzi’s move, but she didn’t let it stop her, readying her solver to use on Uzi directly.

--// ERROR: absoluteSolver_trn [like object non-interactive]

The note on her screen made Doll freeze, panic appearing on her face before she turned angry and pulled a third knife. She once again threw it at Uzi, but this time, Uzi merely deflected it and kept walking. Doll couldn’t mask her panic anymore, slowly backing away as she realized this fight had just gotten a lot more complicated.

Meanwhile, hidden behind the curtains backstage, N and V were working to piece themselves back together again. A severed arm slowly crawled towards them, prompting N to pick it up and look it over.

“Is this-?”

“Mine!” V snatched it from him before he could finish, holding the arm in her teeth. An angry scowl donned her screen, and N felt a mix of frustration and sympathy.

“Ew.”

Both drones looked up at the sudden voice, seeing Lizzy standing nearby. She was surprisingly unhurt despite having been thrown, and a mildly disgusted look sat on her screen.

“You look like garbage.” She told them.

“You freakin’ traitor!” V spat, her voice muffled by the arm still held in her teeth. Lizzy gave her an annoyed look, snatching the arm from her mouth.

“As if you weren’t using me to try and kill everyone, Ms. Petty.” She retorted, her gaze turning to the severed arm. “Where does this freaking go?” V held an angered glare, while N attempted to be friendly.

“Thank you, Lizzy!” He chirped.

“Shut up, loser.” Lizzy and V replied in sync. N quickly slumped back against the wall, silently hoping Uzi was at least doing okay.

From up on the wall, Seraph watched the fight anxiously, her eyes darting between Doll and Uzi. A stray knife stabbed into the light controls, causing the gym to become lit up in flashing rainbow colours. Doll grabbed the knife with her solver and threw it. Uzi flipped to dodge it. She landed back on stage, stopping the knife with her boot and kicking a microphone stand at Doll. Doll caught it with her solver, holding it before launching it back at Uzi and pinning her down.

“Crap!” Seraph managed to keep herself from shouting this time, but her panic had increased tenfold. Doll was duplicating knives now, and had several of them all pointed at Uzi still stuck to the floor. Seraph struggled hard, but the metal beams refused to budge, so she came up with a desperate plan and tried to copy the hand symbol Doll was doing.

“Maybe it’s an underlying code…” she flicked her hand as much as she could, but there was no glow, and no moving of metal to be heard. She quickly gave up, knowing it was no use, leaving her to watch helplessly as Doll went for the kill. Just as the knives were about to hit, a blur shot in front and the knives ricocheted off of N’s outstretched wing. Seraph’s eyes widened in shock, since the last she saw him Doll had dismembered him.

“Quit saving me!” The brunette could hear Uzi’s shout even from where she was, watching as N helped her to her feet before suddenly twirling her. Their movements quickly became a mix of a dance and an attack, moving together to counter against Doll and blasting her back with an explosion. The force shook the room and Seraph, a cloud of smoke briefly blocking her view as the fight below continued on. She could hear the sound of things being thrown, but it wasn’t until the smoke cleared that she saw Uzi kick Doll square in the face.

Doll was sent sprawling from the hit, the lights finally settling back to normal as Uzi landed and readied for another attack. Doll didn’t stay down long, getting back on her feet and readying her hand, pointing the solver symbol at Uzi once more.

BANG!

The shot echoed through the gym as Doll suddenly staggered, oil spraying from a large crack in her screen. Her eyes flickered before she collapsed, and behind her stood V, her right hand swapped for a gun and a piercing glare on her screen. Uzi, who had flinched from the shot, quickly met V’s gaze with a glare of her own.

“V! We-” Uzi hardly got to speak as V suddenly turned, unfurling her wings and flying up to the side wall. Seraph flinched at V’s sudden approach, eyes wide in surprise as the disassembler swapped her hand for a tool she didn’t recognize.

“Hold still.” Was all V said, and Seraph tensed as a loud hum started from the device and a yellow laser shot out. It sliced through the metal beams like they were nothing, soon falling away and freeing Seraph from their hold. The explorer didn’t even have time to fall as V grabbed her, holding her with a gentleness Seraph did not expect and flying her back down to the gym floor.

“I-I, uh… thanks.” She managed, before letting out a yelp as V smacked her upside the head.

“Don’t ever do something that stupid again.” She scolded. “She could’ve killed you!”

“Wh- me?!” Seraph exclaimed in a mix of surprise and offence. “I thought she had killed you! I saw you and N get sliced to pieces right on stage!”

