Murder Drones: Disassembly Required

"W...wait,  Uzi dont punch me in the balls please!" I begged as Uzi threatened to punch my balls if I mess anything up.

As I theorized, we where relatively safe as we havent encountered a zombie drone or anything else. I follow slightly ahead of Uzi, making sure not to go ahead of her so I wont get lost or encounter any zombie drones. "I knew it, we're completely safe!" I said, confidently. "We got this in the bag, Uzi!"

But suddenly, a familiar voice echo'd through the halls.

"Aww, are you all hiding? Come on out, I won't hurt you. I just want to talk!

Hehehe...Hahaha...Ahahaha! EHAHAHAHA!!!"

"You said something Uzi? ...Wait..." I look around a bit "If you are over here and not over there..." I suddenly hide behind her "P...Protect me Uzi"

Uzi ushered me into a unoccupied room and thankfully it had a workshop. "Alright alright Uzi dont rush me!" I said to her as I set down the railgun. "Also my name isnt human its Chaos. And dont make fun of my name its ten times better than my original name."

"Oh and have this" I hand over the plasma cutter to Uzi. "Just in case that thing barges into here without an inventation." With that, I began working on the railgun.

It wasnt as bad as I thought. Some connections is burnt but I can rewire it to give the gun some power. With a soldering gun I reattach some connections and after a few good jerry rigging I managed to make the gun to work again. The Railgun lights up once again. "Phew, finally. Although I prefer a fresh power regulator. I'd be careful with it, and Im not entirely sure if its safe. It would either completely die once you fire it again, or just explode killing us all."

N and Karasu seemed to agree that it wasn't a good idea to go in unless they had to. The risks of leaving someone behind was too great.

"I'll take your word for it N. Alright, I'll keep you two posted on the situation."

Which was going to be tricky. Cause if she communicated too often, then the thing would zero in on him. Or worse: mimic her communications in some way and deceive them into making a mistake. Right now all she could do was hold tight.

---

"Hey! Quit talking about how fun it would be to mess with me like I'm not here!"

Uzi waved her hand dismissively as V told them not to make that kind of threat towards him.

"Yeah yeah. I won't punch your boyfriend in his armored balls. And stop being such a wimp Mr.Coolscience!"

Uzi tried to keep calm, but she was freaking out on the inside. She had half a mind to drag Chaos behind her.

"Hey! I'm not your personal bullet proof vest! Protect yourself human!"

Uzi hissed. When she got into the workshop, she accepted the plasma cutter from Chaos. She looked back as she heard zombies slamming at the door.

"Hurry up! There's something at the door!"

Uzi hissed quietly. Fortunately Chaos got it done quickly. She motioned for him to give it back.

"Then I'll have to make my one shot count. But damn, that was fast. Pretty slick there Chaos."

Chaos would have an opportunity to take back his Plasma cutter if he gave her the Railgun back. When he did make up his mind, she would open the workshop door and quietly move her way towards the front door, motioning for Chaos to stay close.

["So your parents gave you a lame name? Did they name you "disappointment" or something?"

---

"oni poydut za mnoy, yesli uznayut pravdu. No ya polagayu, chto smogu podobrat'sya poblizhe, yesli budu ostorozhen."

["They'll go after me if they learn the truth. But I suppose I can still get close if I'm careful."]

Doll actually gave Lizzie something that she had never gave the other android before.


"Ne volnuysya, Lizzi. Chtoby ubit' etu ved'mu, potrebuyetsya nechto bol'sheye, chem prosto monstr."

["Don't worry Lizzie. It will take more than a monster to kill this witch."]

When Doll vanished, she had decided she would keep an eye on the situation. She would only strike at the right moment. Of course she made sure to stay out of the way of the laser thrown ar J. She did take note of the positions or the zombie drones. Hey, you never knew when you had the chance to recharge in the middle of a fight.

Karasu nods in agreement with N's assessment.

"Yeah. At least for the timebeing, the ship is our best bet. Though I'm hoping that the fact that they got into the bunker means that we'll have a safe place to retreat to... If that monster doesn't destroy it, anyway."

He then responds. And as N further adds that leaving anyone here alone would simply be too risky, the Captain is once more inclined to agree. As much as it seemed like they were leaving them to their fates... They did have to trust in their abilities, and take care of the homefront right now.

Cloris seemed to go along with it, at least. But it was obvious that everyone felt a little on edge about the decision, even with N's explanation that J and V could handle it because of their respective skills.... Though, Karasu couldn't help that think N was pulling some strange examples for reference...

Maybe he was just overthinking that? In any case...

"Alright. Until we know more about the situation over there, let's see what else on the ship needs fixing."

It'd certainly be nice if this was the only way those things got inside the ship, but he couldn't rule out the possibility that there were other entrances.

"Scanning now, Captain."

As if sensing his intentions, Aegis runs a diagnostic of the ship in order to determine damages to the hull.

---

V lets out a small chuckle at Ray's joke. Yeah, that seemed about right for Chaos... But at least his newfound confidence would mean that he would try to get the job done, instead of panicking so much.

That aside, as Ray detailed what he needed next, the Disassembly Drone gives him a nod, and uses her sharp teeth to easily deal with the frayed ends of the wires, and then she begins to very carefully remove a little bit of the rubber. She looks over her handiwork for a moment, and hoping that this is what he needs...

"Okay, I think I got it like you asked."

She remarks, and then looks over as Ray is struggling to make sense of the labels in the dim lighting. Just as he's about to ask her for some more help, the pair hears a familiar voice -- Uzi's -- and yet, very much NOT Uzi.

V wasn't QUITE as bothered by it, but it did add some urgency into getting this done fast. Nonetheless she did nod in agreement with him regarding the situation with the doors.

