Murder Drones: Disassembly Required

Well Ray's reaction certainly confirmed it; Chaos and J had apparently already started doing it. Uzi and Cloris were quickly able to put two and two together, and Karasu just chuckled at the revelation.

"Well, morale is important too. J will probably be much more focused from this point on, at least."

V rolls her eyes. Slightly annoyed that she missed the chance to beat J to the punch, but... She couldn't be too upset about it either. Ray was clearly going through some things right now, and the time when he WAS ready for something that intimate... That would be nice.

Before long, everyone started winding down to rest for the night...


Karasu ended up having a dream as well... He kept descending further and further down from the surface of Copper-9. Passing through a facility, then an elevator down to ancient mine shafts. It went down further still.

In his dream, he kept fighting. Destroying everything in his path, almost as if taking great care not to miss a single thing on his journey. When he reached a mysterious cathedral, one would think that might be the end of it. But as he pushes onward, it becomes clear that there is one more step lower that he has to go.

A foreboding pit of flesh and bone. Without hesitation he descends into the maw of the abyss.

Only one thing was on his mind:

Make sure it can't get out. Even if you have to fight forever.

Gunfire. Explosions. He might have been alone, but he wasn't done fighting.

Each pull of the trigger calls up a different memory.

Another reason to hunt this thing inside it's own home.

The dream comes to an end, and the Captain slowly sits up in his bed...


He rubs his eyes briefly, and takes in his surroundings. He figures that the dream he had must have been because of all the stress yesterday, and soon writes it off. Karasu gets out of the bed and takes the time to make sure he's properly clothed and presentable.

Hmm... Maybe a shower would be a good idea, too. That thought in mind, he steps out of the room intent on making his way to the bathroom. About at that point, he sees that Ray and V are up now, and then there's a knock on the door.

---

Conversely, someone who had a much better time of sleeping was V. Normally resting never really stuck out to her, or it proved difficult. There wasn't a whole lot of deviation. But this time around? Snuggling up to Ray really proved comforting to her, and she slept undisturbed and peacefully.

At least up until heart rate began to increase, along with his blood pressure. Heightened breathing, too... She began to stir from her rest cycle. When Ray's eyes shot open and he began to look around the room in a bit of a panic, that proved to be just enough for V to begin booting back up fully.

The text on her screen shifted from "Sleep Mode" to "Good Morning!"

After that, her eyes were displayed, and she stares at him out of concern.

"What's wrong?"

She murmurs softly, and adjusts herself a bit, moving her arms around him comfortingly. Though she wasn't trying to restrict him, and if he wanted to get up, she'd cooperate with that. She was very keen on listening to him, though...

Then they hear a knock at the door, and V glances over at it, also spotting the Captain at this point.

"Looks like everyone is getting up now... But who is coming by this early anyway?"

By this point, it was clear that Ray wanted to get up and answer the door, so V would let him go. She remains seated on the couch, but begins to stretch. Raising her arms over head, and also straightening her legs out.

Once she's finished with that subroutine, she relaxes into a more natural seating posture.

---

The other one to rest well was J! Granted, she never really had any troubles getting sleep, especially after a successful day at work. But that proved especially true this time around. She certainly went straight for it with Chaos and they really did it...

Much to the chagrin of Cloris, of course. But things actually settled down nicely once it came to sleep. She insisted on being in the same room as Chaos, of course. And yes, she did sleep in the same bed as him, too.

Although much like V did with Ray -- she would notice as well if Chaos ended up disturbed from any unwanted dreams. Time would tell if that was the case or not.

I was too drunk on pleasure to noticed Ray barging into us, giving faint moans as J was still riding me. Luckily Ray couldnt hear these embarrassing moans as J's voice was loud enough to muffle them. Eventually I did snap out of my stupor and noticed Ray was in fact in the room.

"Aww jeez! Its not..." I tried to come up with the Its not what it looks like spiel, but it was obvious what we where up to. "G...get out dude!" I yelled, throwing a pillow at him which I completely missed, hitting the wall next to the sliding door.

Eventually Ray left, closing the door. I can faintly hear Cloris and Uzi and suspect they also knew what was going on. My face is red, yet J still rides me. We continued our devious sex act and finished, falling into a lovers embrace and I eventually sleep.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



It didnt take long for me to sleep, as my exhaustion mixed with what me and J did made a great spell for sleep. I slept like a log, holding J close to me. Unfortunately I did snored a bit but hopefully J can easily ignore it.

I woke up after a long day of sleep and got up. I stretched a bit before looking around at my surroundings. Cold steel walls surrounds me with little personal effects besides my bed. Strangely I was alone and I was sad at first but it was nothing new. Perhaps I dreamt of getting married and finally having someone to cuddle up to in bed with, but that never happened with my ex girlfriend.

I entered the living room slash kitchen and turned on the tv to generate white noise as I make breakfast. News channel was on and it mentioned something about murderous drones going haywire, but I mostly ignored it and continued on my day. Eventually I go to work at The Company I worked at under the Robotics division and it carried on as usual. At the end of the day, I skipped dinner and went straight to sleep.

Days seemly goes by and more and more news about these drones destroying cities carries on. Im the head at the robotics division trying to find a solution to stop these drones at destroying the earth. We managed to make an ai that can shoot stuff and eventually I invented an army of super intelligent robots. Hopefully with this our Company can save Earth and over throne JCJenson.

I woke up in my apartment, lap coat still on from yestorday. I skipped breakfast and immediately went to work. They where here, and they cant be stopped. I hurried myself to the robot division but what I found sent shivers down my spine. Blood, Death, and Destruction was everywhere. Just yesterday we had enough bots to have a large army of foot soldiers, but today what remains of that is nothing. One of our bots struggles to get it up, but a JCJenson Drone killed it without mercy.

I take a good look at the murder drone, and for some reason she looked familiar. Until today I never saw a JCJenson drone so it was very odd. She had twin pony tails wearing a maid outfit (or a business suit depends) with a large X on its visor. At first I thought she was cute, and I dont know why I had that though despite her carrying a head of one of my coworker.  But that feeling soon turned to dread as we locked eyes and my heart rate increased ten fold.

I panicked and ran out of that room. I was never a fighter, so I had no chances with fighting that thing. I had no clue what to do, so escaping is my best option. I ran up to my car, but that drone quickly caught up to me and landing on my car, destroying it. Thankfully it got distracted by some Company Bots and flew away, allowing me to find another exit.

But I couldnt find out, and instead found the best solution was to hide. Our company location was based on an old salt mine so I head in that direction, eventually heading into the abandoned part of the facility. Panicking, I try to find something to hide and decided a storage closet was my best hope. "Surely she cant find me here" i thought to myself, trying to calm myself down. "Surely a drone from a different company cant find" to my horror I hear some doors opening, and metal robotic footsteps creeps on closer to me.

Found you. The twin tailed drone said to me after destroying the single door that was protecting me. She quickly dispose of me and the last thought I had was: Betrayel.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up from a very odd dream. I take a look at my surrounds: Cold steel walls surrounds me with little human effects besides a bed I am laying in. I tried to get up, but I noticed some twin tailed drone is clinging on to me. I look at her, and I freaked out. I dont know why, but I was terrified for a split second until I realized who I was looking at. "O...oh, its... its just you J" I said to her quietly. I pet hers hair in a sigh of relief, and try to go back to sleep.

Uzi thought about trying to show bravado. It was lame to look weak and vulnerable. Her life had been hard enough with all her confidence and aggressiveness: she’d have been mocked mercilessly if she had ever shown weakness after all that. But this wasn’t a normal situation. Uzi shook her head.

