Murder Drones: Disassembly Required

Cloris lowered her head, considering what Karadu said. Then she shook it a few times.

”But why send multiple teams if they were never meant to cooperate? And why is this truth so important? There's got to be more to 99 not wanting to meet up then that.”

There was just so many strange variables at play. Cloris agreed with her captain: it was best to get everything done as quickly as possible. As it turned out, he had very good reason to be wary of being out in the open.

The creature or creatures following them began playing a game with them. That was the only way to describe it. The shapes that never approached, the constant laughter. Cloris kept quiet the whole way, looking around for an ambush. But it never came. When they got to the inside of the spire, Cloris glanced around.

”Between dealing with two entities, the tower of corpses, and the creepy laughter, I'm ready to retreat Into a safe place. Let's get the power regulators and get to the bunker.”

---

”Bite me J!”

She stuck her tongue out at the retreating figure, sulking where she was. Her scowl only deepened when she saw Ray holding Vs hand. she huffed, clearly annoyed.

”Entirely fine. Totally not horribly.”

Uzi didn't elaborate further than that. She only came over to the others when Ray started talking about the terrible state of the apartments.

”I told ya. The ones nobody are living in are complete dumps Hopefully the wiring is less of a mess then the rest of the apartment.”

---

What Lizzy said made Doll's eyes glow brighter. Suddenly she rolled Lizzy onto her back, lying on top of the other drone. She then pressed her hand down on the mattress right next to her girlfriend’s bead. She gave her girlfriend a grin.


”Da, posle togo, kak ya eto sdelal, etot dron byl v polnom besporyadke. YA byl nastol'ko naporist, chto oni dazhe ne zapomnili yego pravil'no. No v kontse kontsov eto srabotalo, verno, Lizzy?”

[“Yes, that drone was quite the mess after I did that. I was so forceful that they didn’t even remember it right. But it worked out in the end, right Lizzy?"]

She stayed there for a minute before shifting slightly so that she was only partially on Lizzy. She didn't want to put her full weight on her for very long. Both of them were very apt at getting who they wanted.

Doll giggled back, resting her face right next to Lizzy's. ”Nam pridetsya izobresti novoye slovo, chtoby opisat', kak vse budut zavidovat'. Dva udivitel'nykh, krasivykh drona idut ruka ob ruku s lyud'mi. Davayte pozabotimsya o tom, chtoby oni ne uskol'znuli skvoz' pal'tsy.”

[“We'll have to invent a new word to describe how jealous everyone will be. Two amazing, beautiful drones arm in arm with humans. Lets make sure they don't slip through our fingers.”]

"I don't know why it's so important, Cloris. But you do have to keep in mind that she too, is a machine. So she doesn't think the same way we do. For us, it makes sense to get into contact with everyone and work together."

The Captain explains, soon continuing with the point;
"If you want to know why Type-99 has decided any of this, you'll have to talk to her about it."

Still... Their conversation began to wind down. Mainly because of something very unusual. The atmosphere outside felt even more still and eerie than it had before. Like that bone-chilling feeling you get when you feel like you're being watched.

That was about when he started spotting the strange figures. Then there was the laughter. Cloris was understandably on edge right now. But Karasu? Well, each time he tried to turn his head to get a better look at one of those figures, they always darted out of sight just in time...

But he was not content to be played like this so easily. The next time one of those figures comes into his peripheral vision, he keeps his head still. But then he quickly adjusts his pistol and fires. The laser beam would come dangerously close to the target -- if not hitting them outright.

Each figure that then enters his peripheral vision is met with the same response, aiming and firing without actually turning his head.

Eventually, whether because they reached their destination, or because Karasu scared it off, that creature seemed to have backed off.

"Right. Let's start the search, then. I'll cover you."

Karasu then stated, not entirely convinced that whatever the hell that was, was gone now.