"Yeah. Go figure, we find a place where everyone loves doors, and they're failing spectacularly right now."

Shortly after that, a significant laser beam is then fired through the doorway from quite some distance, it's enough to surprise Ray and send him falling out of shock. V jolts from it as well, though she immediately moves herself and her wings to potentially shield him from the beam if necessary.

"I think J made it mad."

V replies to Ray's question. Shortly after, another familiar voice rings out. Man, this thing was obnoxious...

"Yeah, she definitely did. She's buying us time, let's hurry."

---

J managed to peek out from her hiding spot to see what the monster was doing just in time. She DID hear it briefly stamp it's feet down, and now she realized why. This thing was gearing up for some kind of powerful attack!

Just as she managed to process that much, a yellow laser is fired out of it's mouth, and the damn thing is angling it at the ceiling!

"Oh-"

Right, time to forgo stealth! She leaps out of cover, using her wings to maneuver out of the blast radius -- though naturally, she assumed that this thing would keep aiming at her, so she keeps moving as fast as she can within the relatively tight quarters.

This kind of firepower, though... It might have been a gamble on her part, but while she was also trying to evade the attack, she was getting closer to the beast!

A risky gambit, but it pays off. Because suddenly the entire thing halts as it's visors flash -- indicating that it managed to overheat itself... And while it was trying to rapidly cool itself down, J could capitalize on this!

"I don't think I'm the one that needs help here!"

The twin-tailed Disassembly Drone announces with a grin as she surges in front of the beast and once more begins her assault! She deploys swords with both of her hands, and uses them like a pincer to cut off another of those glowing yellow eyes it's got!

That's about as much as she could do for now though, as it's soon starting to move again, and she spots the Solver Symbol forming over it's eye screen -- a good hint for her to back off and ready a defense.

Though the fact that she anticipated an attack certainly helped, as she easily deflects the pen with one of her swords.

Then she pumps her arms again, switching them from swords to assault rifles as she gives the beast a smirk. She began to nimbly evade it's clawed swipes, all the while firing at the still VERY screwed up head that it had.

"Didn't like playing hide and seek, big guy?"

J taunts it again...

Because that worked the first time, obviously.

"Well, it wasnt much. Its not like I had to repair the thing. Besides I did a bad job anyways." I scan the workshop for supplies. "Yknow if there is enough stuff I can make some kind of electric landmine. It wouldnt be much but it could stun that creature giving you enough time to aim at it."

"Here." I traded the railgun for the plasma cutter. "Just be careful Uzi."

Uzi mentioned my parents and Im not sure if its the stress or anything but if it wasnt for my suit I'd be visibly upset. "Dont talk about my parents like that. Im sure they loved me and Im sure they never thought of me as a disappointment." My insecurities is showing off again. I sigh. "Sorry for snapping at you, its just... A lot has happened over these months and I..."

Suddenly the zombie drones found our apartment and began banging against the door. "Great, guests." I said sarcastically. Normally this scientist would be afraid but Im about to take out my frustrations on some zombies. I aim the plasma cutter and wait until the zombie drones come crashing in.

Cloris frowned as she saw the data pop up. "Thank you Aegis. I'll relay all of this to the rest of the crew.

Cloris went and did that, then gave out her analysis.

"Captain, I'll be frank. It's a miracle this thing is holding itself together. It's going to take awhile to correct all this structural damage."

Cloris looked at the clock. 10 more minutes. She would ask how Ray was doing in 10 more minutes. She had to make sure each communication counted, so she had to make sure everything was going well.

---

"If you can make the mine before the zombie drones bust down the door, knock yourself out."

Uzi didn't think he could manage it. But if he could, that would be really helpful. Her hand brushed against his suit as she swapped guns with him.

"You too human. Don't cut your hand off with that thing. I don't think you can fix yourselves like we can.

Uzi frowned, looking over at Chaos. She looked almost ashamed. "Um… sorry." Uzi took a deep breath.

"I thought since you changed your name that you hated your parents. I've never gotten along with my dad and I never even knew my mom."

She paused, biting her lip. Then she pointed at Chaos and snapped.

"We're not having a moment here, okay?! Don't get any funny ideas!"

The zombies then burst in. Uzi looked deviant, but then one of them called her a witch. She swallowed, backing up and pointing at them.

"Oh yeah? Well you're a bunch of zombies. Shoot them Chaos!"

---

After the thing spoke out as V, there was a pause. Then there was a flash of red light. Out of the darkness shot a bunch of steel cables. They all aimed directly for the eyes to try and pierce and wrap around them. If the creature tried deflecting them, then they'd coil and try to pierce and wrap around something else. They would try to restrain the creature.

As Aegis finishes her scan and relays the information to the crew, it's mostly what they could have expected from the crash landing. But, nonetheless, it's not good news... Other than the fact that they survived.

"Well... I guess that makes sense."

As the Captain remarks that, he supposes it would still be a good idea to go down and investigate the damage. Before he can point out as such, N does talk about the Bunker, as well as why they were trying to get inside... She seemed to think that he might disapprove, so he was willing to clarify that first;

"N, don't worry about it. We know what Disassembly Drones are for. Still, it looks like the situation is changing pretty rapidly."

He points out, and N once more shows her optimism. The Bunker should be a fair bit roomier, and have some living quarters as well.

"Yeah. It'll be nice, we just have to make sure that it's still functional to house Humans. And make sure that the current residents don't mind us joining them, of course."

Still, all of that could be worried about for the future. Right now? They needed to tend to the ship, and while the upper level seemed to be secure now...

"We should probably go down and see the damage for ourselves. It'd be nice if this was the only entrance they were using, but we can't go relying on wishful thinking."

He gestures to the hole that they recently patched. Afterwards, Karasu begins leading the way to the lower levels of the ship.

