Murder Drones: Disassembly Required

"Yeah we're...."

As I turn around expecting another human face, I instead meet a Murder Drone.

"... One sec"

Panicking, I constantly press the ship main enterance door button "Please let me in!! One of them is here!!" Accidently breaking the door and needing a manual open, I face the Murder Drone

"We...we're stuck here... On this planet and... Cant get off. Ship is... Broken and.... Please dont kill me ma'am!"

I nod at Ray's request.
"I'll get that started right away for you."

Fortunately, I didn't have to be back at the terminal on the bridge to do that, with a few taps on my wrist-mounted device I'm able to put in the download requests. Now it was just a matter of waiting for them to finish.

While I'm doing that, I also listen to the rest of what he has to say. And it certainly doesn't sound very good... Whatever is going on here, it's trying to communicate information.

"Hmm... Maybe the state of the planet works in our favor right now. But we'll certainly want to take measures against anyone being able to make use of our communications systems when we fix them. I don't want them to finish that handshake."

Still... It was good that he's done some work on the Worker Drones before. He might not be officially licensed as one of the JCJensen Engineers, but he could get the job done. It also looks like he might be onto something already -- he mentions a pattern in the code.

Though just as it seems like we might be getting to some breakthroughs, we hear from the Science Officer that 'one of them is here', and that he wants to be let in. Right now things are spread thin, and I want to make sure that this Worker Drone doesn't get back up.

So I let them handle things at the airlock, though I'm ready to assist them if it comes to that...

---

She begins to squint at him as he turns to her, and interrupts himself only to press a button repeatedly in a panic. What he says next causes her to throw her head back slightly and roll her eyes.

"Ugh. "One of them"? Did V show up before me?"

She crosses her arms, letting him speak again, though she's not too happy about what he has to say. Not so much the crash-landing -- sometimes it just happens despite all the best preparations and calculations. No, she was mad because...

"I don't kill Humans! I'm a Disassembly Drone! I'm liquidating assets and disposing of unwanted materials here on this planet."

After that, the door slides open with a hiss, and she eyes the other one yelling for him to get inside so that he can 'lock that thing' out. She points at him in response.

"First of all: You shouldn't be on this planet either! Secondly, I'm not a thing!"

It seems she was getting more and more aggravated as this went on. These two Humans acting this way, the jury-rigged alarm system... Eventually, she growls and stomps one of the Worker Drone heads.

"And these stupid things won't shut. Up!"

She stomps a few more of the heads. It's about at this point that she realizes there's movement in the distance as well... Quite a lot of movement, actually.

"... I changed my mind. Let's get in the ship."

She backs up, and then turns and starts shoving the Scientist into the airlock, entering with him.

"Shut the door, at least!"

She then directs at the Engineer.

"The only thing you need to know right now is there's something a lot worse than a Disassembly Drone out there, and it's coming here."

It at least didn't seem like she was bluffing -- and she didn't seem hostile, either... Well, not hostile in the 'will claw you up the first chance she gets' kind of way. She was plenty abrasive otherwise...

At the very moment, that Disassembly Drone doesnt appear hostile. I mean she is mad but... Safe for the moment. Just in case, I shouldnt make her any angrier.

I noticed J looking back, and what I saw what she saw shocked me. A hoard of lifeless undead Drones is slowly walking towards our little ship. Then J pushed me into the airlock, causing me to fall onto the floor. I looked up at her as she commanded the Engineer to shut the door. She is standing over me and I noticed hers... angry expression. My fear of this Murder Drone soon dissipated and what washed over me is curiosity and intrigue. At first I thought these murder drones was just that: Mindless killing machines. But never did I thought they where more complicated than that. I want to study her, see what makes her tick.

Come to think about it, I did saw another Drone just like her when I viewed the memories of that one dead worker drone. "W...who is V...? A some kind of friend? And what is your name?" I asked her. I want to know more about these drones.