“Please, I’ve survived worse.” V folded her arms, brushing off Seraph’s concern. “You, on the other hand-”

“A-hem!”

Both drones stopped arguing at the sound, turning to see Uzi and N staring at them. Uzi looked very annoyed while N looked surprised, and the realization that they’d heard everything made both Seraph and V look away.

“As I was saying,” Uzi continued, clearly frustrated, “we needed Doll alive for answers, V!”

“What?” V replied in annoyance. “She’s fine! Ah…” her expression changed as she looked down at Doll, seeing her lying still in a large puddle of oil.

“A little tuckered out…” V muttered, now mildly embarrassed. Seraph couldn’t take her eyes off Doll’s body, a mix of horror and sympathy swirling in her processors.

“V did that on purpose!” N suddenly exclaimed, snapping Seraph from her daze. “She’s hiding mystery stuff and being overdramatic about it!” V’s expression immediately turned angry.

“N, you suck!” She snapped.

“Both of you, shut it!” Uzi shouted, drawing all eyes to her. She glared the disassemblers down before her her gaze turned to an object on the floor. She knelt down to pick it up, finding it was Doll’s bracelet with a strange tag and a unit key attached.

“Lucky for you, we’re not done yet.” She spoke again, standing and holding up the bracelet. Seraph felt her concern rise, glancing over at Doll’s body, but chose to say nothing and merely followed as Uzi, N, and V walked out of the gym. Khan was waiting anxiously on the other side, his face lighting up when Uzi walked through the doors.

“Uzi!” He exclaimed, rushing over. “What happened in there? Are you-”

“I’m fine, dad.” Uzi interrupted him, annoyed. “We handled it.” Khan froze at his daughter’s words, his expression saddening as he stood there, unsure what to say. Seraph felt a wave of sympathy for him, walking over to put a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s good of you to care, Khan.” She told him, giving him a small smile. Khan’s sadness faded slightly at the reassurance, and he gave a small nod in response. His gaze turned back to Uzi after a second, and Seraph looked over to see annoyance, but also a mild twinge of guilt on the teen’s face.

“Uzi, maybe you should go back with your dad.” She suggested. “It’s been a long night-”

“No way.” Uzi cut her off, masking her guilt as she folded her arms. “I’m finding out what the hell was going on at Doll’s place, with or without you.” Seraph gave her a harsh look, but much to her surprise, Khan stepped in between them.

“It’s alright, she can go.” He said. “Just keep an eye on her for me, will you?” Seraph met the older drone’s eyes with worry, but Khan only smiled, giving her a small, sincere nod.

“Alright, if you insist.” Seraph relented at last. “I’ll bring her home myself later, okay?” Khan nodded again, his smile widening slightly as his gaze turned back to Uzi. Her annoyed expression faltered, guilt reappearing as she shifted her gaze away, but neither said anything as Khan turned and started the walk back to his unit. All four drones watched him go, and Uzi felt guilt stirring in her core before she shook her head to refocus.

“Come on, we have a unit to check out.” She said, starting off down another hall. N, V, and Seraph followed silently, with N and Seraph looking wary while V kept a bored expression. Soon enough they reached Doll’s unit, and a strong tar-like smell could be detected seeping out from under the door. Seraph recoiled slightly at it, but said nothing as Uzi used the key from Doll’s bracelet to unlock and open the door. It slid aside with a soft hiss, and the scent increased tenfold as the group stepped into the pitch dark unit. N soon found the light switch and turned it on, and all four drones looked at the kitchen with shock and horror.

The kitchen was covered with worker drone bodies, oil stained all over the floor and appliances. Scattered parts hung from hooks or were thrown in pots, with one arm laid out on a cutting board, and the upper half of one drone could be seen stuffed into a top cabinet. ‘FATAL ERROR’ shone in bold red letters on their visor, and both Seraph and Uzi felt a chill at the sight. The sound of metal clinking made both of them freeze, but their fear quickly vanished as they looked over to see V idly chewing on a dismembered arm.

“Ugh, self respect!” Uzi scolded, pulling the arm out of the murder drones’ mouth. V gave her an annoyed look before licking residual oil from off her hand in a fashion much like a cat would. Seraph watched the murder drone with a mix of concern and confusion, but promptly shook it off and silently headed further into the unit. She chose to check down the hall first, opening the door to the bathroom and finding the blood-filled tub and stack of mirrors leading up to the ceiling vent.