---

While J is working on getting the apartment cleaned up, she eventually notices that Chaos is stealing some glances at her. Smirking to herself, she decides to make it a little more interesting for him.

Using her tail, she lifts the back of her skirt. Just as Chaos turns his view to her, he'd get quite the view of her ass. Unobstructed, as she certainly wasn't wearing any panties or modesty plates right now...

Once she got a rise out of him -- probably in more ways than one -- she'd fix her skirt and then look over at him, smirking. There was a blush on her optics visor, but she certainly seemed to approve of the attention just as much as she did before.

In any case, most of the clothes appear to be duds. But she'd still have them sorted through later. At least they found another outfit for Chaos.

"No problem. It's a bit of a change of pace from what I usually do, but it's not bad."

J replies, mulling that over in her head. Domestic skills were rated very highly in relationships. She already valued organization highly -- why, this room presented a wonderful opportunity to show how much she could turn a house into a home! Figuratively speaking.

---

V's hesitation remained. And she also felt a little disappointed for not being able to just go for it. She wanted to keep up her appearances of how strong she was, but at the same time, she also--
Those thoughts were interrupted as Ray suddenly grabs her hand.

V straightens out and her eyes widen. A blush fills her eyescreen, but she goes along with it, adjusting the grip of her hand with his. All of her attention was on Ray right now. To such a point that she didn't even notice Uzi until he said something to her.

That was when she snapped back to reality too. She does a few double-takes at Ray and Uzi, before trying to get her 'hardened persona' back while facing Uzi again. She struggled to think of what to say, or do. There is another small shock as Ray lets go of her hand and goes over to the apartment.

She quite liked holding his hand... But she tried to keep her focus right now, following him into the room as well. It was... In a rough state. Chaos and J were already working on getting it cleaned and fixed up.

J looks over as Ray comments on the state of things.

"Yeah. Although we do have some tricks that can help with a few things."

Just as one was left to wonder what she meant, she steps over to the kitchen sink, and after looking into it... She spits into it -- and if one paid attention, they'd see that her saliva was eating through the rust, but leaving the metal underneath untouched. In fact, the parts where her saliva landed and trailed started to look good as new.

J once again smirks.

"We'll get rid of the rust. And any replacement part should do, as long as it's still in one piece."

V steps over to the sink too, in order to observe the effects.

"Wow. I knew that our saliva could do a lot. I didn't know it could do that."

She remarks, and J simply places her hands on her hips, seeing another opportunity to boast a bit.

"Of course! There's no such thing as a rusted Disassembly Drone, after all."

Well, at least that was another problem taken care of... That left the general whirlwind of destruction here. Plus as Uzi mentioned, the wiring could be an issue too. And in a case of pattern recognition for the two Disassembly Drones; if J spies an opportunity to boast, then V spies an opportunity to get closer to Ray!

Perking up and walking back over to him with a smile, V then says;

"I can help you find replacements and check over the wiring! And I can get rid of any rust during our search, too."

---

And as Lizzy was recalling the details of how they teased one of their fellow Worker Drones... Doll reenacts it in bed, getting on top of Lizzy and putting a hand on the bed to hold herself up. Next to Lizzy's head, of course.

The blonde blushes in response. But soon, she lets Doll know just how much she approves of it, bringing her hands up to grasp Doll's waist.

"And I totally get why. Doll, you could awaken so many things in people by doing that."

Lizzy would tap her fingers once on Doll's hips, one after the other. Several little clinks accentuating her point. Eventually, Doll moves so she's only partially on Lizzy now, and the blonde follows along with her gaze.

And now here they were. Making all of these grand plans. Take the Humans for themselves, lord it over everyone as the couple at the top... Yeah, that sounded pretty exciting.

"Hmhm. See? Now you're getting into it!"

Lizzy replies with an approving giggle following her words. A lot had happened, but it seems like they had everything figured out now...