I struggle to get up, but with the weight of this suit and the fact that the Disassembly Drone is over me makes that very difficult.

It was hard to deny that the Engineer had quite the strong retort to her ranting. The best she could do was follow up with;

"I was getting to that!"

Still... He is quick to question why he should let her on the ship. She is just as quick to point out why -- literally, pointing at the moving shapes in the distance.

"Because that!"

Fortunately, he seems to get the idea, now cycling the airlock and saving them all from dealing with a VERY crowded situation. They were moving slowly, only drawn by the noise right now. They could move pretty fast if they spotted something that they wanted to attack, but... Low visibility here worked in their favor. They weren't the brightest.

She lets out a small, relieved sigh. Though the Engineer then mentions that he does have several questions.

"Yeah. I have some too. With our 'guests' out there, we'll have plenty of time to talk, too."

She briefly tilts her head in the direction of the outer door, making it clear what she meant. With that said and done, she then hears the Science Officer speak up next, asking who V is, as well as asking for her name. She looks down at him, now realizing where he was and what kind of viewing angle he had on her.

It doesn't seem like she was terribly bothered by it, since she just steps out of the way to let him continue getting up. Before she did though, he did have quite the plain view of what was under her skirt. Which didn't involve underwear. It was a little difficult to tell because of the low lighting if she was... "Anatomically correct."

"V is part of my squad. As for me, I am Serial Designation J -- or just "J"."

Having said that, as the Engineer goes through his report to the Captain, she DOES shoot a glare at him as he stumbles on saying 'it', but corrects himself soon thereafter. She crosses her arms, and looks like she wants to make a comment, but instead...

"Like I just told your friend, I don't kill Humans. I liquidate company assets and dispose of unwanted materials on this planet. Which includes those things."

She turns slightly to more accurately point a finger at the outer door.

---

Fortunately, everything was quiet in the ship right now. That Worker Drone didn't seem to be stirring from the damage it had taken -- fine by me. I still wanted to take measures to secure it, but making sure everyone was extracted safely from dangerous situations was the priority.

Still, without much to do, it's basically "stand and wait". At least until I get a report from the Engineering Officer, who soon fills me in on the situation outside. Suffice to say... It doesn't sound great.

"Okay... At least it sounds like we can ask the one coming inside the ship for help."

So... Getting weapons up and running. It would be nice if I had the chance to outfit more weaponry for the ship. It didn't even have to be military-grade, but it would certainly be nice if it were. As the airlock finishes cycling and they enter...

J walks over to survey the situation, and then looks at the wrecked Worker Drone on the floor. She smirks.

"Nice."

She then looks at the gathered crew.

"Okay. Normally, I'd be keen to drag you all into a messy court proceeding over the fact that you're trespassing on private property. But I can tell you're not here by choice."

J seems to be a little reluctant to let the case go, but...

"Since there is no willful unlawful action being committed here... I'll help you until your ship is fixed and you can promptly leave."

At this point, I interject.

"Good. Unfortunately we have a lot of work to do. We would be here for some time, even without those things trying to break down our doors."

J doesn't appear to be very happy about that... But it's true. So she nods.

"Right. Once the other two show up, we can start dealing with those malfunctioning Worker Drones. So we just have to hold the fort."

Made sense to me. So on that note, I then gesture to the still inactive Worker Drone.

"Let's get this thing secured in a holding cell. I don't want anymore surprises from it. Then we'll look at possible entry points and breaches the rest can use."

Despite her abrasive attitude, J pitches in here by lifting up the Worker Drone.

"Be a lot faster if I take it where you want to put it. Lead the way."

"I really didnt planned on seeing that..." I pick myself up after J step aside. After J walk off, I removed my exo suit.

"I wouldnt piss her off..." I told the engineer "Or hers buddies. "Im going to go... somewhere, find something to fight with or something."