“…Well, that leaves more questions than answers.” She muttered. She looked back over as N pulled a sheet off of something at the dining table, revealing two more drone corpses that had been sat in dining chairs. Each of them had a bullet hole clean through their visor, their bodies posed in fear, and Seraph was quick to notice one of them had hair the exact same colour as Doll.

“I… think we found her folks.” N said quietly. Both V and Seraph walked over to look, though V seemed rather unbothered.

“Literally didn’t even taste that good.” She said casually, picking her teeth with one claw. N’s gaze fell on her, a mix of concern and disgust on his face.

“V, you kinda suck.” He told her. V only laughed, picking up one of the roaches with her claws.

“Yeah, I’m not doing okay.” She replied, eating the robotic insect. Her smile faltered as she felt eyes on her, and glancing over, she saw Seraph looking at her with nothing but worry. A sudden rush of guilt flooded V’s systems and she forced her gaze away, turning instead to watch as N helped Uzi climb over the kitchen counter to join them.

The purple-haired drone warily approached the two bodies, noticing a lanyard around the neck of who she could only assume had been Doll’s mother. With careful hands she lifted the name tag, showing a photo of the same drone when she was alive, accompanied by the number 048 and the name ‘Yeva.’ The bright red eyes in the photo only confirmed that the woman had been Doll’s mother, and Uzi couldn’t help but feel a twinge of empathy for her classmate.

A strange, quiet noise suddenly reached Uzi’s audio receptors, drawing her attention from the name tag. Her eyes widened in horror as she looked up to see Doll at the other end of the table, completely healed, and using her solver to point a bullet right at her.

“{Just in time for dinner.}”

BANG!

The sound of the shot faded, but no collision followed. Instead, the bullet had been caught, by Uzi, with her own solver power. All eyes were focused on Uzi now, each of them displaying fear, but Doll’s expression also showed sympathy.

“{I… I’m sorry for you…}” she managed, a genuine tone of worry in her voice. Uzi hardly heard her, still staring at the bullet frozen in front of her. Her solver soon deactivated and the bullet shot, swerving around her head and piercing through the glass of the window behind her. All eyes had followed it, but soon refocused on Doll, who was giving Uzi a saddened look.

“{If I find what I’m looking for,}” she said, “{I’ll help you too.}”

“What?” Uzi blurted, now even more scared than before. Doll didn’t explain further, her body starting to glitch and fade like she was a hologram.

“{I am sorry.}” She told her.

“Wait! Oh, don’t you dare!” Uzi shouted, but Doll was already disappearing. V leapt into the air and launched a rocket at the navy-haired drone. The explosion clouded the room in smoke, but as it cleared, there was no sign of Doll anywhere. Uzi let out a loud groan of frustration, tossing her head back and her arms up as she shouted.

“I hate it here!”

——————

Meanwhile, outside the bunker, the wind howled as a single worker drone made his way through the city. He scanned up and down the ruined streets, stopping only when he noticed something familiar sticking out of a pile of snow. Kneeling down, he brushed it aside to reveal the object, soon finding a pair of circular-shaped glasses.

“Oh, that’s where I left my excuse to be outside right now.” He said, straightening up and putting on the glasses. His vision became clear with the help of the lenses, and he turned his gaze up just in time to see something hurtling out of the sky right at him. He barely managed to dodge it as it crashed, part of it exploding and sending debris flying. The worker shouted at what he now realized was a landing pod, scrambling to his feet to make a run for it, but a second pod immediately crashed down in front of him and cut him off. He cowered as it exploded too, surrounding him in a ring of fire and debris, the flames roaring and crackling in the harsh wind.

A moment of silence passed after, but as the worker raised his head up, he heard more noise and saw a third pod coming down from the sky. This one didn’t crash, however, instead using its strange legs to slide down the sides of the buildings and land neatly in the street. The door of the pod opened a second later and a figure leapt out, brandishing a sword as they landed, reeled back, and sliced the worker’s head clean off.

His head flew in a high arc, oil trailing behind as it landed and rolled in the snow, his glasses landing on his face a second later. The attacker let the oil drip off of their sword, the light of the fire glinting off of the blade and illuminating them, revealing them to be human. A space helmet obscured their face, but a baseball cap and a bow sat on top, and a name tag was pinned to their suit with the name ‘Tessa’ engraved in it, along with the title ‘Certified Technician.’

“Righty-o, work to do.” Tessa spoke, sheathing her sword. “Eh, J?” At the call of her name, the disassembler emerged from the ship, flying over and hovering next to Tessa. She tossed a set of keys to her that the human caught easily, hitting a button on a remote and locking the pod behind them.

“Maintenance work.”

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