After I took a glance at J's goods, I looked away murmuring a "damnit!" to myself. If circumstances was different, I'd probably do something about this. Hopefully these suits cant show human boners at all, and if it didnt J would notice it if she ever took a glance.

Eventually we cleaned up the room. "Damn J, you do make a good wife" I said to myself but outloud. Soon enough the other three entered the room, and J showed off hers Disassembly Drone skills by licking off some rust from the sink. I begin to think to myself about other applications of this technic and the interaction before. "Goddamnit..." I whispered to myself agian.

I notice Uzi sulking near the door frame, and I decided to walk to her and talk to her. "Whats up Uzi, you look down anything wrong?" I said to her, completely forgetting what happened a couple minutes ago. "Anything on your mind? Need a hug?" Knowing full well she will deny a hug, but I ask if she wants one anyways.

There were a few times in which Karasu struck his mark. he WAS a marksman after all. However the figures hit by his pistol simply continued to scurry away. The thick blizzard made it almost impossible to tell if they had actually been physically affected by the rounds. However one thing the pair might be able to note is the brief light that was shed on the figures when the lasers hit them - It almost appeared as though whatever these were they stood around average human height and featured strange horns...

Though most shots narrowly missed the quickly dodging strangers, the few that did hit caused the voice to raise in volume, laughing just a little bit harder at the effort that was put in to dispatching them. Thankfully with that unnerving scene past there were no further incidents. Karasu and Cloris both would find that they were able to gather the power regulators in peace. Indeed even once they began to head towards Outpost 3 there was no sound beyond the whipping winds of the endless snowstorm that raged across the planet's surface.

The outpost's entrance was sealed tight - Although there was a note affixed to the door.

"Please give three knocks if you're human. Don't knock at all if you're a murderous machine of death brought about by humanity's hubris hellbent on destroying everyone I've ever known please, thanks. - Boltson of the WDDF"

There was a crudely drawn image of a smiling Worker Drone scribbled on the bottom of the note that was giving a thumbs up...

---

Ray was quick to notice the face Uzi made, and following where she was staring led him...Yep, right to the pair of hands that were currently joined at his side. He then glanced at V who seemed completely stunned at the moment...The engineer cleared his throat, not diverting his gaze from the little purple worker drone.

"V's batteries were low so I uh...Was just guiding her so she wouldn't get lost. Drones get disoriented when they're on low power!"

He gave Uzi a thumbs up, trying to give his best "winning smile" he always gave his bosses at J.C. Jensen whenever he was blatantly lying to them. Without being able to see that smile however it was likely he wouldn't be so convincing...Don't judge, it always worked with his bosses! He rubbed the back of his neck nervously when Uzi said something that was obviously sarcastic.

"Right...I'll take your word for it."

Stepping in the room he was met with J immediately briefing him on the state the room was in. The engineer raised an eyebrow when J insisted on having "tricks".

"Like what?"

Ray watches J step over to the rusty sink and...Spit into it...He reeled back, flinching.

"Gross!"

Well...The sink WAS clean underneath the rust, but he made a mental note to scrub it down afterwards, just in case. He raised an eyebrow when J mentioned the fact that there were no disassembly drones that had been rusted before.

"I thought that was because J.C. Jensen uses a rustless Plasteel alloy for all of their drones?"

He gave a sigh, nodding as he listened to Uzi's concerns over the wiring.

"It's probably fine but I can give that a look-over too."

Well, it was gonna be a bit of a tedious job but...He smiles and nods when V insists that she can help with all of that.

"Good idea, with two of us working on it, it'll go a lot faster. Hey, Uzi you've lived here your whole life right? Think you can point us towards all the abandoned apartments in the Outpost? I want to check each of them just in case. Even if they don't have the replacements we need, they might still be usable if one of us ends up wanting an apartment to themselves."

He then shrugs his shoulders, continuing.

"Besides, you drones might like having someone clean up your space a little."