”I don’t know Ray. I think I’m going insane.”

Uzi walked over to the couch, hopping backwards onto it and leaning back. She looked over at Ray. ”We don’t really eat. There’s barely any food to be had anywhere.”

Uzi frowned as she realized something. ”How much of a food supply do you guys have?

She paused, staring down at the paper. ”I had a fricking scary dream last night. It felt so real. I felt like I had to draw it or something…ugh… I don’t know…”

Uzi held up the drawing for Ray and the others to see. ”I’ve never seen anything like that. Do you know what kind of building that is?

Ray needed a moment to compose himself, and V waited patiently for that. Finally though, he was able to answer -- just a bad dream. But the Disassembly Drone was uncertain of that being he case, given how much it had bothered him...

But his vitals did start to return to normal after she gave him a comforting hug.

"If you need to, we can talk about it. Either way, I'm here."

She offered what help she could in this situation. Especially seeing as how they had a guest now. Reluctant though she was to get up off of him, she did so, and Ray was able to get up and answer the door as a result. Karasu started making his way over as well, curious as to what was going on.

The sight of Uzi at the door was unexpected. Especially given how shaken she appeared to be right now. Ray is the first to ask if she's alright, and she shakes her head, admitting that she feels like she's losing her mind. Shortly thereafter she makes her way over to the couch and hops into her seat. V looks over at her, arching an eyebrow.

"Jeez. You look like you've seen a robo-ghost, or something."

After that brief exchange, Ray offers to get her a drink, but Uzi refuses, citing that they don't really need to eat or drink. V raises her hand.

"I could go for some oil!"
She remarks with a smile, then she looks over at Uzi and shrugs.
"What?"

In any case... Uzi then asks how much of a food supply the crew has to work with.

"Well, going off of what we've learned so far, it seems like the JCJensen Space Station is still in working order. So as long as we put in orders, we should be good for quite awhile. It would be good if we could make ourselves self-sufficient, though..."

Karasu then responds to that question.

As Ray makes his way back to the couch and sits next to V, she would gently grab onto his arm and rest her head on his shoulder, hoping to keep him from getting stressed again.

But everyone was pretty curious about what it was that Uzi had in her hands right now. Eventually she explains that it's a drawing from her dream -- and then she shows it.

Karasu steps closer and examines the drawing -- and he does recognize it, even if only vaguely.

"Hmm... That's a cathedral. I think I've seen that exact one, too."

He admits, crossing his arms as he straightens out.

"Crazy as it sounds, I saw it in a dream of my own. I just figured it was because of everything that happened yesterday, but now..."

He trails off. Whatever it was, it certainly didn't seem like good news...

---

Meanwhile! In Chaos's room. After that very troubling dream, he was quite relieved to wake up in a familiar space, with the comforting warmth of someone close to him, wrapping him up in a loving embrace. Yes. Warm and soft -- hmm, it felt a bit different than usual though, didn't it?

"What's the matter? Did you have a bad dream?"

Ah, that was a familiar voice. Undeniably feminine, filled with care -- but hmm. It sounded a bit different from J, didn't it?


Well, that looked like her signature grin, at least. Maybe it was just his mind playing tricks on him.

"By the way, who the heck is J?"

... Or maybe not.

As Chaos sits up to get a better look at what's going on...


"Well, never mind. Now. Why don't you scootch over to me and give me a kiss?"

She begins to lean in towards him, puckering her lips. Chaos then realizes that his back is LITERALLY to the wall. And just as her lips are about to make contact with his...

He wakes up for real.

A false ending to a dream, jeez...

But at least NOW he can actually see that it is, in fact, J. Her sleep mode ends as she recognizes his voice, text flashing across her optics with "Good Morning!"

Then her eyes blink into view, replacing the text.

"Are you alright? Your heart rate skyrocketed, and you were breathing like crazy."

J puts a hand on Chaos's forehead, as if testing his temperature.

"Hmm... You don't seem to be getting sick."

She calmly pulls her hand away, looking at him calmly.

"Well, if you had a bad dream, everything is alright. Promise."

She then remarks softly, snuggling up with him once more to try and calm his nerves.

I woke up in a panic once again. "She isnt my wife!" i kept screaming to myself. "She isnt... Oh, just another nightmare."

I didnt realized I woke J up until I heard her speak. "I had a dream and it felt so real. Just when hers lips pressed up against mine..." it wasnt long until J mentioned me having an elevated heart rate and me hyper ventilating. "Was I really doing that? I didnt knew I was actually doing that outside of my dream."

Before J can question what kind of dream I had and what girl I was going to kiss in my second dream, I spoke. "My first dream... i cant really remember. I was back on Earth in my old apartment and I think some JCJenson drones was going haywire." I continued. "Its really foggy, but I think a drone that looked like you killed me. It was really crazy, jeez! Glad it was just a dream though, you'd never attack me like that!"

J snuggles me and I cuddle her back, calming me down. "But thanks J for comforting me, your the best top drone here."

Thanks. I Don't know if it'll even work, but it's worth a shot, I guess.”

Uzi then realized something. She pointed to her head. But don't even think about looking into my memory banks!”

Then Ray apologized. He realized she wasn't like the other droids she encountered. Despite how she felt, she gave the other human a sly little smirk.

“As long as you don't try taking a bath with me, you'll be fine. Just treat me like you'd treat one of your crewmates.”

She looked up as Ray put his hand on his shoulder. She didn't knock his hand away: if anything, she looked a little relieved. Uzi was grateful for the comfort she was getting, even if she wouldn't openly admit it.

Uzi glanced over at V, that tired look still on her face. ”I wish. A robo-ghost would have been awesome. Not fricking terrifying like what we've been dealing with.”

Uzi stared back at V as she mentioned needing oil. She rolled her eyes at the other drone.

”Sensitive much? If you’re drinking from a can then I literally don't care.”

Uzi stared at Ray as he told her about what the drones had given them. She let out a sigh, pressing a hand against her face.

”Seriously?! How did any of them not know that humans drink water?!“

She looked over at Karasu, letting out a relieved sigh.

”Thank robo-Jesus.”

She then blinked, looking around the room.

”Not that I care about you all or anything. Dying of thirst or hunger is just a horrible way to go. Not even my worst enemies deserve that.”

Uzi turned, crossing her arms under her chest. That was convincing, right? They would totally believe she didn't care at all.

"A drone...Dreaming..."

Uzi waved her hand in front of Ray, then snapped her fingers a couple of times.

”Hey!  Human-like qualities, remember? Focus Ray!”

His concern returned after that though. Which made Uzi feel a little better. Which she still didn't know how to process. She was feeling a lot of things she had never experienced before.

"Cool S."

Uzi rolled her eyes, lightly poking Ray's chest with her finger.

"Don't mock my strange drawings of nightmares!”

Uzi stared at Karasu in shock. She scrambled up a little over the top of the top, holding the drawing with one hand and pointing at it with the other.

”Wait, you saw this exact building? This random building I dreamed up?”

Uzi was starting to get freaked out. She slumped back down on the couch after Karasu gave his reply. Then she and
Ray talked a bit about it. She pointed at the hole on the page.

”It’s some kind of chasm. It’s actually inside the building. I couldn't really draw that though.”

”Better yet...What's this symbol here?"

Uzi froze. She had seen this symbol in the mirror this morning. But the echos of a ghost stopped her cold.

”You were born a witch, just like us."

That creature kept calling her a witch. And she had been wielding some strange power ever since that batlle. V and J would probably kill her where she stood if they thought she was anything like the monster they fought. And the humans would want nothing to do with her.