---

V smiles as she's praised by Ray, and gives him a nod.

"Glad to help!"

She was so used to breaking things down, but this was an interesting change of pace -- and with no one around, it was enjoyable enough. Sure, it'd be better without the very real threat coming their way, but... Still.

Thankfully the beam fizzled out before it was a real threat to either of them. As Ray starts to get back up, V helps him get back on his feet, and then steps over to examine their work. Perfect timing too, as Ray moves a panel over to her so that he can try to light up the labels.

She blinks in surprise, but soon realizes what he's doing, and so she cooperates. Evidently though... One of the labels caused him some exasperation. "Enable Door Lock".

"Uh, wouldn't it be bad to not have any locks?"

V questions, but she nonetheless goes along with Ray's guidance. Either way they were on a time limit, so maybe they just had to make due with what they could...

---

J noted that the damage she had done to this thing was slowly regenerating... It was undoing all of her attempts to whittle it down. She bares her teeth, frustrated. Not helping matters was the fact that it kept deflecting all of her shots, utilizing the powers of Absolute Solver to do just that.

As it laughed at her, her anger started to hit a boiling point. While it was certainly more accurate now that it had the full vision restored, J was still smaller and faster, and she could utilize that to her advantage.

As it swung a fist at her, she flaps her wings fiercely, and nimbly evades it. While in the middle of that, she also lashes her tail out, the tip threatening to pierce the limb and pump the wound with Acid Nanites.

She knew full well that this thing was going to keep swinging at her though, and so she quickly pulls her tail back, and repeats the flapping of her wings to maneuver away from another swing from the other arm, and her tail strikes at the other limb!

If successful in her endeavors, she would have just gotten both of it's arms -- or at least one of them. And as it taunted her again, she pumps her arms and switches the guns to clawed hands.

"That goes against Company Policy."
She retorts, then adding;
"Besides, a Superior Drone such as myself losing to an outmoded rogue model like you? Don't make me laugh!"

Just as she finished her taunt -- the tide of the battle changed suddenly, as the Bunker ITSELF seemed to be trying to fight back against this thing. That was... Uh, unexpected.

But J capitalizes, switching one of her hands back to normal and retrieving the headlamp, which she once more clicks on and shines right at the eyes of the beast -- hoping to blind it and make it unable to resist the steel cables that were trying to tie it down right now!

I gather enough materials for a landmine, however it'll twke me some time before I can complete it.

"Its alright Uzi, you didnt know and its not like I told you about it" I replied to her while making the landmine. "You never met your mom? Im sorry to hear that Uzi, atleast your dad..." I think back when I interviewed him "...Is unique."

"Err... Right...! Not having a moment. We I mean I should focus on things..."

The zombie drones burst in and I fire my weapon dead onto one of its heads. I thought one shot to the head would kill it but it seems unfazed. Its screen flickered as it approaches me. I think back to a certain game and began shooting at their limbs. My aim isnt perfect but I do manage to sever one of the zombie drones leg. It fell onto the floor but it kept crawling towards me.

"Ugh... This is harder than what the disassembly drones make it seem." I said to myself as I attempt to stomp on the crawling drones head to no avail. Instead I shoot at its neck hopefully severing it, killing the drone in the process.

N was quick to perk up when Karasu insisted they were already aware of the purpose Disassembly Drones had. The drone rubbed the back of her head bashfully, giving him a hesitant nod of understanding.

"Well...Yeah, I know you know that, but I don't know how you feel about...All of that. I know the others are pretty uneasy about it so..."

Still...At least he didn't seem bothered himself considering he had already moved on to the topic at hand. Was the bunker hospitable for humans? That was something N was incapable of answering, and considering how the worker drones were weary of the Disassembly Drones...She was hesitant to answer that second statement.

Cloris relayed Aegis's diagnostic results to the Captain and N, and it was...Not great news. At the very least the most vital sections of the ship were still intact, but they needed the entire ship to be at 100%, not just part of it. Though it sounded bleak, N was ever the optimist.

"Well, at least there's some added incentive to get in good with that bunker! You might be here a while, but that's okay! You can all hang out with us in the mean time!"

N gave a nod to Karasu's statement and followed along behind him. Being sure of their situation was the best idea right now. - Besides, making a checklist of what needed repairing, as well as the priority of each repair was going to be something they had to do either way.

Though...It was quite painful to see just how extensive the damage was...The lower deck of the ship was full of snow by now, what little light existed outside was flooding in, followed closely by the harsh wind. The steel of the hull creaked and groaned under the blizzard's pressure. Lucky for them a few of the holes actually seemed to be parallel with solid ground, and weren't currently exposed to the elements beyond some dirt and debris. Unlucky for them however...Was the fact that this "Dirt and debris" had been exposed to toxic atmospheric conditions for who knows how long. It was a safe bet that being near this ground without the proper safety gear would be hazardous to one's health.

"This...Could take a while."

---

V seemed concerned with the fact that he was removing the ability to use a function that locked a door, however Ray shook his head.

"Pretty sure it's referring to the generator room's door. Still, I'll fix it later when we're not pressed for time. I think the residents here would rather the power was back up instead."

Finally he finished tying up the wires...Without wasting any time the engineer put the panel back into place and quickly scrambled to hit the button, pounding it down with a closed fist. When he did that, the generators began to let out a low hum...The gears within starting to spin up. The hum grew louder and louder until the lights in the generator room flickered to life. Ray...For all his effort, felt his energy leave him in that instant as relief washed over his mind. He had restored power...Now it was up to the others to finish the plan. The engineer fell backwards as his adrenaline rush ended and his legs gave out beneath him.

"WHOA-!"

Whether or not V could catch him before he hit the floor, he knew his job wasn't NECESSARILY done yet. He looked up at the murder drone.