With that he stepped out of the apartment, motioning for V and Uzi to follow him.

“So are the drones that are helping us directly. Yet 99 is behaving differently. Catching up to her might be difficult. Hopefully she responds to the message I left up there.”

Cloris wasn't the only one who was wary of the mysterious figures. She could see that her captain was ready to take action at a moments notice. Which was why she was comfortable looking around for the regulators.

”It's hard to believe that the drones were okay living in a place like this.”

Cloris managed to find the power regulators with little difficulty. After that she walked back to where Karasu was waiting.

”There. Now we can finally meet up with the others.”

---

The eyes on Uzi’s visor display rolled around at Ray.

”Ray, we all know you’re into V. You don't have to make a lame lie to hold her hand.”

Uzi entered the room in time to see J basically drooling into the sink. Needless to say, she was grossed out.

”Okay, that's just disgusting. What mentally challenged human came up with healing saliva?”


Uzi blinked, then pointed at herself. ”Hello, I'm the anti-social ansty teenage robot. I don't know anything about which apartments are empty.”

Uzi then let out a sigh, crossing her arms. ”I guess I could get the information from my dad. But!”

Uzi pointed at Ray. ”You'll owe me even more if you want me to talk to him!”

Uzi huffed as Chaos approached, looking away from him. ”Nothing's wrong. And I don't need a hug either!”

Her mood suggested otherwise. But what Chaos decided to do was entirely on him.

---

Doll hummed as Lizzy grabbed her waist and tapped her fingers against her. Her smile grew. She moved her hand and caressed her girlfriend's hair.

”YA mog by. No yest' tol'ko odin dron, kotorogo ya khochu polnost'yu razbudit'”.

[“I could. But there's only one drone I want to fully wake up.]

Doll snuggled against Lizzy, pulling the covers over them both. She let out a low hum.

”Aga. Delat' dela teper' budet veselo.”

[“Yeah. Doing things will be fun now.”]

Doll’s breathing gradually became more steady. Eventually she fell into sleep mode, her arms draped over her girlfriend. And thus a new chapter of her life began. One that she didn't expect. Doll expected her story to be short the moment she went down the path of vengeance. Now she was looking forward to having a long life.

Karasu knew for sure that he was hitting the mark -- but those things barely seemed to react to eating a round like that. Beyond the laughter intensifying, in any case... Still, until they had fully left, he'd continue to fire on them. There had to be a reason that it was keeping a distance and trying to put on such a scare tactic.

His vigilance does at least give Cloris the time to search for those regulators.

"I imagine all of this is why they started moving to those bunkers."

He replies to her remark about the living conditions here. Fortunately she's found the power regulators in pretty short order, and now they can be on their way. Despite the unnerving nature of what they had just dealt with, it seems to have gone away entirely by now. Although there was the chance that it was still watching them.

But at least getting to the bunker was without incident. And the note on the door told them how to get inside.

"... This does raise the question of how they lasted this long."

He snatches the note down, and then knocks on the door three times. After that, he keeps watch while waiting for the door to open. He wanted to make sure that thing didn't get inside, and he was prepared to fight it off.

When the door is open, he'd back up inside, and continue to keep a careful watch out there until the door is closed again. Only then does he finally take a relieved breath.

---

On the one hand, V wanted to yell at Uzi. On the other hand... Hearing about how Ray was into her WAS pretty nice. She felt a bit conflicted, and for that reason Uzi was spared her usual form of wrath.

"Well, either way... I'm fine with it."

V comments, more of her attention on him at the moment.

And speaking of girls that like attention from the targets of their affection... J perks up at Chaos's words.

"Naturally! Your home would feel like a castle with my touch."

J replies with a smirk, swishing her hair with her hand.

That being said, both Uzi and Ray had disgusted reactions towards J spitting into the sink as she did. She rolls her eyes.

"God, you're squeamish. You realize that it's so clean that it's good for disinfecting wounds and general medical procedures, right?"