”If they knew they'd hate me.”

Uzi couldn't think of a worse way to die. Everyone she cared about abandoning her and leaving her to be torn apart by murder drones. Abandoning her like everyone else in her life had done.

Uzi moved her hands to her knee joints, squeezing them tightly. She couldn't tell the truth, no matter what.

”That creature used Holograms to try and trick me. It projected my mom. I saw that symbol in her visor: one of her eyes were replaced by that.”

Uzi glanced over at Ray. "You mean whether or not to go inside the spooky cathedral laboratory with an endless abyss inside? Not unless we have to."

V gives him a concerned expression, but she gives a nod -- she could at least relate to the fact that it was easier to be her true self when only around certain people.

"Later, then."
She responded.

Afterwards, Ray offered to run a full diagnostics on Uzi once the ship was fully running again -- and that was a very excellent point to bring up regardless, as the Captain chimes in at this point.

"It'll be good to have that up and running in general. As long as we can acquire the materials, we can run full repairs on Drones. Worker or Disassembly."

For obvious reasons, that could really solidify some alliances here. Hell, they might even be able to study the corrupted Drones and find a way to reverse the effects, restoring the original personality. Of course, it was all theoretical, but the mere option was notable.

As a slight digression, Uzi remarked about V being sensitive. Prompting the Disassembly Drone to roll her eyes.

"Usually you all freak out about oil."
She replies. Leaving out the key parts of "it's usually the oil inside of a Worker Drone."

But at least Ray figured out what the cans of oil were for! They could certainly be used for vehicles or other heavy machinery, but it was also a source of sustenance for Disassembly Drones. As he tosses a can her way, V easily catches it, popping it open and taking a sip.

Suitably refreshed, she lets out a satisfied sigh.

"That's good stuff."

With that brief exchange over with, Uzi remarked with relief that they were going to be fine... Before promptly turning into a tsundere about it. Karasu softly chuckles at her words.

"Well, either way, we won't have to worry about that for some time yet. It's still something we should address, but there's no need to panic over it."

But the group gets back on track, talking about the drawings on that paper that Uzi had. But definitely the biggest shift was when Karasu revealed that he recognized the place -- causing her to scramble up and pointing at her drawing.

"Oh yeah. That place is pretty unmistakable, even though it's a bit hazy from my dream."

He replies with a nod.
"Although my dream actually started from a facility. I kept going further down. Eventually I reached that building..."

And then he pointed to the chasm, which had now become the focus in the conversation.

"And I went down there. The focus of my dream was that I was fighting all of those... Things. I was making sure I got every last one before I went in there."

After he reveals this much... Karasu smirks, mainly to himself.

"...I can already imagine what Cloris would say about me talking about a prophetic, shared dream. She would probably insist that there's some rational explanation for it."

But then, there was that mark that Ray pointed out... And Karasu commented on that as well;

"But that symbol would probably change her mind. The mysterious benefactor I was telling you about yesterday: Type-99. She called that "The Mark of the Witch." I believe."

That revelation given, there was then the latest thing to decide... What to do regarding this strange discovery. Uzi was pretty content to avoid this place, but...

"I think at some point, we're going to have to investigate that place. But we can prepare first."

The Captain then declares. And since it was probably on everyone's mind now, he also decides to address something equally as important.

"Now, as to the meaning of my dream... Either something is trying to tell me that's how to stop whatever this is... Or it's trying to trick me into going down there."

He readily admits this much, but soon adds;
"That second option seems unlikely, but I cannot deny the possibility. Given other things that were in my dream, that should probably be a last resort as well."

Karasu finishes his thoughts. The fact that he was even considering actually going down there just to contain this thing probably seemed absolutely crazy to everyone -- but if there was something that could potentially convince Uzi that he wouldn't turn against her... This is probably it.

Not that it would help the feelings of abandonment, though.

---

Chaos seemed REALLY freaked out by that dream, come to think of it. He was saying something in a panic, but J couldn't quite piece it together. Fortunately, he soon gets his composure back and he starts to explain briefly what was happening.

J does arch a brow at him talking about some mysterious "she" and her lips pressing against his. It sounds like he had a complicated time of things...

"Well, a lot has happened in a very short amount of time. Your mind is probably trying to catch up with it all, resulting in some weird dreams."

That was her explanation for the second dream. The first one though, that was more troubling... He at least seemed to be able to shrug it off well enough, but J gently grips his shirt out of concern.

"I know it doesn't seem to be bothering you now, but... Yeah, I wouldn't attack you."

J replies. She liked receiving attention from him -- and to an extent, it was even kind of fun to see Worker Drones get scared of her. But the idea of Chaos being scared of her... That felt like it twisted her up inside, for some reason.

But her concerns are eased as he cuddles her back, and she relaxes with him, resting her head on his chest. She especially liked his choice of words, smiling softly.

"Naturally. I'm the best at everything."

She lets out an approving hum, enjoying the intimacy with him. But she does feel the need to point out...
"Hmm... It sounds like the others are already up... Should we go join them, or stay like this for a little bit longer?"

She asked, letting him decide what to do.

"Yeah, just some really odd dreams. I dont really understand it, but a dream is a dream. Not like they'll ever come true, especially since I just told you all of it J." I said, petting her hair as we cuddle. "I know you wont attack me, I guess that part of my dream is just my inner fear of betrayal. Some dreams has meanings, after all." I think to the second dream. "Like that other dream where I kissed some weird bit-- I mean, weird lady. I think it was some kind of actual sexual wet dream or something. After all, I felt hers tongue on my---" I look at J, and she is visibly upset. I decided to cut myself from continuing. "Nevermind, J"

"Looks like we should get up, J. If stay like this... the crew and the entire bunker will assume we're doing it again." I replied to her, allowing her to get up first. I got up and put back on my clothes. It wasnt until I noticed a couple of things. One, an odd odor coming from somewhere in the room. Two, and odd feeling in my stomach, and three, I feeling something tingling in my pants.

"I'll be right back J!" I said, rushing into the bathroom.

Uzi seemed satisfied by that answer. ”I know you wouldn't. But I got make sure.”

Uzi perked up when Ray mentioed a zombie drone.

”Wait, you have a zombie drone chained up? A real, moaning, lumbering zombie drone?!”

Uzi seemed weirdly excited by the existence of a zombie drone. An embarrassed icon appeared on her visor when Ray mentioned that he owed her. She looked away from him.

”You don't owe me anything. Just as long as you remember that I saved your asses.”

So at the very least Uzi could get a diagnosis done when everything was put together. A prospect that was a little unnerving. What if they found something weird? But she had to know, one way or the other.

Uzi rolled her eyes back at V.

”Okay first of all, I'm not the usual worker drone. Second of all, that isn't nearly as freaky as what we dealt with last night.”

Uzi's smirk grew a little bit. She stared directly at Ray.

”One time and counting. I bet you're going to make a lot of “mistakes.”

Uzi did air quotes with both her hands, the smug little smirk still on her face. At least she managed to have a little fun before they got into the more serious stuff.

Uzi shrugged her shoulders. ”Beats me. But does that look like a good thing to you? Seriously, would you want to go to a place with a death pit?”

Uzi looked between Karasu and Ray skeptically. She held up her hands.

”Hey, time out here! We don't even know if it's real or not yet.”

Uzi didn't want it to be real. Because that would be freaky as hell.


"Your mom...? Why would it show you a hologram of her? And why that symbol there?"

Another thing it couldn't tell the truth on fully.

"Okay Uzi, act chilled and laid back. Don't let them know how nervous you are."