As I walk off, I started to talk to myself again "I really want to study her..." as I head to my little lab. There, I couldnt find much of anything useful until I find a wrench. I think back to a video game I remembered playing, and decided that this will be my weapon. Nothing much useful "Unless I decide to coward behind J and let her fight... as I study her!"

The Engineering Officer was understandably upset about the circumstances. Still, he did ask the big question here, and it prompts J to roll her eyes.

"Yeah, if I knew why, I'd already be dealing with that."
She replies.
"Concrete reasons as to why, anyway. I'm sure you've already pieced together a few details on your own, considering..."

She hoists the disabled Worker Drone a bit, as if to point out what she meant. After that, he asks if they'll be treated as "unwanted materials", and to that she shakes her head.

"Our mission outline didn't anticipate any Humans, survivors or otherwise. Basically, you don't fall into our objectives."

Nonetheless, she then follows up by pointing at him.
"But since you ARE here, the first rule of robotics applies."

With that... Everyone had an idea of what to do or what to look for, she was being directed to the lab, so that was where she was heading. Along the way, a third question is directed at her.
"Not really. But it's never been necessary since we can operate independently from each other, and we have rendezvous points to work with."

With that said and done, he then mentions to be careful with the Worker Drone. His behavior sort of reminds her of Tess -- and it makes her smirk as she turns her attention to him properly.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of your baby."

J replied sarcastically, but nonetheless she carries it into the lab, and it's then secured into a holding cell. Just in case it decides to become active again.

With some free time, J decides to explore the ship a little. See what everyone is up to...

---

I accompanied J, making sure she knew where to put the Worker Drone and how to make sure it won't be doing any damage even if it self-repairs and activates again. Fortunately she had a fair bit of knowledge on what they're capable of, so that thing is NOT going anywhere now.

Which left the most pressing concern. We needed weapons. I had an energy pistol, and it would recharge even if I had to fire it frequently. But one gun against several enemies was not ideal, even if we set up choke points... But, ultimately, we needed to consider that too.

So, I got the map for the ship, and began to route out important areas that we would need, especially in the event of an emergency. That would let us set up things like barriers, choke points, quarantine zones... Basically, we could make this more of a fortress and really hold off invaders. It wouldn't be ideal, and hopefully it also wouldn't be necessary, but it was good to plan these things out regardless.

First and most obvious, the hangar had to be secured, that was our way in and out of the ship. Next critical area was the medical bay. After that was the Lab, then Mess Hall, Bathrooms and finally our quarters.

Everything else would be considered non-essential for the time-being. If we could secure it, great! If not... Best to focus on what we COULD secure.

It was going to be a lot of work, though...

"Well... I think this is a good idea of what to do given the circumstances."

I said mainly to myself. I look over the plans I've laid out. It was the shortest possible routes to each critical area, and what we could close off to make it more secure overall. At this point I then decide to use the comms once more to our advantage to deliver the report;

"I've got some plans written up here, important areas of the ship that we have to secure and which sections we can close off. Hopefully we won't need to, but it's better to have this preparation done. I'll send you the modified map now."

With that, their devices would soon ping with a notification, giving them an idea of what I was working at here.

"If you see anything else critical I overlooked, let me know."

I look around my lab for anything I can make.

"Im not really a good fighter... Im a scientist, not a marine!" I complained to myself "I just... cant fight 20 insane worker drones and live! But perhaps... I can make some traps..."

Looking around, there isnt much stuff useful to me. The engineer wanted the worker drone I repaired in one piece, so I gotta respect that. There is all this equipment I can probably take a part and retool them, but I dont think the situation is that dire yet.

"But maybe I can ask her... I've seen the video of V's dirty work and they dont seem to have a problem killing these worker drones. If we can get both Disassembly Drones to fight for us, then it wouldnt be much of an issue." I talked to myself. But there is good amounts of copper wire I can use to hopefully trip these drones and maybe it'll work. And if we focus on chokepoints, expose a floor panel, these things will trip onto them and electrocute themselves.