"V, I need you to patch me in to J! I've gotta tell her how to finish this plan!"

---

The solver beast stared in surprise when J struck its' first arm with her nanite acid. With the second swing it was prepared; It leapt back in time to dodge her strike and reached out towards it. If J couldn't react in time the beast would grab hold of her tail and swing her straight into the wall. However, regardless of the end result, what happened next might give even J herself pause - The Solver Beast stared at the wound on its arm that was currently burning away...It then looked up at J, and without missing a beat, it grabbed the wound with its' other hand, ripping the infected material off without so much as even flinching. It laughed as it tossed the melted metal away.

An Outmoded rogue...The beast's digital eyes narrowed.

"I am so much more than a rogue. I have been blessed by the solver of the absolute fabric. The exponential end. Perfection given form."

With J's escape narrowed, the Solver beast took up a stance once more as its' mouth opened...It was charging up another laser, and this time it was determined to hit her one way or another. The charging hit a fever pitch, and then...!

Solid steel beams struck right through the beast's many heads and eyes, completely halting the process as it's throat stopped spinning up. It roared in confused pain, twisting its body to try and look around. A few of its heads had managed to avoid being struck...But it hardly mattered, because by the time it looked back at J it was met with a blinding flash of light from the headlamp, causing it to roar once more...And then as if perfectly timing itself to J's actions, the bunker's lights flickered to life.

"AAAGGHHH! The light!! it burns! It burnsss! IT BURNSSS!!!"

With a defiant roar the solver symbol appeared over the monster's still intact eyescreens as it teleported out of the trap Doll had laid for it, appearing once more behind where Doll was hiding. It teleported away again, this time further down the hall away from the generator room...And once more it blinked away. Still, in its panic it revealed that it was teleporting towards Outpost 3's warehouse...The solver beast's objections could be heard echoing down the hall.

"MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!! DESTROY THE LIGHT!!!"

With V's cooperation, Ray managed to tap into a comms line with J, relaying a message to her.

"J, are you alright?! I can hear screaming out there! Sounds like hell!! Listen, by now you probably noticed that I've managed to get the power back on! There's just one last step now that we've got the territorial advantage! Find Uzi and bring her to where-ever that thing is! We're gonna give it a light show so bright it won't get back up!"

Cloris chuckled over the intercom. "Even if we didn't know that you had safeguards that prevent you from hurting humans, it would be unfair of us to judge our saviors for their night job. It doesn't bother us at all N."

N wouldn't be able to see it. But he would hear the warmth in her voice.

"It certainly beats the company of the Zombie drones and monsters."

After 10 minutes passed, Cloris contacted the bunker team again. "Ray, what is your status, over?"

---

Uzi let out a sigh. "Odd?! He cares more about his damn doors than his own kid."

The bitterness was very apparent in her voice. She clenched her fist. Someone was going to pay for making her feel all of these emotions. That someone being a giant freaking monster.

Uzi took put her railgun, but didn't fire it. Chaos was in the way and she needed to save it for later. So while she had it pointed at the androids, she didn't open fire.

"Hey human! Don't get too close to them! Shoot them quickly!"

Then the lights completely turned on. Uzi's eyes widened as she heard a scream echoing through the halls.

"Holy crap, they got the lights back on!"

---

The moment the lights turned back on, there was a small flash of red light, and then Doll was gone. J would have seen her figure only for a moment. With the lights back on, the worker drones had the edge. Doll would observe the rest of the fight, but she had given J and the others the opportunity to finish the creature.

Karasu gives an understanding not at N's concerns.

"Well, the crew does keep an open mind. But also we know that whatever happens is also more what JCJenson decides, not you individually."

The Captain explains brefly, then adding;

"We're not asking you to apologize or anything of the sort. There's no need to pretend it didn't happen either."
He declares, and then thinks it over for a moment. Finally continuing;
"But perhaps things can be different while we're here."

Having said that, N then reiterates once more that the bunker seems to be their best shot, and it's certainly good to try and make it in good with the residents, too. Finally she also says that they can just hang out with them in the meantime.

"We certainly appreciate that, N. At first we weren't sure anything was left alive on the planet. Having some friendly faces does help this situation a lot."

Their trek to the lower levels was shorter than planned. Most of it was in rough shape, as a fortunate bit of luck, at least, the holes are parallel with the ground and thus there aren't any enemies coming in this way... At least for now.

Karasu didn't want to alarm anyone to the possibility that he was thinking of, when ultimately nothing could come of it. N remarks that it's going to take them awhile to clean all of this up, and Karasu gives a nod in agreement.

"Yeah. We'll have to be careful about getting the dirt and debris cleared out too."

Still, there was one mercy here. The entire lower floors could be quarantined off MUCH more effectively than the upper levels could be. Even if anything could get in this way, they'd be totally shut off from getting to the upper levels where they're staying.

"At least we can close off this half off the ship until we're ready to tackle this project."

Sure, they could probably try to do some work here, but... It was going to be a lot easier with everyone back, and some tools and an actual idea to start.

---

Oh. The Generator Room... Wait, if there was a button on the control panel...

"... Wait, but then you could only lock the Generator Room from the inside?"

V blinks. Was.... Was that really how it was designed? Was that the ONLY way to lock the doors to one of the most important rooms in the whole facility?!

"Is that why he was able to just waltz right up and smash this thing?!"

Still... At least Ray mentioned that he would fix it when they're not pressed for time. Right now, the power was more important than anything else. Just as they managed to do exactly that, Ray's legs started to give out -- V moves to catch him, and helps keep him steady.

Ray then realizes that they're not quite out of the woods yet, and asks V to patch him through to J. She nods, and begins to walk him through the necessary steps -- it's nothing complicated, especially not for an Engineer.