Uzi slipped her hands into her pockets, looking shrugging her shoulders. "Beats the hell out of me. It seemed to know my mother for some reason. It seemed downright obsessed with some kind of debt she owed it or something. But I think my dad would have mentioned it if she made dealings with a literal monster."

Uzi froze as Karasu mentioned “the mark of the witch. There it was again. Why was it associated with that symbol? She frowned at Karasu.

”Is type 99 a disassembly drone by any chance?”

Uzi stared around at all of them, an angry emote appearing on her visor.

”No one is jumping into a pit! I swear, I'll grow wings and pull up anyone who tries that crap!”

Uzi swung both her arms sideways in a “no” motion.

Meanwhile, Cloris was still getting ready. She took a little longer than the others. She had to fine tune her mechanical parts to make sure they were working fine.

After that, she did a little prayer, kneeling on the floor and clasping her hands. Despite being a scientist, she was also a woman of faith. It wasn't something she made obvious or put on others though.

After that, she came out of her room, wearing her labcoat and goggles. She glanced over, then stared at Uzi.

”I see that we have a guest.”

Cloris then walked to the kitchen, pouring herself a cup of coffee. She added milk And sugar, stirring it around with a spoon.

Karasu couldn't help but arch a brow at Uzi's excitement over the Zombie Drone that they had captured.

"Well... Yes, we captured it for study after we crash-landed. It wasn't particularly dangerous by itself. Though it was difficult to keep down. The thing put itself back together and tried to attack us again, before we had it fully contained."

After having said that, Ray mentioned that he also wanted to get that up and running again in order to do full diagnostics for the Disassembly Drones and Uzi -- and Uzi ended up getting a little flustered over that.

"Don't worry, we won't forget your help."

Karasu stated. Shortly afterwards, Ray and Uzi had another exchange involving the bath, and V simply shrugs after taking another sip of the oil.

"There wasn't really a mistake. I think he did an excellent job, and he was a perfect gentleman about it the entire time."

The Disassembly Drone states in defense of Ray, and she gives him a subtle wink.

But it was onto the more serious stuff now... Ray asked what this cathedral was, and Uzi bluntly stated that she didn't know beyond it being bad news because of the 'death pit'. Beyond that, she was also trying to be the voice of reason, suggesting that they don't even know if this is a real place or not.

Karasu was a little more pragmatic about things.

"Normally, I'd be inclined to agree with you. I wrote it off as a random dream. But the fact that I had a dream about the same place as you did? I think we're a little beyond 'coincidence', especially in light of everything that's happened."

He explained, then falling silent as Ray asked about the hologram of her mother. The Captain brings a hand to his chin in thought as she explains that she doesn't really know, only that it seemed obsessed with her and some kind of debt.

"Hmm... Or he might have avoided mentioning it because he didn't want you getting wrapped up in something dangerous."
Karasu offered an alternative possibility.
"Whatever the case is, we're missing plenty of information here."

Whatever the case was, it seemed like this mysterious location was going to be where they found more answers. Like Ray said, they wouldn't just happen there by chance... And he also wondered if they could even really prepare for it.

"Well, the obvious preparations I can think of involve arming ourselves more appropriately. No more tools as improvised weapons..."
And then he points at the laser pistol in it's holster that he had.
"And guns with a lot more firepower."

He then relaxes his arm and hand.
"Armor suited to hazardous environments would be another safe bet. At least for us. The Drones should be fine, for the most part."

It sure sounded like Karasu was talking about going to war with this mysterious enemy... Shortly thereafter, Uzi asks about Type-99, prompting him to glance over at her.

"Hm? Yes. It appears that there was another Disassembly Drone squad on Copper 9. Although she seems quite different from J and V, as well."

He offered a brief explanation, but he was willing to answer more specific questions if Uzi had any. Regardless, Ray then points out his grievances with the idea of Karasu heading towards that pit and entering it, regardless of the possible reasons behind it.

The Captain gives a calm smile. Just as he's about to respond, Uzi chimes in angrily and shouts that she'll just sprout wings and carry anyone out who even thinks about it.

Karasu gives a small chuckle.

"Relax... I'm not talking about doing anything rash and jumping into it."
He replies to the two of them.
"But if it comes down to it. I'm prepared to dive into it to save the galaxy -- and the universe. One thing I am sure of is that it's bad news for this thing to spread."

Karasu finished his explanation, and shortly thereafter, Ray turns his attention to V and says that she shouldn't make any kind of suggestion like that either. The Disassembly Drone was fully prepared to do it if it meant protecting him -- but there was one thing even more effective than that sense of duty.

When he said that he needed her, well... She blushes lightly and nods. He might have quickly tried to correct himself, but she knew what he was originally going to say.
"Okay... I won't."

And shortly after that, Cloris entered the living room and made her way over to the kitchen to get herself a cup of coffee.

"Ah, Cloris. Yes, it seems we've had another troubling case of "beyond coincidence"..."

Karasu greeted her, and then he caught her up to speed about what the group was discussing...

Oh, and apparently Chaos ran into the bathroom just a second ago. The Captain wondered what that was all about.

---

J began to relax more, soothed by his actions and his words. Good... She didn't have to worry about him getting scared of her.
"Yeah... I'm still sorry that you dreamt about something like that, though. Even if there is another meaning behind it."

True, it may not have been her fault in the slightest. But she wanted him to know that she would indeed never turn on him like that. Not if she could ever help it -- and she never intended to be in a situation where she couldn't.

That being said, he also began to detail his second dream, and some of the things he was saying... What the heck was with this other dream of his, anyway? She was a little jealous. Why did she get the weird murder dream, and this other girl got the sexual one?

But then, Chaos stops himself -- wait, she looked pretty mad right now. He might think...

"No, I shouldn't let it bother me, it was just a dream."
She replies, calming herself down once more. Just like he didn't have to worry about her betraying him, she wouldn't have to worry about him doing that to her either.

Still, when Chaos reasoned that they should probably get up, before everyone assumes that they're doing it again... J giggles softly and smirks.

"Hey. I personally enjoyed it, and wouldn't mind doing it again. I'd tell everyone myself, too."

Well, her stance was perfectly clear on this, at least! But she does get up now, and that in turn allows him to do the same. But all of a sudden, he seems to be filled with incredible urgency... She arches a brow as he quickly excuses himself and runs for the bathroom.

"Uh...
Oh, right. The biological needs..."

J quickly put the pieces together, chuckling.

In any case, she gets out of bed and tidies herself up a bit, and then she steps out into the living room as well, joining everyone else.

I blush at the idea J willing to do it again with me. "J...jeez, J! I... uhhh, later maybe, okay?" I gave it some thought "It... it did felt great I gotta admit, and it did offered great scientific discovery. Humans CAN mate with drones!" Now I wonder: Can humans mate with worker drones? I should stop myself from becoming perverted again.

I exited the apartment, completely forgetting that it has its own bathroom and shower, and decided to use a public bathroom. I completely forgot about my space suit, so I am defenseless against the naked eye.

"how do you flush these things!?" i said to myself, after taking care of my human needs. "Oh, there we go." *FLUSH* "Phew... jeez... that felt great." I really hope no one heard that out of context.

I exited the bathroom and noticed a bunch of humans gathering in the living quarters. "Oh no, crowds!" I said to myself, peaking my head around a corner looking into the living quaters.

Uzi sported an excited grin that grew more when Karasu talked to the zombie drone. And then all of that was wiped from her face when Ray informed him what it actually was. She crossed her arms, a dejected look crossing her face.

”Lame. I really wanted to blast some zombies.”