With that little idea, I decided to grab some copper wiring. Along with that, I grabbed a generic pen, paper, and a clipboard to study J.

J gives a slow nod as he explains that something is pinging this husk, and probably doing the same thing to the others. Almost as if directing them. An unseen force sounded unreal, but it was true. She'd seen enough of these things to know that it was a genuine problem. That was part of why they were sent as the clean-up crew for Copper-9.

"Sounds about right. At least maybe now we can combine our efforts and make some progress."

J then raises her free hand and extends her index finger.
"After all, if you're a big help, then the company is sure to reward that."

Military Drones, though... Yeah, she'd never interacted with them. But they were a whole different kind of breed. Robotics meant entirely for fighting felt risky. But that was why Disassembly Drones served out their particular role. In a sense, they were defenders of Humanity.

If drones ever go rogue, then they are the ones most fit to put an end to them. And their programming ensured that it was impossible for them to turn on Humans.

"Well, you don't have to worry about them, or these rogue Worker Drones. Disassembly Drones are all about keeping Humans safe. Though most of our work rarely involves them directly."

... And as he asks about her teasing, she turns to him while walking back.
"It means that I know every project you have is one of your precious babies as an engineer."

She answers with a smug smirk, then turning her attention back to where she was walking. Now that the drone was secured, J had free reign to do whatever she liked on the ship. That meant that she could help them with their defenses. But at the moment, she was curious.

She was exploring the ship -- at least what wasn't quarantined off, and she was checking some things closely. While doing so, she also overhears the conversation between the Scientist and the Engineer.

As such, she chimes in.

"Yeah. The rest of my team will show up, especially once the fighting starts. So we just have to hold out."
She then glances back at them.
"And considering the situation, you should probably let me handle the fighting. Everything you're doing right now is creating the best situations for me to pick them off."

With that, she looks back at the workbench she was checking out before. She then proceeds to bend over, checking things a little more closely.

... Which, naturally, had the side effect of accentuating her rear for the Science Officer, who was already intent on studying her.

Quite the eyeful of ass, wouldn't you say, doc?

---

While everyone else was making their preparations, I took the time to close off the hallways to other areas of the ship, and made sure that the doors were locked. We could still open them, but no one else could -- and it would take forever to try and break through them with force. That left the vents, which the Engineer was already tending to.

With that part of things done, I meet back up with the group.

"I finished closing and locking the doors. The codes to open them should already be sent to you. But we'll want to leave them shut depending how many get in, until we're better prepared to deal with the lot of them."

There was no telling if they already found a way in or not. So time was of the essence. Now they just had to make sure that this wing was properly secured.

I at least felt a little bit better about having a Disassembly Drone on our side. I wasn't overly familiar with the details, but anything that was made just to take those things apart would make for a good ally.

"Considering I have the only proper weapon here, and since J is here as well... We'll handle taking care of any of those things that somehow get to where we are."

There was no sense in taking any unnecessary risks, after all.

"Still, prepare what you can for your own safety and defense. I hope it's not necessary, but it's better to be safe."

With all of that said... Now came the calm before the storm. If they were truly lucky, then the ones outside would lose interest and wander off. But something told me that it wasn't gonna go that smoothly.

"Wow... theyre big..." Noticing that I was staring at hers ass, I adverted my eyes "These vents! Damn, theyre big!" I said with a blush. Hopefully I dont get a crush on a robot, thats forbidden love!

With that, I finished making traps around the chokepoints around the ship. I can already hear the undead worker drones slamming their bodies against the weakpoints of the ship which was caused when our ship crashed onto this planet. Tearing, pounding, slaming their bodies against the ship. It doesnt matter if they loose an arm or a leg, they can just reattach it to themselves or eachother. If we are lucky, we'll have an hour left to finish up preparing ourselves.