---

As J poised her tail to deliver a second strike, she noted that the beast suddenly went on the defensive, pulling away -- she does the same in order to evade it's grasp, also moving her tail accordingly to further defend against that outcome. She DOES however use her clawed hands to deliver some cuts to the limb of the beast; all superficial damage that would be easy to regenerate, but she would take what she could get.

Then the beast rips it's own arm off just to escape the effects of the acid nanites. At first it laughed, but then it seems that her words managed to REALLY get under it's skin. It's eyes narrowed, and it cycled through all of the voices at it's disposal as it refuted her words.

"Absolute Solver?"
She asked with a small chuckle.
"Nothing but an errant program gone haywire. Fitting, considering how you turned out."

Oh yeah. She was pissing it off for sure. As the thing begins to charge another laser blast, she rears up as well, ready to go on the offensive to punish this move.

But that was when the intervention of Doll occurred. That was when she activated the headlamp -- and that was when the power of the Bunker whirred back to life, along with all of the lights. This beast was now writhing in agony, screaming about the lights that blinded it.

... Then it began to teleport; something that J was NOT expecting it to be able to do. Briefly it appeared behind where Doll was, and with the lighting restored, the Disassembly Drone was able to briefly spot the witch, but her figured vanished almost simultaneously with the monster's.

Though at least J knew where that thing was going, as it's voice echoed in the direction it fled in. It was going for the warehouse...

The twin-tailed Disassembly Drone blinks, recalling why that would be VERY bad. About then, Ray gets into contact with her and relays the current situation to her.

"Right! I know where it's going, and we're going to want to finish this BEFORE it does what I'm thinking it will."

With that, J sets off in order to find Uzi and Chaos! Fortunately it wasn't too hard for her to find them, as most of the zombified drones went right for them.

Unlike the beast that she had to be cautious against, these things posed little threat to her, especially when they were distracted. She weaves and cleaves through them, turning her attention to the pair.

"I hope you've got that Railgun ready. That thing is in the warehouse, and we need to finish it off."

Speaking of landmines, I think I just stepped on one. "Uh crap, we said a lot of things we shouldnt have said. Did he loved doors so much that he made is lineage's last name to 'Doorman'?"I said, jokingly. "Well, we should just put our differences behind us." I think about hers behavior. At one moment she felt sorrow and the next, she felt anger and finally she stated we werent having a moment but clearly it was one. "Y'know Uzi..." I try to collect my thoughts "You kinda remind me of something" I try to come up with a better name, but instead I chose "You kinda remind me of a tsundere."

"Alright alright" I stepped back far away from the doorframe as she demanded me to move, allowing Uzi to fire hers weapon. She didnt however, saving that power regulator. We dont know how much life it has. "Dang... thought we where on first name basis here."

Suddenly the lights turned on as the bunker restored power. "Finally, Ray fixed the generator!" I excitedly stated, however all that excitement disappeared as I realized there was more than one zombie drone in front of us. "C...crap, there is more!" I whelped in fear.

In an instant the zombie drones fell to their knees as a familiar face effortlessly killed them all. "Woah, you just saved us all" I expected it was V as she couldve heard the commotion and rushed right towards our location. I gave the drone a good look and realized it was in fact J. "J, thank god you are alright!" I ran right towards her, giving her a hug. "I was really worried you'd get hurt! And... thank you for saving us, we almost fell into a floozie... ...with Uzi." and with that, I ruined the moment.

"Yes, I managed to fix the power regulator. However, we dont know how many shots we can get from it. Two, if we are lucky." I replied to J after I release my grip on her. "Before we can do anything about that.... Thing, I gotta finish making that electric landmine I was working on."

Cloris was glad that Ray answered immediately. Honestly, it was more than she expected. The monster they faced didn't give them any room to breathe. And it was good news on top of that.

"Good work Ray. You definitely don't want to let this thing escape. It's able to assimilate at an astounding rate. Watch the vents: it'll probably use them to avoid the lights. I'll be waiting for your next communication.

And with that, Cloris shut it down. She leaned back, taking a deep breath. She interlocked her fingers together, slowly rocking back and forth. All she could do was anxiously wait for his call.

---

Uzi blinked, scratching her head. "That's... actually a really good question. I don't know if the humans designated him as that or if he came up with the last name. I'm guessing that it's the latter. Cause you humans like giving us simple names like "V" or "J". I doubt they'd be that creative with worker drones either."

At the word Tsundere, Uzi's head snapped and stared at Chaos. She huffed, crossing her arms and looking away. "I'm totally not a Tsundere! Fricking moron.

She muttered, then blinked. She looked at him in confusion. "Wait, you know what a Tsundere is?"

Uzi grits her teeth. "Human, now's not the time for this! If we get out of this alive, then we can talk about what to call each other!"

The zombie drones looked like they were going to overwhelm them. But then J swooped in and sliced them up like they were nothing. Uzi rolled her eyes when Chaos hugged the disassembly drone. But when J asked her about the gun, Uzi grinned.

"Oh I'm ready. Ready to blast that thing into oblivion.

N wondered aloud if perhaps JCJenson merely forgot about them since they hadn't heard from them in years. Karasu thinks that over for a moment. Complete radio silence after sending them on their mission? Sure, he could understand having designated times to communicate with the team, but... That seemed a bit unusual.

"Hm. No communication in years? That is unusual. Maybe they did forget. Or something happened."

He theorizes, but ultimately there's nothing that proves anything one way or the other. It was all guesswork.

"Well, I guess that means we can run the operation however we see fit. Or, rather, you guys can."

After having said that, N also points out that with a bit of work, perhaps the planet wouldn't be so bad -- and that... Was an interesting idea actually.

"You know... That's not a bad idea..."

He then turns to N, having a bit of a revelation from her words.