J states whilst crossing her arms.
"Main functionality is to get rid of the acid nanites though. Either on ourselves if we accidentally get stabbed with it. Or if we accidentally hit the wrong target."

The tip of her tail rattles lightly, accentuating her point. Shortly thereafter, she glances at Chaos and notices his very different reaction to her healing saliva... The small smirk on her face says what she thinks about that.

In any case, Ray then also points out that he thought the main reason was because of the rustless Plasteel alloy, rather than their healing saliva. J calmly shrugs at that.

"Well yes, that too. But if any part of ours could rust, we could deal with it. It's supposed to have multiple uses on the field, though. Sort of like right now. If a critical part has rusted, it's liable to break if you try to use it."

She then gestures to Ray and Chaos.
"Kind of a problem for Humans in a survival situation."

All that aside, Ray seemed to be perfectly willing to go check out the other apartments and check all the issues. Though if Uzi knew which were empty and which weren't, that would certainly help. She tries to deflect by saying that she's anti-social and angsty.

V blinks and then points a thumb at graffiti on the wall of the apartment behind her -- a drawing which depicted Uzi.

"Isn't that a drawing of you?"

Now, maybe someone else could have painted that on the wall, but...

---

Finally, Doll snuggles up with Lizzy, making it clear that she only had one target in mind to 'fully awaken' in such a way. The blonde gives her a knowing grin in response.

"You know the exact things to say."

Both of them were looking forward to the future now -- all the fun they could have. But the intimacy they were sharing now, plus what they had done just moments prior... Well, now seemed like a perfect time to get some recharging in.

Around the same time as Doll entered sleep mode, Lizzy did the same.

I blush when J smirks at me thinking about different uses of hers saliva.

"Uzi, you are clearly upset at something." I said to her. I begin thinking why she is upset, and I finally remembered about the conversation earlier. "I like you, Uzi" I said, giving her a hug to reassure her. Before she could react, I stop hugging her. "So there should no reason to be upset."

V pointed out an image of Uzi on the wall. "...Is it me, or did someone drew "Stinky" with an arrow pointing at her?"

“I would hold up and never open the door if I knew that there were things outside that could tear me apart in an instant.”

Which wasn't the approach that the drones inside the bunker took. Cloris stared at the note on the door. And stared. And the longer she stared, the more her head work.

”That note is plain English. it Isn't coded. Anyone can read it.”

Cloris actually reached out, snatched the note, and angrily tore It into pieces, muttering to herself.

”Imbeciles. Not an ounce of creativity to this. Do they want to die?”

Cloris stared at the drone as he spoke talked about how the murder drones creeped him out. One of her mechanical eyes twitched behind her helmet as she stared at him.

”Thank you for letting us in. But why did you let the murder drones inside if they creeped you out?”

That look turned to concern when one of the drones started repeating itself. Not that the drone would be able to see it. But he fixed himself soon enough. Cloris shook her head.

”We’re fine, thank you. Could you point us in the direction of the living quarters?”

---

Uzi didn't look any less disgusted. She glanced over at Ray.

”Yeah Ray, I know what you're saying.”

She looked back over at J.

”Here in the normal world spit doesn't do that and is anything but sanitary.”

Uzi watched J's tail wiggle. She slouched, putting her hands on her hips.

”JC Jenson sure has the answers to everything don't they? A built in anti-venom to deal with your own poison. Just keep your tails away from me.”

Uzi was caught off guard when Chaos suddenly hugged her. She squirmed, trying to push away. But since Chaos pulled away quickly, she ended up losing her balance and stumbling backwards a few steps.

”Chaos! You can't just hug someone out of the blue after saying you like them! Gaah!”

By the end of it, there was a blush displayed on Uzi's visor. She looked away from him.

”Seriously, give a girl warning before you do that.”