"Im not much of a fighter either, and Im thinking about hiding somewhere on the ship! N...not that I am scared or anything... ...I have no clue why they want the husk, or maybe the husk is the one spreading some kind of virus."

With that, I hide behind J whenever the zombie drones breach our ship, with my handy wrench in my hands.

The Engineering Officer had his hangups about a joint operation with JCJensen, or at least getting a reward from them. Only alluding to a history of sorts. That makes J curious.

"A history, huh? Well, I won't pry. But if you've done something to upset the company, I could always smooth things over. At least to the point of a totally blank slate with them. Does that sound preferable?"

Yeah, it seems that this Disassembly Drone fancied herself high up on the corporate ladder, and seemed eager to throw some weight around -- and also reward hard workers. That last part probably went against most corporate thinking but hey, no workers, no company.

J glances over at the Science Officer as he randomly remarks about how big the vents are. She's still bent over -- and she soon puts two and two together. He's averting his gaze, and clearly NOT looking at any ventilation shaft right now. And he's blushing.

Now, one would expect her more sour demeanor to take over and for Chaos to catch an earful about it, but instead, she smirks.

"Yeah. They're huge. I bet that inspecting them involves a very hands-on approach to be sure you don't miss anything."

She adjusts her stance, pushing her rear out a little bit more; and yes, it's pointed towards him in the process. She then glances over at Ray and adds;

"I don't think he was talking about the vents."

Well J seemed to be having fun, at least. Soon enough, the Captain has returned to the group...

---

As Ray mentions that he is going to weld the lab door shut, I give him a nod.

"Right. I was hoping extreme measures like that wouldn't be necessary, but given what we're dealing with, it's probably necessary."

Eventually the Science Officer tries to offer some theories as to what is drawing them here. But all signs point to that Worker Drone that we've just put into a secure holding cell in some way. Given that J isn't interjecting, it seems like it's anyone's guess at the moment -- that, or he was close enough that it didn't matter to try and correct him.

The Engineering Officer points out the obvious though, it's all guesswork and surely it was nothing good. J decides to offer her input at this point.

"Well, I can tell you that the most important way to survive this is sticking together. If you know some good places to hide, we're all going to have to hole up there."

With her two cents offered up, I then decide to check in with the rest of the crew on the matter;

"I think we should find the most secure place possible. Whether that's a hiding spot or something else doesn't really matter to me. But it should double as a point where we can fight effectively if we have to."

Either way... Whatever we all decided to do, it was clear that those things had gotten into the ship now. I started to check over my energy pistol. I was probably going to have to use it soon, so this was the time to make sure it was in perfect condition.

J, on the other hand, seems the most relaxed out of any of us -- whether that's out of sheer confidence or simply not seeing them as threats is anybody's guess. It's also not lost on her that Chaos is trying to hide behind her. She sees this as an opportunity to have a bit of fun with him.

"Trying to get another look at my ass?"

She teases. Tessa was pretty much the only one that treated her, V, and N like they weren't just... Tools or appliances. So meeting another Human that very obviously saw them differently became a way for her to have a little bit of fun.

That, and she enjoyed the attention.

"N...no...! Im just cowarding behind you--- I mean, uhh... This is a perfect defense position!" I said with a heavy blush

I can hear the zombied drones rush in. Some fooled by our traps and dying to them, but their dead bodies only help other zombie drones bypass the traps. Seemingly, they know where we are and slowly is approaching us as I can hear their body parts scraping against our ships walls. I hold my wrench tighter and tighter the more my body is full of fear. Although my cowardice is slightly driven away by knowing that J will probably protect me, my fear of dying still overwhelms me.

Eventually, we can hear the Zombie Drones slam their hands and faces against the door that is protecting us from them.