"If we can get in good with the Worker Drones, they'd be able to get a LOT done practically overnight."
Karasu pauses briefly, but soon adding;
"Instead of being surrounded by ruins, we'd have a functioning city. We could set up an actual perimeter. Have the things we need to actually fix these corrupted Drones, maybe."

And as the workforce grows larger... It snowballs. Yeah. That wasn't a bad plan.

But, N also questions if they should head back up to the bridge with Cloris now, and Karasu gives her a nod in agreement.

"Yeah, let's go. We've managed to secure the ship with this much."

The Captain would return to the upper levels, and once N had safely joined him, he would seal the door, and much like Ray had done before, he'd weld it shut.

Overly cautious? Perhaps, but if anything COULD burrow underground and get in through the holes of the ship, it would be better not to take the chance. Plus they could fix it later. Once that was done, Karasu makes his way to the bridge, and checks in with Aegis and Cloris.

"Aegis, check the integrity of the upper levels. I'm not too worried about superficial damage, just if the hull will keep out the elements now that the lower levels have been sealed."

With a chime, the Aegis then replies;

"Understood, Captain. Scanning now."

It was good to be sure of these things, after all. Still, with auxiliary power and the life support still active, they didn't need their suits within the ship. So he started the process of removing his. In the meantime, he glances over at Cloris.

"Need me to take over, Cloris? You've been at it for awhile now."

---

Ray was a little bit more optimistic about this, pointing out that surely there were OTHER ways to lock the door. But... Uh, considering this guy just walked right in, it probably wasn't locked...

"... I don't understand these Worker Drones. We've been trying to get through those entry doors for months, and they don't lock one of the most important doors in their bunker?"

V states, and soon after Ray clears his throat, admitting that he'll look it all over once things have settled down. V gives a nod at that.
"Yeah. I don't think we can trust them to."

Even more importantly though, Cloris called to check in with the group, and Ray hurriedly relays the status of the situation to her. Once that's over, he then turns his attention to V, and asks if she's ready for action.

At that, V gives a confident grin.

"Of course."

As Ray starts racing down the halls, V keeps pace with him -- she could go faster than him if she needed to, but she preferred to stick with him, ESPECIALLY because who knows what could be lurking around right now.

Seeing the extensive damage around the Bunker from the fight certainly paints a picture of why it got so noisy, too. Thanks to the sounds of combat still echoing down the halls, they're able to locate the others pretty easily.

Though Ray kind of overshoots the doorway, sliding to a halt and losing his balance. V is right on the scene to catch him and steady him, then they enter the room as well.

J has finished dealing with the last of the zombie drones, and moves her hand to flip one of her twin-tails. Smirking confidently.

"Of course I did."
J replies to Chaos's comment about her saving them, then following with;
"That is why I am a superior Drone. But we're not done yet."

Her words exuded confidence, but Chaos? He on the other hand was extremely relieved that it was J -- and that she was alright. When he runs up to her and hugs her, J is shocked at first, freezing up for a moment.

But then she returns the hug, smiling slightly.

"Well of course I'm alright. You didn't think those things could actually hurt me, did you?"

Soon after, he thanks her again for saving them. And then... He mentions a... Floozie with Uzi... J then looks over at the Worker Drone in question.

"You didn't try anything perverted with him, did you?"

Still, now that the situation was a little more under control, everyone could figure out what they needed to do from here on. Chaos explained that the railgun will work for a shot or two at most. He also wanted to finish working on a landmine. Ray also chimed in by telling everyone to finish their last preparations, and asking if J could lead them to that monster.

The twin-tailed Disassembly Drone turns to him and gives him a nod.

"Yeah. I know exactly where it's going, and why."

After having said that, Uzi then commented that she was ready -- to blast that thing into oblivion, too. J gives a small smirk as she looks over at Uzi.

"Alright then. V and I will keep that thing busy. I think we can use that landmine that Chaos is working on, and then once it's good and distracted, you should be able to blast it."

With that, J looks over at Ray.
"Sound good?"

"Nah, I dont think us humans gave your last name 'Doorman'" I replied regarding the nature of hers last name. "We usually have better last names. ...Wait, then again back in the day our last names was named after our profession, so its not a wild stretch." Uzi mentioned the Disassembly drones names. "Those are most likely codenames. Thats just a theory though, a drone theory."

"Well yeah I know... ...wait a sec, how does a Worker Drone know what a 'Tsundere' Is!?"

"I knew you can handle those zombie drones, J" I replied to her "But you never know what else you mightve encountered, like that thing we heard. I knew you can kill it but... well, Im glad you are alright!"

Although I was a bit confused when J thought me and Uzi did anything perverted. If Uzi didnt forgot about that punch, I have a feeling she'll give me one now. "No, we didnt do anything of that matter. This isnt some B horror movie."

"Right, I'll begin working on the landmine immediately. Call us when you need us" With that I began working on the landmine.

Cloris nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. Putting a gloved hand against her head. She looked over at N as she patted her shoulder, letting out a tired sigh.

”I'll be fine. I just need to stop pushing myself this much.”

”Thanks Captain. But unless if taking a break is an order, then I’m staying her until I make sure Ray and the others are safe.”

---

Uzi rolled her eyes. ”Figures that my old man would name our entire lineage on his love of doors.”

Uzi looked at Chaos like he was stupid. ”Is that theory some kind of catchphrase? I've never seen that in all the anime I've pirated.”

She paused, then pointed at him. ”No judging me for pirating Anime! I can't buy it legally on Copper 9.”

Uzi make choking sounds as J asked if she did anything perverted with Chaos. She stared at her. "Hey Uzi, have you always wanted to have sex with a human while Zombie drones break down your door?" Pretty stupid isn't it? Well you asked me that, so you're stupid!"