The conversation turned towards a direction that Uzi did not want it to go in. Well, she wouldn’t have minded it if it weren’t for one thing.

[I]”I might the witch! I mean I did want to kill humanity after all.

She had questioned her own sanity earlier. Was she even sane to begin with? Maybe she was only just realizing it. She looked up at Ray, forcing a smile on her face.

”Hey, you don’t have to convince me to team up with you. Whatever this witch is, they’re the biggest danger on this planet.”

Uzi looked over at V, slipping her hands into her pockets. ”Yeah, I figured he was polite when you two didn’t end up banging. Ray seems like the kind of guy who’d take you out to dinner first.”

She said this within earshot of Ray, and definitely wasn’t lowering her voice. If only the conversation could stay here.

Uzi let out a sigh, looking over at Ray. “And there isn’t a door strong enough for you guys to hide behind either. Even if it did exist, that’s not how you guys roll. And I’m not leaving you all to deal with it by yourselves.”

Uzi looked between Karasu and Ray. She then leaned back into her seat on the couch. A spinning wheel icon appeared in the top left corner of her visor. It then changed into an exclamation point.

”A cathedral seems really important. If it exists, there should be some kind of record or schematics of the building somewhere.”

At least that way they could find out whether or not the hypothetical cathedral even existed in the first place.

Uzi rolled her eyes at Karasu’s explanation for why she might have never heard of it. She crossed her arms and huffed.

”Fricking dad and his secret keeping. One of these days I’ll get into that no-secret closet of his.”



Uzi turned and leaned her upper body over the top of the couch to look at Karasu as he talked about arming themselves. She raised a finger in the air.

”I hate to break it to you, but we don’t exactly have anything like that here. Not in this bunker anyway. And even if you find something, it’s going to be really old. So like… do you plan on making your own armor?”

Uzi blinked, then looked over at V. ”Hey, did you know about this other squad? How many of you are there on this planet?”

Ray then went over what he wanted them all to focus on. It all seemed pretty standard. When Ray brought up upgrading her railgun, she blinked. Then she gave Ray a smirk. She rubbed her hands together.

”Now we’re talking! Maybe I can get a peak at your ship too when you get it off the ground.

Uzi then stood up, letting out a sigh as she looked over at Ray. ”Of course I mean it. But it’ll be on my wings, not JC Jensons.”

Potential company slander aside, Cloris was brought up to speed on everything that had happened. She stiffened a little as Karasu talked about the cathedral. She took a sip of her coffee, leaning against the kitchen counter.


[color=green]”You and Uzi dreaming about the same place doesn’t bode well. All the explanations I can think of are worrisome. One possibility is that someone or something may be projecting thoughts into our minds. Another is that you and Uzi are connected somehow, although I see no evidence to suggest that. I can think of other possibilities that are equally disturbing. We shouldn’t let these visions guide us, even if the cathedral is real.”[color]

She walked over and picked up Uzi’s drawing. She stared at it intently. Meanwhile Uzi looked up at Cloris. She pointed at the goggles on her face.

“Say, you wouldn’t happen to have green eyes would you?”

Cloris looked over at Uzi, she lowered her goggles just enough for Uzi to see the top of her glowing green orbs. Then she put them back on.

”Very astute. Is there a reason you asked?”

”Nope. Totally no reason at all why I’d want to know something like that.”

The suspicious stare that Uzi was giving the scientist said told a different story though. Cloris raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say a word. She then handed the drawing back to Uzi.

”You have a talent for drawing. I’d like to see what you could do with a proper color wheel.”

”Um… thanks…”

Uzi got up from the couch and walked away, still looking at the human wearily. If Cloris was bothered by it, then she didn’t show it, She looked over at Ray.

”I agree with the first two points. But I think we should prepare to evade the witch, not fight it. I’ll look over all the data and see if I can come up with a way of combating it. But for now the priority should be to survive. At least until we get more means to fight it.”

She looked over at Karasu, taking another sip of her coffee. ”We should get as many resources and allies as possible before taking the fight to the witch. I also would like to check out the other bunker colonies. We might find some answersthat way. I especially want to follow up on any more information we get from Type 99..”

Karasu gives another soft chuckle at Uzi's disappointment.

"You may still get a chance. But for now, let's try and figure things out."

After that, both Ray and Uzi remarked on V's former habits, and she gives another calm shrug.
"Fair point. But at least with a constant supply of oil, we Disassembly Drones won't have to take it out on any Worker Drones."

And then Uzi went and said that Ray seemed like the kind of guy that would take V out to dinner first. The Disassembly Drone smiles at that thought.
"Doesn't sound like a bad idea, actually."

But on more serious discussions... It seemed like everyone could agree on one thing; the Witch was declaring war on everyone, especially after last night. Ray was the first one to suggest that they prepare accordingly based on that fact, and Uzi already signed up to help them out -- even citing that she didn't need any convincing.

Of course, the purple-haired Worker Drone also ended up bringing up the fact that an important place like a Cathedral probably had records or schematics.

"Hmm... Maybe."
Karasu admitted, then adding;
"It might be worth trying to look into what information we can. But let's consider that lower on the priority for now."

Everyone could also agree that this place was real, and it was worth investigation at some point... And Ray finally submits a formal suggestion to the Captain regarding what they should do; he wanted to get their ship up and running again. He also wanted to work with Chaos and Uzi on upgrading her railgun.

Shortly thereafter, Ray goes over the whole plan with everyone present, just as a nice recap of what he thinks they should do. Cloris offered her own thoughts soon thereafter, recommending the exercise of caution on multiple fronts.

Karasu lets everyone get their thoughts out before he starts to speak up.

"I can understand why you want to err on the side of caution, Cloris."
The Captain admitted, but he soon adds...
"But after what we faced yesterday, I believe it is safe to say that our enemy is not going to let us hide."

With that, he steps to the middle of the room next in order to address everyone.

"I am in favor of Ray's plan to restore our ship to full functionality. We need a base of operations and that is our best bet for it right now -- not to mention, we know that our enemy is going to try and take the ship for themselves if we simply leave it."
He declares, pausing briefly.
"Our two options are to either make sure that it remains in our possession, or to destroy it."

There really was no other ways to go about this...

"We gain more advantages than disadvantages by repairing the ship and using it for our own purposes -- and as soon as we repair the ship and get it into flight, that is going to grab the attention of everything and everyone on the surface."

With that, the Captain crosses his arms.

"So we know what the enemy is going to do. And after last night, we know that we can beat them. We also know that there's a third one just like the two we fought.

As soon as our ship is in the air, expect the enemy to attack it. We're going to prepare anti-air weaponry. We'll also arm and train the Worker Drones to fight. We'll pick locations that can be well hidden and fortified, and we can use our long range communications with the Disassembly Drones."

He then steps over to the table, setting a few objects into the right space to help visualize the battlefield.

"The Disassembly Drones are going to be our air and ground support. Our fighter squadron. Their job is to help the ship, and to lure the enemy into range of our anti-air. And if any of our anti-air is attacked, then we can have them break off to help."

At this point, V interjects.

"The best kind of weaponry to use would be beam or energy-based. Ballistic projectiles are just going to bounce off of them without doing any damage."
That wasn't the entire truth, but it was close enough to be the case -- easier to understand.
"Missiles can work too, but only if a Disassembly Drone is there to make sure it hits the target."

Karasu gives a nod at her words.
"Focus on the development of energy weapons, then."

With that, the next thing to discuss...
"As far as allies, we're not too picky. Any Worker Drone that can hold and fire a gun is going to be good enough. But if we find anyone better than that bare minimum, we definitely want them on our side."