"Crap...! They are here, prepare ourselves!" I screamed in fear

The Engineer seemed pretty certain that there was no way to rebuild that burned bridge, and insisted that he had jumped the ship a long time ago because of what got him there in the first place. Unbeknownst to him, though... Well...

J had a soft spot for that particular "crime". The reason is Tessa, who was basically responsible for the same thing. Though she'd keep up the act for now.

"You would be surprised the kind of influence I can pull. The offer is there if you're interested. Times have changed, and JCJensen is changing with them. I can even get you in contact with someone who would very much appreciate and reward your skills."

As for Chaos... Well, he TRIED to pretend that wasn't the case, but neither Ray nor J believed him. Whereas Ray was seemingly more peeved about it, J couldn't help but be amused by it. Idly twirling one of the pens on the table in front of her as she smirks.

"Aw, go easy on him. He's just trying to make sure he's very well defended by my assets."

She did that on purpose. And then the knocking and thumping started... Great, the zombies were here.

---

Seeing as how their enemies have arrived, the Captain checks over his laser pistol one more time -- it's got a full charge, and he's ready to open fire whenever those drones break in.

"Calm down, Chaos. We've got this."

Karasu states, trying to calm his fellow crewmate down.

J then calmly stretches and begins to take up a favorable position of her own in the room.

"I get the feeling if the door wasn't welded shut, you'd have opened it just to shoot one of them in the face."

The Disassembly Drone remarks, and the Captain, well... He responds with;

"You're not wrong."

With that exchange finished, J then thrusts her arms downward, deploying her assault rifles in the process. Her wings unfurl, and her tail swishes expectantly.

"These things won't know what hit them."

There wasn't anything to do but wait... Either for them to break in, or for V to show up. Whichever came first.

V had a REAL knack for dealing with these hordes, and J already knew she wouldn't be too far behind to check things out. Hell, she probably already saw one of the Humans anyway, considering they were poking around on the planet...

---

And as if right on cue.... The hallway filled with zombie drones is certainly packed, even despite the traps that were set. Still, the herd had been thinned out a little, and all their attention was on trying to break through that door. They didn't even notice when something began to lower from the ceiling.

A tail, with a glowing syringe, and a very sharp needle. It was lowering down to the head of one of the zombie drones.

Just as one of them notices, the tail strikes the drone in question. Then all the knocking and thumping stops. Oil is splashed, and then the zombie drones look up, and begin to hiss and growl.


Their sounds are soon drowned out by gunfire, the slicing and dicing of metal. And... The sound of a girl laughing maniacally, having just a little TOO much fun with the carnage.

"Heeheehahaha!"

Through the port window on the door, the crew is able to see one of the zombie drones stumbling back into view, before it's then pounced on by a glowing yellow blur. Even more violent sounds occur, and more oil is soon splashed on the part of the hall that is in view.

Then the culprit stands up, now giving the crew a good look at it.

It's a Disassembly Drone. Much like J -- and speaking of which, the twin-tailed Disassembly Drone then declares:

"Oh, that's V. Go ahead and make yourselves comfortable, she's got this."

V then perks up slightly, and then looks at the door's port window, and then steps up in front of it, peering inside the room. After glancing around, she spots Ray, and points at him, pressing her finger against the glass with a gleeful smile. Almost as if trying to say 'hey, I recognize you!'

"Oh hey, I recognize you!"

Her voice comes through muffled. But that does clear up what she meant.

I began to relax a little knowing that V has arrived. I loosened my grip on my wrench and lost any trace of fear I had.

"Thank god she's on our side... I probably wouldve lost it and hide somewhere..."

The engineer raised an eyebrow as J mentioned someone in J.C. Jensen who actually appreciated those kinds of skills. Ray had actually doubted it a little because it certainly didn't line up with the company he had worked for, but...He gave the drone a nod.

"If I ever change my mind I'll let you know. Right now I think we've got more pressing problems to deal with though."

