Murder Drones: A new Type of Witchhunt

You'd think that with a literal monster running around on a planet with an environment inhospitable to human life, one wouldn't go off on their own. Expecially if they needed a suit to make sure that the environment didn't destroy them. But that's exactly what Cloris Jade was doing. Right now the snow wasn't falling too heavily, and it was daylight outside.

That latter part was the most important element. It had been established that whatever creature was hunting them despised sunlight. And Cloris was able to make headway to places easier with her modified body. It was quicker to travel on her own then having to pace herself to make sure someone else kept up with her.

That wasn't to say she took no precautions at all. She had rigged up a distress beacon that Aegis would be able to pick up on and relay to the others. And of course she was going to make sure to say in semi-frequent communication. There was a chance that this mission wouldn't be very long: if there was nothing more she could find, then she was going to have to return to the colony as quickly as she could.

The spire of Cloris's destination came into view. The last time she was there, she had Karasu with her. Now it was just up to her to explore the library.


Fortunately Cloris knew exactly how to get inside this time around. And assuming nothing got in the way, she would make her way back to the room within the dome.


The first thing Cloris did was look around for any sign that Type 99 had received her coded message. She was hoping that there would be something there for her to decode left by the disassembly drone. If there wasn't, then she was simply going to have to take a closer look at all the other clues in this room.

The first thing Cloris noticed was the footprint. 99 had probably dropped in from the top of the drone. That clued her in to really examine the room. Fortunately her eyes had several different modes, being mechanical in nature. It didn’t take her long to find the mural. She looked at it in awe.

“You're quite the artist 99. I wonder what you could do if you had a paintbrush and a canvas. Now then…”

Cloris had a habit of talking to herself when she was alone. She peered at the drawing more closely, studying the description. She then looked up at the solver symbol.

”So 99 suspects that it's also infected the disassembly drones. I couldn't find a trace of it when I did a diagnostic on J. Then again, it is a sentient program. It's possible that it concealed itself from me. But then why not have the disassembly drones completely turn on us?”

N had weirdly frozen during the fight on the ship. But that was a far cry from the solver directly controlling her. Another thing that stood out to her was the markings around each of their foes. She leaned forward, looking at them closely.

“So 99 somehow knows that we've taken down two of these things. I wonder how she's kept track without being noticed. I'll have to be more vigilant in case the solver tries something similar to spy in on us.”

Then she noticed the final message. She looked up, and zoomed in her vision using a function of her eyes. She locked in on something taped to the dome. She let out a chuckle.

”You're lucky I'm now a normal human. This is where my jump boots will come in handy.”

Cloris didn't have a way to fly like the murder drones. Not only would that have taken a considerable amount of power to pull off, but learning to fly as a human would have taken a long time. Fortunately she had other methods she developed.

Cloris bent her knees, a faint green glow lighting up at the bottom of her feet. Then she leaped 30 feet into the air. She landed halfway up to the dome, pressed her feet against the wall, and used that to jump again. She snatched the tapped thing from the top of the dome, and landed on her feet on the ground with a resounding THUD. It was enough to slightly crack the floor where she landed. But Cloris wasn't hurt.

She took a closer look at the device. It was a thumb drive device of some kind. she examined it, she realized what it was for.

”The machine you left behind for us. Good thing I had the foresight to bring it along.”

It didn't take long for her to set it up. Inserted into the intended slot and it was up and running. A message flashed on the screen.

“Warning, this device will delete itself if it interfaces with anything other then the intended device. Remove within 10 seconds if you do not have it.”

Fortunately Cloris didn't have to worry about that. And after 10 seconds passed, she would get to see what Type 99 left her on the device.

It took awhile, but the device booted up. The reason for that became apparent when someone on the screen addressed her directly. She looked at the screen in surprise, although her face didn't show it.

”That makes two of us. I expected another message from you at best. But this is much better.”

Cloris smiled slightly at the compliment given to her. She didn't like to think herself as vain. In fact, due to experiences when she was younger, she came to hate getting constant praise. But 99's was truly sincere.

”I'm the one who should be singing your praises. On a planet full of sentient drones, you stand out as especially intelligent. Your knowledge is deep, and you used it to put together creative puzzles and traps. Honestly I wouldn't have been able to figure it all out on my own. That anti-drone paint of yours was an especially nice touch.”

Cloris pulled down her goggles to reveal her glowing green eyes. If 99 started at them closely enough they would be able to see lines of code and some symbols running within them, constantly shifting.

”You made my upgrades work against me. I'm sure that wasn't your intent, but your methods to make sure only humans solved your puzzles were clever.”

She nodded when she mentioned she couldn't come out in the sun. ”That's why I came now. I intended to leave another message if you had replied. But this is preferable.”

Cloris listened to 99's reasoning on her puzzles. It was a method that made sense to her. ”The solver was never interested in human things like that. You made the right call.”