Karasu arranges the objects on the battlefield a little more appropriately, based on the tactics that they've been going over.

"We may not know everything about our enemy. But right now, this is the time where we apply pressure. They may not yet know that we've taken out two of their special agents -- for lack of a better term -- and the only way we're going to avoid a fight is if we hunker down in this bunker."

He then glances over at Uzi.

"And I believe she can make a case as to why that isn't good enough -- even setting aside the fact that one of them got inside last night."

Still, all of that said, he straightens out and looks to Cloris.

"That being said. Type-99 would certainly be a valuable ally. So I won't stop you from trying to exchange information and meet up with her."

In the middle of this, Uzi also asked V how many other Disassembly Drones there were on the planet. But she simply shrugs in response.
"No idea. JCJenson's been sending everything they can to Copper 9 to contain the situation, though. I'm guessing the number is going to be a lot higher than the ones that are still active."

Uzi also mentioned that finding equipment within the bunker was unlikely, but Karasu simply smiles.
"We'll be making our own. All we need is enough materials and enough hands. Our ship is outfitted with useful machinery to make weapons and armor -- all sorts of tools and things beyond that, too."

Finally... Ray wanted to know if anyone else had any suggestions or thoughts. And by this point, V raises her hand.

"There is one important thing to know. Disassembly Drones and sunlight don't mix. Our heat levels run pretty high as is, so the sunlight is likely to make us burst into flames. I'm guessing UV lights would do that, too."
However... She also added this;
"But I'm pretty sure that's true of those things, too. Even setting aside the one that was especially sensitive to light."

So with that, V turns her attention towards Ray.
"You might have to rig something up for us to keep us safe from the sunlight. We should be fine as long as we're not in it for too long. Then, you know, maybe we can deal with the problem more appropriately when you can run diagnostics..."

Finally, J steps forward.

"We've done pretty well at hunting these things before you all showed up. But with this amount of preparation, I think we have a chance to actually take the fight to them."

Finally, Karasu glances at everyone present at least once.
"Alright. We all know the plan. Any objections?"

As an aside, J looks over at Chaos peeking around the corner, and she gives him a little bit of a teasing wave.

"No, I think I'll stay back here where everyone cant see me." I said, replying to Ray. "And I dont have my suit on anyways and non of you saw me without my suit ever. I feel naked and stupid. Also I stink, Drones cant smell as long as I know but humans can! Even Cloris and she'll judge me!"

Eventually J enters the room and beckons me towards her.

"I guess I can upgrade that thing" I said, stepping into view. I walk towards J, and stopping behind her. "Honestly I had ideas about improving the idea but..." I think back to that room where I had to repair the railgun. "There isnt enough supplies for it... I'll need to get back on the ship to make a decent upgrade job..."

"Is that all? Social obligations isnt my forte here and I'll eat food whenever you all leave."

Uzi looked embarrassed when Ray called her a friend. ”Calling you a gentleman might be an understatement.”

She blinked, then snapped at Ray immediately after. ”Don’t get a big head over it though! Just because you’re going to defend the colony doesn’t make you cool!”

Uzi put her hands on her hips, leaning back and sighing. ”Even if the doors could hold, anything with a functioning brain can trick their way past the front door. So the witch can just stroll into the bunker whenever she feels like it.”


“Doesn't sound like a bad idea, actually.”

A mischievous edge entered Uzi’s voice. ”It sounds like a good idea to me. We could make a restaurant for you and Ray. Cook you two a nice meal and set the mood for a romantic night.”

She looked over at Ray and gave him a very mischievous little smirk. Oh yeah, she knew what she was doing here.


Karasu mentioned it was might worth looking into, although Ray pointed out it could be secret. Uzi frowned as she recalled something. ”Well, it might be underground. But there was also a thunderstorm happening outside. I’m pretty sure that can’t happen under the surface, right?”

Uzi was left to ponder that as the humans deliberated their course actions with their ship. Clorus cupped her chin with her free hand, considering it. ”I agree, but there are factors to consider. Our ship was meant to travel through space for long periods, not withstand the atmospheric conditions of a planet constantly. The wind and cold are going to get stronger the higher we go. So we’re going to have to make some adjustments to account for that.”

Cloris lowered her hand, frowning as Karasu mentioned training the worker drones and trying to get them involved. ”If this thing is going to strike as quickly as we think it is, then we should only recruit and train a small group. The best available to us. We don’t have time to militarize the colony. If we send out untrained worker drones, then that thing will slaughter and corrupt them. And then we’ll be up against an army of Zombie Drones.”

Meanwhile Uzi was staring at Ray intently. She leaned forward, peering at him. “Wait, you know what a gacha game is?”

That aside, Cloris glanced over at V, then looked over at Ray. “I took the liberty of looking at the schematics when I examined J. In case we needed to do some type of maintenance on them. They have an adverse reaction to sunlight. I’m not 100% sure if it’s a design flaw in exchange for performance or an intentional design choice.”

So after that the basic strategy was set. Cloris had one last thing to interject. ”Karasu, I might take your suggestion and pursue the Type-99 angle. My speciality won’t help repair the ship, and Ray and Chaos can help Uzi with the railgun. I think I’m best suited to tracking them down.”

And then Ray declared war. Uzi couldn’t help but grin at that.

”Hell yeah! We’re going to kick some ass tonight!”

---

And so the party carried out their plans. After making preparations, Cloris headed back to the library where she had solved all of Type-99's puzzles. There was a chance that the android had managed to get her message and had replied with one of her own. Even if she hadn't, she wanted to take a closer look at the data that was there.

Meanwhile Uzi's enthusiasm had died down somewhat as she watched the worker drones try to work. She let out a sigh, gesturing over at them.

"Ugh! If we can't even do work right, where the heck are we going to find someone who can hold their own in a fight?"

There were there two curious drones who were studying the situation. One of the was bold enough to approach the humans.


”Chto vy, lyudi, delayete?”

[“What are you humans doing?”]

Doll’s tone wasn’t accusatory: she seemed genuinely curious about what was going on.

Meanwhile the other drone did not come out like that. She stayed a fair distance away, observing the situation. Every once in awhile she scribbled something down in a diary or journal of some kind.

Karasu ended up smiling at the exchange between Uzi and Ray.

"Haha, don't worry. After all the help you're giving us, it's only fair that we return the favor."

Still... The other thing they certainly agreed on was the fact that they could not rely on the doors under threat of a concentrated attack. This bunker survived as long as it did because it went under the radar, all until very recently, that is. But there was no guarantees that would remain the case.

In fact, it could be virtually guaranteed that it would not. One day, this bunker was going to get attacked.

"Indeed. The only way we're going to make our enemies back off is by winning this fight over the ship. Once we control the land and the sky, we can begin expanding our operations, to make it even more difficult to target us in the future."

There was a brief detour in the conversation after this as Uzi and V discussed the idea of a restaurant. Ray got instantly flustered about it. Uzi saw her chance and capitalized on it; suggesting that they could make a restaurant for the two of them to have a nice meal together.

V's tail began to wag. Which had the unfortunate effect of smacking anyone in the vicinity. Not with the bladed tip, of course. But still. And the closest one was... Uzi, who was also on the couch.

V didn't seem to be aware that it was happening, at least. As her attention was on Ray right now.
(Example)

Still... That silliness aside, everyone seemed to be in agreement now; this was what they had to do. So it was in their interest to make sure that they did this right. To that end, Cloris lets her own opinions in on the difficulties they might face with the ship.

Karasu gives a nod.
"It shouldn't be anything too bad. Aegis can factor that in once we have the ship running at full efficiency. But you're right, we'll need to be prepared regardless."