The chief engineer rolled his eyes at the "asset" pun, letting out an "ew". Regardless, this..."V" had arrived. J was deploying every weapon in her arsenal, but the sudden change in the sounds outside the door made it clear their dire situation had changed very quickly. Oil splashed up on the door's viewport, the zombie drones were being dispatched quickly...And J announces that it is in fact V...A fact confirmed by the figure that came into view and peered in through the door's window.

The engineering was already looking after hearing all of that gunfire...And then she looked right at him. Though her words were muffled he could read her lips enough to understand what she was saying. And those words prompted him to point at himself, as if to say "Who, me?"

---

V wasn't operating alone however. What was left of the zombie drones heard the chaos outside the lab and began to converge on V's location. The drone at the front of the pack stepped in front of a vent on the wall...And then a glowing yellow blur flashed past its' neck. There was a pause before the zombie's head slid off of its' shoulders before hitting the floor with a hollow metallic "thunk". The body was then tackled by another disassembly drone flying out of the vent as this newcomer began biting into the stump where its head had once been. The other zombie drones began to listlessly lean over the vent vampire...And bit down on something that looked like a hat.

"Aaah!! My hat!!"

The Disassembly drone paused before realizing the hat was not a vital body part.

"... Oh right."

In an instant the drone's tail whipped back and pierced through all three of the zombies biting down, instantly deactivating them. They turned and hopped back, pulling a rifle from their handslot and opening fire, making short work of the rest of the crowd. As the dust settled the second disassembly drone walked up to the window, peering inside.


"Oh! It's J! Hi J!!!"

... Her voice was muffled just like V's was.

There was one pod that didn't open alongside the others. Instead it opened 25 minutes after everyone else's. The green haired woman climbed shakily, grabbing onto the pod doe support and clutching her head.

"Ugh… I'll never get used to stasis travel."

Cloris, or Clori as she wall called to people who interacted with her often, was what most commonly refereed to as a "white hat hacker". Essentially she was there as the ship's IT officer. She took note of her surroundings.

"So we crash landed… damn. I was hoping it would be a smooth landing. I must have made a mistake calibrating the destination."

Cloris had gone into cryo wearing most of what she was going to wear. All she didn't have on was a coat hanging next to her pod and the eyeware inside of them. She put both on and made her way to the bridge while everyone else was handling the developing situation.

She sat in the chair, activating one active console. She moved both hands above the keyboard, wiggling her fingers.

"If Auxiliary mode is active, then I'm going to have to get creative with what little power we have left. First things first: let's take a look at the navigation system."

Her fingers blazed away, quickly pulling up the navigation. Including the program that determined their cause.

"Okay let's get rid of that, let's fix this. Woah, we really came in hot. Ray's going to have hid hands full fixing things. Hmmm… There! Now we'll go to our original destination when we take off. Now get a diagnostic on auxiliary power. I've just reroute some power from non-essential systems for a minute… there! "

Cloris stared as the information came up, letting out a frustrated groan.

"Are you kidding me?! We'd be better off trying to find a ship that actually works then fixing this thing. Ugh, I'll go and transfer the report to my phone and meet up with the others."

After Cloris did that, she returned the power flow to normal, and made her way out of the bridge and back to the Cryo lab. The others would come back there for her eventually, and she would wait there.

Then all hell broke loose. A little while after she got to the Cryo room, she started hearing shouts and other things. She stared in shock. "What the hell is happening out there?!

When things quieted down a little, she made her way to the labs.

"You know, it would have been nice if one of you had stuck around the cryo chamber. It could have been going through a fatal flaw. What…"

She stared at J for a few seconds, then turned her head to look at the window for a few seconds. Then she looked back at J.

"Can I assume you've saved us from some type of threat? I heard the fighting all the way back in the Cryo labs."

As Cloris arrives in the lab, the sight is pretty interesting, to say the least. The Captain is armed with one of the few weapons on the ship, the Science Officer is hiding behind a JCJensen Drone -- though one modified a fair bit, and then there's Ray. Who is understandably confused by the fact that the OTHER Drone outside the door seems to recognize him.