99 then asked her a bunch of questions. Cloris didn't seem bothered by it though.

”Well the circumstances are unique. I haven't been fully honest with the rest of the crew. There are some things they have to experience for themselves before they'll believe me. I'm the reason why we're here in the first place.”

Cloris took a seat at the table in the room, putting the communication device on top of it.

”I put an extra line of code into the navigation. I expected a bumpy landing, but we ended up colliding with something that threw things off course. That's where the others are: they're working with some drones to get the ship operational by sundown. We want to be ready for the next attack. My skills are ill suited for repairing a ship, so I decided it would be more productive to find out more about you.”

She let all that sink in for 99. “This was my home once. Ever since escaping here I've been planning on returning. I made additional modifications to my body. I worked hard to get everything just right. All for the sake of stopping the witch. I hate deceiving the rest of the crew, but I have little choice in the matter.”

She paused, looking into the screen at 99. ”That's why I came back alone. You understand the nature of the witch. I can be honest with you in a way I can't be with them.”

Cloris then started answering 99's questions. ”First there’s our captain, Karasu Reiuji. He has a sharp mind and is excellent at strategy. He fought on Proxima during the drone uprising. Chaos and Ray Rights are both engineers with their own skillsets. I specialize in programming and systems.”

She paused, letting that sink in. ”I don't know  them well enough to tell you their weaknesses.

Now it was Cloris’s turn to ask questions. ”I want to make sure we're both on the same page. How much do you know about the solver?”

Type 99 was being humble about the praise she was getting from Cloris. The green haired scientist couldn't have that. When she complimented someone, she wanted it to stick.

”Even if some elements were there from the start, you still survived battles. Others similar to you can't say the same. Hopefully all this will be enough for you to do your work undetected.”

Cloris slipped her hand into her pocket. “I didn't expect that particular scenario, but that's part of why I didn't come alone. There are certain obstacles only flesh and blood humans can overcome.”

Cloris paused, frowning behind her mask. ”Worse then that. They might see me as an enemy if they knew how I plan to solve things.”

Cloris paused, listening to the drone talk about having to leave their squad behind. Cloris paused, then spoke.

”I'll keep an eye out for them. You might have diverted the thing's attention by splitting up. In that sense you made the right call. But the truth is that everyone on Copper 9 is in danger. Although some are in more immediate danger than others.”

Cloris shook her head in response to 99. ”I've been preparing to hunt the witches for a long time. But I haven't actually done it yet. There are some tools I need that are on this planet. Then my hunt will truly begin.”

Cloris paused, folding her hands together. ”There are a few things that I can do. That’s the other reason why I came here. There's another stop that I need to make. One that will make our battle easier.”

Cloris smiled at 99 behind her mask. ”Of course, any and all help is most welcome.”

Cloris looked up, smiling up at the dome. “I used to come here all the time as a kid. I kept thinking back to coming here with my parents, especially when I started getting my mods.”

There was a hint of sadness in her voice. But the regret of what was lost was overtaken by the joy of seeing everything again.

Cloris let out a laugh at 99's confusion. ”I was a little confused too. But he just really didn't like the name his parents gave him. He's actually a very down to Earth guy. Not Chaotic in the slightest.”

Cloris listened to 99s analysis of the thing. It was a very sound and detailed analysis.

”You have a very good grasp of the situation. But I was involved with the incident of Copper 9's destruction. I know it's true nature.”

Cloris folded her hands, putting them on the table. ”I don't know if Absolute Solver chooses what hosts become leaders, or if certain traits allow that to take place. I do not know entirely how its powers work. I know how it came to be. But for what it's is… it depends on what you believe in I suppose.”

She paused, letting that set in before continuing. ”There are two ways a solver hos can be born. The solver finds a suitable host that can keep its sentience. Or naturally developing within an improperly disposed of drone. There's a .01% chance of zombification of such a drone. And out of that small percentage, only .7% are born with the absolute solver.”

Cloris paused, leaning forward. ”How the program is capable of doing is beyond understanding. Some scientists believed that it’s a test from god. Or a force meant to punish humanity for their mistreatment of drones.”

Cloris turned the device so that the camera was facing away from her. It was now pointed at the mural that 99 had drawn.

”Witch is an apt name for a solver host. In lore they get their power from the devil. There is one personally that is as such: the main personality that drives them all. The only way to exorcise it is to go to the source: descend into hell.”

Cloris turned the camera to face herself again, looking at 99. ”There’s a secret facility deep underground. But I need a special key to access the deepest parts. And the anti-drone security is likely still active. Once I have everything I need, I’ll lead the others there and descend into hell.”

Type 99 had seen her share of battles. Perhaps more than she could ever understand. Cloris didn't see herself getting involved in a fight the way the disassembly drone clearly did. Both of them had their own burdens to bear.

”Yes, but it's a weight I've learned to bear. And one day I'll be free of it.”