Well that happened. She was going to try and pretend that interaction never happened. Even if J tried prodding her with it later To get a reaction out of her.

Uzi blinked, walking over to Ray. She looked surprised. ”Wait, you were a troublemaker growing up?”

Uzi gave him a little smirk. ”You've got to tell me some stories later.”

Uzi did a double take when she saw the graffiti. ”Ugh! Fricking jerks!”

She stomped over to the wall and punched the word “stinky”, denting the wall a little. Then Ray turned to leave, addressing Uzi before he went. Uzi scrambled over, holding out a hand.

”Wait!”

Uzi bent over as she made it over, grabbing her knees. She then stood up, looking at the human.

”Okay, I didn't draw that graffiti. But I know the area better then I said I did.”

She then leaned in, talking quietly to Ray. Anything to take my mind off… things.”

Uzi didn't want to think about the fight she took part in. She also didn't want to think about the romantic lives of the humans. Especially where she was concerned. J's claim of Chaos being interested in her was still fresh in her head. She was feeling all kinds of strange stuff and wanted to take her mind off them.

And now, the exact opposite of what Karasu and Cloris had just been dealing with; which apparently proved to be quite frustrating for the green-haired girl. Angrily tearing the note to pieces.

"Well, on the upside. We don't have to worry about another uprising if they're still behaving like this."

The Captain remarked. He could understand Cloris's frustration. That being said, he'd also take something far more welcoming than the literal death traps that Type-99 just had them walk through, all for a "So here's some information, try not to die, but if you do, oh well."

"I'm thinking V, J, and N are the only ones that have a decent handle on things right now."

More importantly, the door opens partially and reveals a Drone -- and thankfully one very much unlike all the corrupted ones they've seen so far. With his greeting he also makes it perfectly clear that he is frightened by the Disassembly Drones and didn't want them to know.

Now that the doors are closed again, Karasu holsters his pistol and Cloris questions why they let the Disassembly Drones inside if they were creeped out by them.

"Well, two Humans were with them. I imagine once the Worker Drones realized that, there was a good reason to let them inside."

Karasu theorizes, and soon enough the Worker Drone steps up to shake their hands. Karasu accepts the gesture, since he seems friendly enough. Although the looping dialogue is... Certainly a cause for concern. Up until the Drone gives himself a smack and then he's back to normal.

"No, thank you. Actually Humans can't drink oil."

Karasu turns down the offer for a drink. He still had plenty of supplies for their trip -- and plenty more back at the ship, too. But knowing that there was potentially more at this bunker was good to know. Soon afterwards, the Worker Drone suddenly remembers something and explains where to find the others.

At Cloris's question, one of the Drones still seated at the table raises a hand.
"Yeah, sure. Just follow the signs. It's the one that says "Living Quarters.""

Well, fair enough. The Captain gives a small shrug.

"Simple enough then."

Just before they set off, however...

"One more thing, though. Don't open the doors for anyone else until we confirm who is on the other side. Even if they knock."

The Captain states, and then he begins to lead the way through the bunker. It sure looked like the Worker Drones had a whole functioning facsimile of a society down here. The signs made it pretty easy to stay on track too.

When they arrived in the area, there was a LOT of doors to go through... It can't really be the most effective to just go knocking on each door to try and find them, right...?

Karasu sighs.

"This could take awhile."

---

J just rolls her eyes again.

"If it makes you feel better, you can scrub it down with soap afterwards. I can assure you that it's clean, however. No matter what your mind is trying to say about it."

She then glances over at Uzi.

"I think you have a very skewed perspective of 'normal world', vault dweller."

J retorts with a small grin. Regardless, Uzi insists that they keep their tails away from her. The twin-tailed Disassembly Drone's grin is not fading anytime soon.

"Hey, it's fine even if you get poked. You just have to stick your hand in a Disassembly Drone's mouth."