Speaking of which, V gives a nod at his silent question.

"Yeah, you! I saw you in one of the buildings earlier, and followed you back to your ship!"

Then she was interrupted by the sound of a metallic thunk. As she looks over, she spots more of those weird zombie drones, and... N. Who was currently screaming about her hat. She simply gives her fellow Disassembly Drone an unamused stare, right up to when N walks up to the door and also peers through the window.

J noticeably slumps, groaning.

"Ugh... Synergistic Liability is here too."

Oddly enough, V's unamused stare is then directed at J, though this seems to go unnoticed by the twin-tailed Drone. Eventually, V's gaze softens and she looks back at N.

"I'm glad your hat is okay."

Okay, that sounded a little sarcastic. But she seems to mean well. Mostly.

Finally, the Captain holsters his pistol and turns his attention to Cloris.

"Yeah, we didn't have much of a choice.", Karasu replies, then adding; "After our crash landing, we had a lot of damage to the ship that we had to assess. Things were quiet at first... Then all the Drones started showing up."

At that point, J chimes in.

"And yes, we are helping. The ones outside are crazy -- well, except for those two."

J then points at her two fellow Disassembly Drones. V seemed more intrigued by Ray at the moment, and N... Well, N was probably giving a little, excited wave right on cue.

With that addressed, Karasu decides to fill Cloris in on the situation.

"Effectively, several parts of the ship are on quarantine, and we need to clear these things out and secure our ship. That is our most pressing concern at the moment."

"Hey sleeping beauty!" I said as I waved at Cloris, calming down after backup has arrived. I began to talk to myself in a quiet tone as to not have everyone here me "Wait... I dont remember a female crew member on our ship... in fact I dont remember a fourth member at all...! ...Wow my memory is terrible, I might have completely forgotten about her and perhaps a fifth member!"

A sudden thought appeared in my head. If not only zombie drones broke into our ship but Disassembly Drones broke in too..

"There has to be a major air leak in our ship!" I yelled out loud, freaking out over that revelation. "...Probably not that massive as we are still alive, sorry. But we gotta fix it. Or we can just hold our breaths"

Cloris watched the disassembly drones interact with… interest? It was hard to tell whether her face was covered to the degree that it was. Then she looked over at Karasu, letting out a sigh.

"Well you were right to check on the ship systems. It took a bit of effort, but I managed to do a diagnostic run under auxiliary power. It would be quicker listing the things that are fully functional."

Cloris looked over at J. She nodded at the android. "Then we owe you our lives. Thank you for the assistance, all of you."

Cloris looked over at her captain, slipping her hands into her coat pockets. "I agree. There's no chance of repairing the ship if we don't have access to all of it."

She turns and looks at V. "I'm sorry to ask this of you three, especially after just meeting you, but we don't have the firepower to clear out a large force. Could you clear the way for us?"

Cloris looked over at Ray as he mentioned he had run into one of the disassembly drones. She sounded concerned when she talked to him. "You exited the ship alone? That was reckless Ray."

She turned and looked at V. "We owe you even more than I thought."

She looked back at Ray, crossing her arms under her chest. "When we took off the ship was in perfect working order. We're all lucky that rhe cryo pods held during the impact."

She looked over at Chaos as she greeted her. "No, it's just us four Chaos."

Cloris watched as Ray handled the developing situation with the destroyed airlock. Fortunately, the engineer was very adapt with the situation. She looked over at J.

"Looks like we're going to be working together for awhile. I'm Clora, the IT officer about the ship. This is Ray, our chief engineer, Chaos, our science officer, and Karasu, our captain."

Cloris pointed to each of them in turn. This trip was already turning out to be rather interesting: all of them were going to have to pull their weight if they ever hoped to leave this place.