Uzi barked, crossing her arms, glaring "I didn't do anything with Chaos, okay?"

Fortunately that didn't last too long. When Ray complimented her, Uzi's grin grew.

”Not bad? I'm the most badass worker drone any of you will ever meet.”

Uzi looked impressed? Whistling as they got the mine finished.

”Damn. If you humans are this good at building stuff, what did you need worker drones for?

Still, she quickly followed them to the warehouse. Uzi scoffed, taking out her railgun.

”Scared of the dark huh? Fine, watch me.”

Uzi took a deep breath, then stepped into the darkness. She slowly moved forwards, both hands on the gun. She looked all around, always pointing the gun in front of her. She was acting cautiously though: she didn't go in far enough to get out of view.

Karasu smiled as N pointed out that J would probably argue with him on that perspective.

"Probably. But if even she isn't getting orders from them, then it's up to us to use our best judgement."

After having said that, N also expressed her surprise and praise for Karasu's idea of recruiting the Worker Drones to help them out. It was going to be a long road, surely. But if they could do it, things would get a lot easier... That's for sure. This would turn from a case of extremely close, lucky breaks to being able to actually stand up to and contend with the forces working against them on this planet.

"Definitely something we need to run by everyone else later, then."

And once on the Bridge, Aegis runs her scan and soon reports back to them with her findings.

"For the upper levels I am only getting readings for the hull being compromised, but no critical breaches. There are four others aside from the hole that you patched. They're all on the same side."

Finally, the AI then adds;

"Now that the lower levels have been sealed off, the Life Support will be routed only to these upper levels. That will save us a considerable amount of power. We now have a much larger time window to work with, Captain."

Karasu lets out a sigh of relief at that. It was about the best they could hope for, given the situation. N tried to comfort Cloris, who admitted that she did need to stop pushing herself so much... Before then going right on to say that she was going to do just that.

The Captain walks over to Cloris now that he's out of the suit.

"At least grab something to eat, and a drink. I'll hold down the fort until you get back. You've been running on empty ever since you woke up, and you're going to need your strength."

About at that point, Aegis chimes in again.

"I recommend that you do the same after she does so, Captain."

Karasu then gives a small smile at that remark.

"Looks like we both got the same lecture."

---

Chaos soon explained that he didn't have any doubts that J could deal with those zombie drones. But the monster that they all heard was certainly a different story... And on that much, the twin-tailed Disassembly Drone could agree. Not that she would say as such. It'd just worry him.

"I'm glad you're alright too."

In any case, in response to her inquiry, both Chaos and Uzi denied anything happening. Although in Uzi's case, she was a lot more blunt about it. It didn't take long for J to snap back:

"Hey, one of you Worker Drones opened the doors to the Bunker and let these things all in! As far as I know, this is some stupid mating ritual you have!"
She then adds;
"And I am not setting the bar high for any of you."

Still... Chaos's more polite explanation that nothing happened, and Uzi dropping SOME of the hostility to assure the same meant that J eased up some too.

"Well... Good. I'll not have any "last chance before we die" talks!"

More importantly though, Ray agreed with the strategy that had been laid out. He and Chaos would hang back and provide what support they could, if necessary. And that was probably the best call here.

"Stay well away from that thing. It's not just strong and fast, it's got a laser cannon too."

Still, as Ray and Chaos work on the mine -- and V also lends her hands to make up for the lack of tools -- it doesn't take them terribly long to finish it, and now the group is on the move to the warehouse!

Which... Is already pitch black. Great. Ray asked who was going in first, and before either of the Disassembly Drones could suggest a course of action, Uzi was the first one to go marching in with her gun at the ready.

"Wait, you idiot! Stick to the plan!"

J protests, and V does the same soon after;

"You stick out like a sore thumb, and there's no way you can fire on it without it noticing! Get back here!"

Still... Both Disassembly Drones readied themselves to have to charge in and cover Uzi. There was a chance that this cocky little Worker Drone was getting in WAY over her head, without even realizing it.

"Wow, you pirate anime? ...Wait, this planet has internet access? Im shocked honestly. But I have some anime in the ship if you want to watch anime with a human sometime" I would ask what kind of anime she is into, but right now we dont have the time for that.

"Besides J, we just met so we wouldnt do such a thing. Besides, Uzi hates humans and hers 'Last chance' would be..." I think back how overly protective V was with Ray, so I wont say Uzi would much rather kill me as hers last chance. Instead, I said "Would be punch a human! Yeah, thats it." Now the worst Uzi will get is a murder glare.

I helped Ray make the landmine. With our efforts it didnt took long to make it. "Phew, thanks for the help. Now whats the plan to defeat this thing?"

I follow the group while carrying the landmine. We made it to the warehouse, which I have been here before. "Wait, why would it hide here? Its pretty open so a huge thing would be spotted easily." Suddenly, Uzi rushes into the warehouse. I shouted "Uzi, wait! Its dangerous" and began to chase after her. Although she is a worker drone, she is much faster than a human. Atleast against with a human who is in poor health. "Damnit, I should work out more."

Cloris cupped her chin in one of her gloved hands, considering it. ”Seems logical. We aren’t going to be able to do these repairs quickly without some type of assistance. But I doubt they’re going to want to help us without getting anything in return either. I wonder if there’s something we can do to gain their goodwill?”

Cloris paused, considering Aegis’s report. ”Good work Aegis. With the power being redirected to habitable areas, how much time does that buy us Aegis?

After she got the answer to that, pretty much everyone flat out told her that she should take a break. Including N, in her own fun way. Cloris actually snorted at that, looking at N in amusement.

”I don’t think anyone will be as good of a communicator as you N. Okay, I’ll leave it in your hands.