Still, some of the teasing comes to an abrupt pause as Chaos quickly hugs Uzi while trying to comfort her. The speed and efficacy in which he can do that before Uzi can properly react is pretty impressive.

Although J does feel just a slight tinge of jealousy -- it's made up for by the fact that Uzi was taken by complete surprise with it. Now, if she were a betting girl... She'd bet that Uzi would try to pretend this never happened. Which means there was only one course of action.

"You know, I think Uzi could use another hug!"

She slightly draws out that sentence, as if she were enjoying the idea of making Uzi recoil in real-time. And this time, J decides to add a bit of an extra oomph to it, as she begins approaching the Worker Drone too.

If all goes according to plan, she'd give Uzi a hug at the same time as Chaos.

Either way, the conversation moves on to Ray's past as a troublemaker, and the graffiti in question, too. V was intrigued to hear more as well, albeit for different reasons than Uzi. But he did raise a fair point that the Worker Drone would probably not have an arrow pointing at a drawing of herself with the description 'stinky'.

Ray briefly wondered if that was some kind of slang. V opts in at this point and shakes her head.

"Not for us Disassembly Drones. But I guess all bets are off for Worker Drones."
V admits.

But considering that Uzi just punched the offending part of the wall and left a notable dent, it was pretty safe to say that it wasn't any sort of clever slang.

But, more importantly than any of that! V was getting a chance to spend some more private time with Ray! Uzi seemed to want to stay behind -- or at least not get involved more than she was, so...

Aaaand then Uzi ran up and practically begged to go with. V gives an unamused stare, but doesn't protest vocally. Oh well. She'll have more chances soon...

"S..sorry, Uzi I didnt..." I stuttered, trying to apologize. Thinking I did something incredible wrong, I back away. "Sorry Uzi I thought hugs cheers people up I... I'll give you some space, okay?"

Suddenly J mentions that Uzi can use another hug. "I... I'll ask for permission first. Uzi, do you want another hug" I said, being very confused. Not sure what to do, and really wanting to hide somewhere quiet, I just stretch out my arms motioning for a hug.

At least when it comes to this bunker. Who knows what the drones in the other ones are like?”

Some of them had probably been destroyed by the creature. She had seen as such in the memories of the Zombie drone. But there were probably other ones that had survived. Who knew what the drones were like in those places?

Cloris nodded at Karasu's statement. ”It's beyond lucky that they were the first drones we came across.”

Cloris stared at the drone, her expression unreadable behind her helmet. ”I would, but I carry weapons on my person. You don't appear to have that luxury. Still, those doors can hold back just about anything. You should use them more wisely.”

And the drone made a rather grim response in a weirdly cheerful tone. She stared at that drone.

”You should probably install some hi def camera outside the bunker door. Just so if you can see what's there. I doubt any more humans are coming though, so you don't have to worry about something freezing to death.”

---

Uzi scowled at J. ”Hey, I might be an ansty teen drone who went outside for the first time today, but I know what normal is.”

Did she really know that though? Well what wasn't normal was how smug J was being over the weirdest things. She stared, then used a finger to point at the drone, keeping her arm close to her body.

”Why are you that smug about that? Seriously, you're proud of weird crap like your boyfriend being interested in me and sticking my hand in a mouth. Did someone set your default factory setting to smug or something?

Uzi frowned as she saw the look at Chaos’s face, raising both hand and shaking them.

”Hey, you don't have to apologize! I’m just not used to getting hugs. I don't get those often...”

She said, looking down at the ground. Had her father ever hugged her? She couldn't recall the last time he did. Although she was about to get more where that came from. She looked up, pressing her index fingers together.

”If I'm expecting it then it's fine. Just don't do it too long, k?”

This time Uzi hugged Chaos back. For a few seconds she relaxed. Then J hugged her. She looked at her in initiation, her smug face annoying her

“J! No interrupting my emotional moment! Why are you like this?!”

Eventually the moment ended, and she went and talked with Ray. She let out a sigh, slipping her hands into her pockets.