The other main concern was that they needed efficient teams to deal with this. Sending out anyone untrained was just going to cause issues, and Karasu gives a nod at that.

"We still may end up having to run colony-wide training regimes, just to find out who would be the best fits for this. And we'll only need them to hold their positions, rather than actively engage with the enemy. But I agree. We should get the best that we can."

And of course, Ray also points out the downsides of destroying the ship. They'd be stranded here, and it would mean getting rid of Aegis as well -- or at least having to put her into an acceptable vessel and transferring her safely.

"Yeah. I think our course of action is pretty set at this point..."
The Captain voiced his agreement.

Beyond that. Ray also wanted to setup communications with this bunker, and Karasu gives a nod at that too.
"Naturally. We want to have effective communications with all the points of interest -- and we'll want to take some security measures too. No public frequencies, and we may want to employ coded messages as well."

And then there was Chaos... Who seemed to be pretty shy about joining the group, but J's encouragement for him to come over and join her seemed to be all it took, and she gives him a smirk.

"Have more confidence in yourself. Besides, any perceived shortcomings is something that I'll be very easily able to fix for you."
J replies, taking a moment to fix the collar on his shirt and straighten it out slightly.

Shortly thereafter, Chaos works up the confidence to join in the planning, mentioning that he'd need to be back on the ship anyway in order to do the upgrades.

Karasu chimes in at this point.

"Indeed. Thanks to our discussions last night, the Worker Drones are willing to help us set up a supply chain. We'll be setting out towards the ship soon, and we'll have a brief detour to pick up any useful parts from those spires."

And after that, J gives Chaos her signature smirk.
"I'll make you some breakfast."

With that, she enters the kitchen, and starts cooking -- interestingly enough, despite being a Disassembly Drone, she appeared to have quite the set of skills when it came to this, as she worked with surprising efficiency.

Finally, Cloris stated that she would take his suggestion and pursue the leads with Type-99. Karasu gives her a nod.

"Prepare accordingly, and be ready to contact us if anything happens. Things may still be more than a little dangerous right now."

And with that said, it was now official... The war was declared, and everyone knew what they needed to do next...

After having a breakfast that J cooked for the Humans -- which was also a full-course one. Eggs, bacon, and so on. Any particular requests were also fulfilled. Including for drinks, that other order request they made last night ended up being a pretty good idea -- everyone was ready to set out.

---

Ray immediately started working on the cloaks, and V accompanied him, as always. J also made sure to stay nearby, since he was working on a project that would protect them from the sunlight. Once he finished making the improvised cloaks, he hands them off to the Disassembly Drones, and they begin to slip them on.

J gives a nod at his explanation. V, on the other hand, was doing a very light amount of testing with the cloak on. Seeing how she could comfortably move without revealing too much of herself, or potentially damaging it.

Every now and then she'd peek a gun out, or slither her tail out, memorizing the angles in which she could safely do so. All the while, she softly hummed a tune to herself.


She seemed to be quite happy with it overall.

J gives a calm nod.
"Right. Hopefully we don't end up running into anything, then. We should be able to still fight in a very limited fashion, but like you said, it's probably better that we avoid confrontations right now."

And of course... There was the Worker Drones putting on a bit of a comedic show in their attempts to carry materials to the entrance. Uzi groaned and immediately voiced her frustrations. Karasu just gives a soft chuckle.

"It's fine. I didn't expect everyone to be able to fight, so..."

His words were interrupted as Doll approaches, asking what the Humans were doing. The Captain arches a brow at her -- and then Lizzy shows up shortly thereafter, waving with a smile.

"She said "what are you doing?""

"Ah,", Karasu responds with a nod, soon continuing;
"We're starting our preparations. We're going to take the fight to those things."

With that brief explanation, the Captain turns to face them properly.

"We're going to repair our ship and set up several positions with anti-air weaponry. As soon as it takes flight, it's going to draw in our enemies. That's when we're going to hit them with everything we've got."

With a little bit more elaboration, he then calmly gestures towards the pair.
"Don't suppose you're any good at fighting?"

Lizzy smirks, placing her hands on Doll's shoulders.
"Doll here would be pretty amazing at it! I'll give it a shot too, but I can't make any promises."

She then glances at Doll, and whispers to her.
"Perfect chance to make a good impression, and get those things off our back for awhile, right?"

And then there was another Drone who kept her distance, observing from afar and taking notes. By now, EVERYONE knew about the Humans, so it was pretty natural that some Drones came just to check them out.

I blush as J fixes my collar. "J...Jeez, J..." She reminds me of my mother somehow, but I let her fix it. "Right, Thanks J..."

After our meeting, I immediately want to go back to our apartment so I can fix up a little draft for the railgun upgrade, but then J suggest making us breakfast.

"Oh J you dont have to, I can---" But I couldnt stop her as she insisted. "Well, I want some pancakes if you dont mind then." After a while, she finishes cooking for us and brings out our meals. "Wow, Thanks J! Its like... your wife protocols activated!" I said, jokingly.

While Ray and the rest of the group chatted I just quietly ate my pancakes while letting J do whatever she wants, even if that means feeding me pancakes. If I am mentioned or talked to, I replied back.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I decided to sit back in the warehouse and think up ideas for the railgun upgrade. I take out my Dream Deck 2000 and turn it on. It has plenty of features, such as blueprint mode. I also check my messages just in case I got any, but it appears I didnt received any messages.

Since I dont have any reference photos of the railgun, I just open up a text program instead. "I need to ask Uzi to borrow that railgun." I said to myself, writting down ideas for her. I wrote down ideas such as: Triple barrels, rotating energy canister, fuel efficiency, coolant... "Darn, it would be better if I saw it again though. I'd want to capture that thing firing and see how long that cooldown rate would be." I said to myself once more, focused on my task at hand. "She is probably busy, I'll ask later."

With nothing better to do, I make a sketch of the railgun and a skull next to it. "A trinket to the side of the gun would be cool."

I did noticed an odd drone with a set of twintails and a pair of glasses writing stuff down however, but I paid her no mind and continue to think up ideas.

Uzi looked at V in annoyance as her tail kept whacking her in the face.

”Hey! Cut it out! V!”


Meanwhile Cloris continued discussing plans with Karasu. She took a sip of her coffee, her green eyes regarding her captain.

”We won’t have time to do that until we get our defenses fully operational. So we’re going to have to chose the best we can right now. We can talk about training regiments if we make it to tomorrow.”

Both Cloris and Uzi were surprised that J could cook really well. Although only one of them voiced this.

”Hold on, where did you learn to cook? Why would you even need to do that?”

Cloris meanwhile looked over at Karasu, finishing off her coffee. ”That’s the plan captain. I don’t intend on getting myself killed. But we aren’t going to make it if we don’t take risks.”

Meanwhile, Uzi totally wasn’t buying Ray’s explanation for how he knew about Gacha games.

”Uh huh. Sure.”

After breakfast, Uzi went up to Ray. She leaned up and whispered in his ear.

”We're exchanging friend codes later.”

---

Uzi saw some drones she recognized from class. She rolled her eyes, looking over at Ray.

”It’s getting a little too crowded over here. I'm going to go and check with Chaos about those upgrades.”

There! Now she could leave the scene and not seem like a complete coward. She wasn't in the mood to deal with her classmates right now. If she really was a witch then she'd probably end up casting spells on them in frustration.

She found Chaos, cranking her neck to get a better view of his designs. She let out a low whistle.

“Hey, those are some sweet ideas. I wanna pitch in some of my own.”