Cloris got up from the chair, folding her laptop and tucking it under her arm. She looked over at Karasu.

”I think you and I both are going to be in for a scolding if we both don’t take a break.”

---

Uzi looked at Chaos in surprise. ”Well we need to communicate with the other colonies. So we need internet for that. She then paused, then leaned in and whispered.

”Hey after all of this is over, tell me what anime you have.

Uzi scoffed at J, rolling her eyes at the disassembly drone.

”There’s setting the bar low, and then there’s digging a hole and putting the bar there! Give me more credit then that!”

Uzi put her hands on her hips, looking at Chaos in annoyance. ”I’m not going to do any of that because this isn’t going to be our last chance. We’re killing this thing and saving the day.”

Uzi looked at Ray incredulously. ”You do know we drones have sleep cycles too, right? Or is that yet another modification you’ve never seen before? You seemed surprised about the other one.”

Uzi snickered, making it obvious what she was referring to right there. It was one of the last moments of snarkiness she would display for a while. Later when she looked back on it all, she would realize just how much things had changed.


Uzi whirled as the doors slammed shut. She ran over, slamming on the door.

“CHAOS! RAY!” She stopped knocking when she heard the voices, whirling around and pointing her gun all over the place. She breathed heavily, her hands trembling.

”I’M NOT A WITCH! MY NAME IS UZI! NOW SHOW YOURSELF SO I CAN BLAST YOU!”

Uzi had never heard her mother’s voice before. She had died when she was a baby. But she had seen pictures before. So she knew who the figure who appeared was.

“M… Mom?!”

The image of her dead mother holding a hologram of her baby self was so jarring that the fact that it was a hologram escaped her for a moment. Then she raised her railgun, pointing it at the hologram.


”I don’t know what’s up with the hologram, but I’m not a witch, and you aren’t my mom!

Uzi put her finger on the trigger, glaring at the creature. ”I want to know everything! What you are, what you’re trying to do, everything! Why do you keep calling me a witch?! And how do you know about my mom?!”

Karasu thought that over for a moment -- but then he offered the most obvious one he could think of.

"How about the ability to fix up all of the Worker Drones? Make this planet safer, so they don't have to hide in bunkers? If we point out how this can be mutually beneficial, they might be a lot more interested in helping us out."

The Captain theorizes aloud, and after Aegis delivers her report, Cloris seems relieved and hopeful about their situation -- and also asks how much time this has given them.

Aegis runs a few calculations, and then...

"Several weeks. Potentially a month or two, utilizing your suits and further cutting up power usage to a smaller number of rooms. If the generators can be repaired, then this can be sustained indefinitely."

With that said, N then interjects and points out that she could take over the role of handling communications -- and makes a little bit of a pun as well. She soon blushes and looks away, but nonetheless insists that she can handle it.

Cloris finally agrees to it, and then points out that the Captain should do the same. Karasu nods and smiles.

"I think you're right. We can leave this to the Commu-N-icator and Aegis. They can handle this for the timebeing."

With that said, Karasu starts making his way to the cafeteria. Sitting down for a second, having something to eat and drink... That sounded pretty nice right about now.

---

"We can talk about where the bar's height should be when we can get you all to stop opening doors for monsters and using your faces to destroy power control panels!"

J retorts quickly -- but as Chaos explains that Uzi wouldn't do that, because she hates Humans... Well, the Disassembly Drone crosses her arms, shooting the Worker Drone another glance. She didn't like the idea of Uzi hating him either... But whatever. As Uzi points out that they're just going to save the day, rather than have any "last chances" in the first place, J is inclined to agree with that much.

"Fair point."

That being said, as Uzi's snark is then directed at Ray, V is a little unimpressed... A glance at the Worker Drone makes that clear, but her gaze softens as she looks over at the Engineer.

"She's right about it being a newer modification."
She then looks back to Uzi.
"However, we ALSO have recharging stations. Or we used to. There was a point where we didn't need sleep."

That being said, Chaos tried to run in after Uzi -- and J was NOT having any of that, she rushes over to grab him, and that does mean that as the Solver symbol appears and the door crashes shut, they're both thrown back from it.

Though J is able to stand up to the force and also steadies Chaos in the process.

"Tch...! Great..."

Now Uzi was trapped inside, their most immediate entrance was blocked, and the gun that could very well take that thing out was lost in there too. Nonetheless, Ray questions J if there's any other ways inside the warehouse.

The twin-tailed Disassembly Drone gives him a nod.

"There are. But we can probably assume they're trapped as well."

As J says that, V taps her chin in thought -- and finally speaks up.

"Well, we've been talking about avoiding the vents... What if J and I use them to get inside, and then force the door open?"

J shrugs, and then turns her attention to Ray.

"It may not expect that. But it's your call. We can circle around to another one of the doors, or we can try the vents."

Whatever the course of action was that was decided... J would either lead them to another one of the doors -- or V would start to pop open one of the vents for the two Disassembly Drones to sneak their way inside the room.

"Sure Uzi, I have plenty on the ship and a few more favorites on my Dream Deck 2000!" I smile at Uzi, Im happy that I finally have someone to watch movies and anime with together.

I couldnt get a really good look at the mechanical beast due to how dark the warehouse is. "UZI!" I yelled as the solver beast knocks me back, but thankfully J catched me preventing me from being knocked out. "S..sorry J, I just didnt wanted to loose another person again." I felt my body and I noticed something missing "Wait! The landmine, I mustve dropped it when that thing attacked me! O...ouch..." I finally noticed the pain in my chest. "Its... its nothing serious, I just need some rest."

"The engineer and I should try to make these warehouse doors open in the meantime" I continued "There might be a manual override around here somewhere, or Ray can bypass that entirely" I lean against the wall "And uhh, J and V, stay safe and please make sure Uzi is safe."