Cloris nodded her head at 99'd explanation for the traps. Although there was one thing that was on her mind.

”Things like the paint trick and traps that prevent access to your data are effective. Although I can't imagine they would be enough to fatally injure one of those monsters.”

Cloris considered that, tapping a finger against her chin. ”I suppose they'd use them if they could. But this countermeasure was deliberately designed to be crude. Good enough to function, but not complex enough to infect. Of course they could have already destroyed them by now… we'll see when I get to that facility.”

Cloris leaned back a little as 99 inquired more about Chaos. ”There are a few reasons why. But if you want to know why he did it, you'll have to ask him yourself someday.”

Cloris nodded in agreement. ”Mood is just as important as everything else. In that regard, I've done less then I expected I would have to do.”

And then 99 asked her what she thought what the solver was. Cloris hesitated for a minute, trying to figure it out in a way that 99 would understand it.

”I think it is a force, an entity. One that seeks to spread everywhere. And in its wake destruction followe. It can be the greatest salvation or eternal damnation. It is the apocalypse, and it will test us all.”

She paused, letting that sink in. ”Not exactly the most scientific of answers. But science cannot fully penetrate The Solver.”


She folded her hands, leaning forward slightly. ”Naturally occurring zombification of drones is very rare. The hosts could be capable of spreading it. I saw the monster do something through the eyes of a zombie drone.”

Cloris listened to what 99 had to say about the solvers movements. She nodded as 99 said to make sure nothing followed her down there.

”Believe me, I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure nothing follows us. Although that might be difficult considering the circumstances. Once the key is in play, anything can happen.”

Cloris paused, considering something. ”99, I’d like you to make a list. I need to know what locations this thing has managed to breech. Be it bunkers, facilities, or anything else. And the coordinates of those locations. I want to see exactly how it moved.”

Cloris let out a a sigh, pressing ber palm against the side of her head. ”You certainly won't if you keep thinking of yourself as disposable. It’s high time you realize that they way most humans want to think about you is wrong. Admittedly I used to think of you all as machines too, but now…”

Now there was no denying it: there were drones that had their own personalities. It was contrary to what she had been taught growing up. Before coming here she had simply planned on using them. Without a shred of hesitation. But that was no longer possible. If worse came to worse, then she could end up hurting a lot of people.

Cloris nodded in understanding as she explained the purpose of the traps. “At the very least it would fix those imperfections faster. There’s a possibility that all these entities are communicating with each other. I'm not taking any chances in that regard: I'm going forward assuming it's going to fix the most obvious of its weaknesses with each future encounter.”

Cloris let out a bitter laugh. ”I learned a long time ago to expect the worst. It would be nice if things were easy for once, but that's not how things have gone.”

Cloris leaned back, looking up at the mural. ”Because in the end only the worthy are left standing. Those who get their hands on the patch can hope to control it.”

She looked back down at Type 99. ”There is a patch that was created to give control of the solver to its host. But only one was ever made. If the solver manages to destroy it, then all will be lost. But with that patch…”

Cloris trailed off. They both were on the same page about the zombie drones and the other entities. She smiled behind her mask at the drone.

”Thank you 99. It must not end up in the hands of the solver.”

Cloris paused, considering 99s question. ”If you can, also compile information on where Zombie drones have congregated. They are extensions of these creatures. So it's possible they might be using them to investigate areas before making a move themselves.”

Cloris paused, staring back at the drone. She took off her goggles, revealing her green eyes. The intensity shining within them was matched only by the intensity of her voice.



”Because you’re a person! You aren't who you used to be! Just because someone created you doesn't mean they're always right!”

She paused, then looked down. ”My parents created me. And they were wrong about many things.”

If Type 99 pressed on the issue, Cloris wouldn't elaborate further. Just mentioning them was enough to make her ashamed. It was a vault that couldn't be cracked right now. She took a deep breath, and looked back up.

”Doctor Greymind Is a genius. I even used some of his designs as a baseline for some of my mechanical features. But that doesn't mean they're infallible, or that they know everything about what they create.”

Cloris looked at 99 with pity. She spoke back to the disassembly drone.

”How can you say that you're a weapon with sadness in your voice? You miss them. Weapons don't miss others.”

Cloris nodded in agreement with 99's analysis on preventing information from getting into the hands of the solver. Likewise she agreed with what would happen if the patch was destroyed. At the moment she was too worked up to do much else. But then a scream snapped her out of it.


"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!..."

She turned In shock, looking rather stunned. ”99, I came here alone. Ray is still with the others.”

Cloris nodded at Type 99's insistence of compiling new data. ”That would be a great help to me. It makes the data as accurate as possible. Excuse me a second 99.”

Cloris turned on her communicator, and talked to the group in the roamer.

”Karasu, is everything okay? I heard Ray screaming from all the way in the Library.”

[Yes she is talking in the main thread now]