Meanwhile the girl with the glasses and pigtails stared at Uzi and Chaos for a few seconds. Then she started vigorously writing in her notebook. Her motions were so quick that she nearly tore the pages a few times.

---

Doll listened to Karasu's plans. He seemed certain that the entity would come after him and his crew. If it was true, then this could be a prime opportunity to strike a blow against Absolute Solver. Even though it wouldn't put it down permanently.

Did they know that though? That was the big question. Were these humans connected to the ones who resided on Copper 9 all those years ago? The ones that got her mother involved in their strange experiments? Or were they just innocent bystanders just trying to survive? It wasn’t as though Doll could come right out and ask that.

Doll was caught off guard when her girlfriend grabbed her shoulders. She didn't expect her to be that bold right in front of the humans.


Then her girlfriend suggested that she would be a good fighter. Which was true. But she would have to be careful to make sure the disassembly drones didn’t catch onto what she was carrying. She gave turned her head, giving Lizzie a slight smile. Then she turned to look back at Karasu.

“YA mogu postoyat' za sebya v boyu. YA ne uveren, khochet li Lizzie byt' na peredovoy, no my obe khotim predlozhit' svoyu pomoshch.”

[“I can hold my own in a fight. I'm unsure if Lizzie wants to be on the front lines, but we both want to offer our assistance."]

Doll was not easily impressed. And didn’t show a lot of emotion a lot of the time. But there was no containing her awe when she saw the sun for the first time. The landscape of Copper 9 was entirely different during the day.

”Krasivyy!”

[Beautiful!]


Doll got on the bus with Lizzie, making sure to save a seat for both her and her girlfriend. And like that they were all off. Doll hadn’t expected to be working together with others, even if it was only just a little bit. She didn’t plan on getting too close to the humans, not until she knew why they were truly here. She looked out the window, watching the passing scenery as the bus drove through the snow.

Chaos made a little bit of a joke, but J just gives him a calm smile.

"Well, the good old folks at RT3 did design us to be fully capable as spouses!"
That was a term that would probably fill Ray with some nostalgia -- and maybe he wouldn't really want to remember those eccentric individuals, but... J certainly seemed to like their work.

V was lost in her own little world. Only called out of it as Uzi started to yell at her to cut it out. She glances over at Uzi and then puts a hand on her own tail to stop it.

"... You didn't see that."
V uttered, and kept a grip on her tail to keep it from doing that anymore. Although the tip of her tail was still wagging, also wasn't going anywhere.

"Hmm. I think we could still do some quick and rudimentary training exercises to get a baseline. But you're right.", Karasu replied to Cloris's concerns on the subject. It would be a much longer process to make sure that they actually had some well-prepared Drones.

But beyond that, Uzi then decided to ask the question that was probably on everyone's mind -- why did J know how to cook? The twin-tailed Disassembly Drone just looks over at the Worker Drone calmly, giving a smile brimming with confidence.

"When you're as excellent as myself, these things just come to you naturally!"
She proudly raises her head.
"Of course, I used to be a Worker Drone too. It usually fell to me to take care of the chores."

And as Chaos requested pancakes...
"One serving of pancakes, coming up!"
J declares, adding that to the assortment of foods that she was cooking up.

And the actual breakfast was pretty nice once everyone got the chance to sit down and eat. J had her chance to feed Chaos, an action which she enjoyed immensely even if it proved a bit embarrassing for him.

---

As V tested what she could get away with while wearing the cloak, she slows down a little more as Ray asks his question. Her actions pause as she ponders it over for a second.

"Hmm... I don't really remember. It's a song that I hummed all the time though. And it always puts me into a good mood."

She retracts all of her weapons, and carefully brings a hand outside of the cloak and up to her cheek, tapping a finger against it as she ponders further.

"And... Nostalgic, somehow. Like I'm on the verge of remembering something, or someone really important."

She then lowers her hand.
"Sometimes it made me a little sad too. But now it doesn't. Hmm."

She mused on that for a moment. Only then interrupted by Doll's timely arrival -- and all the other Drones that had come to check things out. Her expression conveyed a little bit of annoyance, at least up until Ray moved past her, and she watched him as he went to confront Rebecca.

She listened to his every word, smiling lightly and giving a nod in agreement.... Then the teen Drone decided to get confrontational about it, barking back at him and pressing a finger against his chest. V begins to loom closer, staring right at Rebecca.

"You're talking a pretty big game. Want to join me on the frontlines? Of course, if you can admit that he has a point, you can do the same things as every other Worker Drone we're bringing along instead..."

After that, the Worker Drone decided to back down. V then quickly adjusts her expression before Ray looks over at her, and gives him a shrug... Yeah, it was pretty easy to imagine that she was probably giving a manic grin just moments before.

As for the timid Drone that was watching Chaos and Uzi from afar... Well, J definitely took notice of her. She trailed her eyes along what the Worker Drone was looking at, then she looked at the feverish pace at which she was writing in her notebook.

J quickly puts two and two together, and smirks. This should be pretty amusing -- and she decided not to intervene, instead letting this play out.

Meanwhile, Lizzy, Doll and Karasu were in the middle of a conversation. Lizzy quickly provides a translation of her lover's words, and the Captain gives a nod.

"Don't worry. If all goes according to plan, none of you will have to be on the frontlines. That will be left to the Disassembly Drones, and those of us on the ship."

Lizzy briefly moves her hand to give a thumbs up.
"Sounds perfect, then."
She then rests her hand on Doll's shoulder once more.

And yes, she was amused by the fact that she got such a flustered reaction out of Doll.


But all of the hustle and bustle paled in comparison to the first rays of light peeking through the door as it opened. Then it turned blindingly bright -- some would end up having to shield their eyes momentarily. At least Karasu did, until his eyes adjusted.

Everyone had fallen silent at the sight; that was fair to say. Eventually the comments began to spill out, though. Doll was one of the first. Then Karasu spoke up next.

"It's like an entirely different planet now. You'd almost think everything from last night was just a bad dream."

After the Captain's words, Rebecca then voiced her own remarks. As for Lizzy? She had a different idea. Stepping a little bit more to Doll's side while still keeping an arm around her. Then she holds up her phone.

"You sure are."

With a wink and the definitive camera snapping sound, she just took a selfie with Doll to capture that face she made when seeing the outside.

She then gives her girlfriend a smirk, before taking in the sights herself.

"Jeez. If we could make the surface look like this all the time, it'd be way better than this stupid bunker."

Lizzy and Doll ended up getting seats together on the bus.

V quickly boarded as well, taking the seat that would be closest to Ray right now. As for J? She makes a brief little detour to bring someone else along. The timid little Drone that was taking notes about Chaos and Uzi, to be exact.

That was the only reason she hadn't taken the seat next to Chaos, and instead it was taken by Rebecca. But that was fine. She could just take the seat right behind Chaos.

Finally, Karasu gets into the bus as well, giving everyone a nod.

"Thank you all for joining us. Your assistance is appreciated, and believe me when I say that we'll make sure to repay the favor in full."

He kept it brief, then turning towards Ray and giving him a nod. With another signal from the Engineer, the bus started moving as he directed them where they needed to go.

All along the way, they were able to take in the sights of the surface; contrast to the heavy storm and low lighting of last night, you could see so much further out today. And while the city was in ruins... At least in this way, you felt like there was still beauty in the world.

Something worth rebuilding. The Captain lightly smiles to himself.

"Rebuilding civilization... Now that'd be something."

He mused.

Meanwhile, Lizzy was making sure to capture some video of this trip -- both of the sights, and of Doll's reactions to them. This ended up being worth it for this alone, in her mind.