”Okay fine. I can help you clean up the mess. Everyone's got to sleep somewhere.”

V didn't look happy that she was accompanying her and Ray. She looked back at J and Chaos as Ray told her not to make out.

”Yeah, don't try and make out with him J. Unless you like making out with a corpse.”

Hopefully she wasn't smuggly into that too. Uzi had no idea what kind of things J was into. She was a tricky one to predict. Which was a big reason why she just wanted out of that room. She followed Ray and V put of the room and down the hall.

---

Cloris waved at Ray briefly, walking over to him. ”It's good to see you again. We ran into a little trouble, but we managed to deal with it. This bunker is safer to be at then the ship right now, assuming the drones don't open the door again.”

After Ray gave his account, Cloris gave Ray the cliff notes version of what she and Karasu went through.

”I'll elaborate more on things when we have time.”

I'm answer to Ray's question, she handed Ray the power regulators. ”I wasn't going to forget these. The last piece we needed for a livable environment.”

---

Meanwhile Uzi was staring at the two new humans wearily. While she trusted Ray and Chaos, she had no idea what the other two humans were like. She peered at Cloris.

”Drone enthusiast? Don't tell me that you're going to hit on me too.”

Cloris stared at the drone. She then shook her head. ”No, my interest is solely technical. I'm interested in seeing how drones have evolved on this planet. Why would you…”

Cloris trailed off as things clicked in her head. One could almost see how annoyed she was past her environmental suit.

”Chaos is interested in you, isn't he?”

”Yep.”

Cloris sighed, shaking her head. ”One would hope that all these dangers would bring him to his senses and focus on things. I suppose that was too much to ask for.”

Cloris then attempted to extend a hand to Uzi. ”Regardless, thank you for saving Ray and Chaos. it's good to meet…

CLANG!

Cloris stared at Uzi, who's mouth had bit down at one of her fingers. Even as Uzi backed off in pain, Cloris was completely frozen. Uzi gingerly rubbed her jaw.

”What the hell?! Are you wearing armor under that thing?!”

Cloris meanwhile stared, then withdrew her hand.

”You're capable of harming a human. Fascinating.”

Both Cloris's worry and curiosity were peaked. On the one hand, this meant the bunker wasn't as safe as she initially thought. On the other hand, this was quite the discovery. Uzi was the most human-like drone she had ever encountered. She heard stories about the drone uprising, but this was something else entirely.

Cloris raised a fair point. The Drones here weren't a cause for the concern, but any other survivors were a case of all bets being off. Still, he wasn't too worried about it. Standard Drones were a lot easier to deal with than all of these strange, corrupted ones. Still, they were very lucky indeed. They found a friendly group of survivors to work with.

"Yeah. We'll have to make sure this is the point where we turn things around in our favor."

Karasu remarks, and afterwards Cloris responds to the Worker Drone's question by explaining that she would -- but she does have weapons of her own, which she freely admits. Karasu chimes in at this point.

"Perhaps. But you have to admit; whatever they're saying gets a lot more agreeable and valid when they're saying it with a missile launcher in their hands."

... Yeah, that was a joke on Karasu's part. But no less true. The Worker Drone then replies that he won't let anyone in -- with some rather vivid and... Concerning descriptions. Cloris suggests a course of action, and Karasu gives a nod.

"Yeah, there are things we can do to make this place more secure. But for now, if anyone or anything tries to get in, let us know and we'll handle it."

---

J gives another grin.

"I'd congratulate you for touching grass, but Copper-9 hasn't had that for awhile."

J comments, and Uzi continues to protest, wondering if perhaps there were some setting that J had by default that made her so smug.

"Heh. Well, I wouldn't be surprised. I do like messing with people."

She leaves out the part that it's usually for attention. Which is why she'd join in and make it a group hug this time! Uzi, predictably, protests again about ruining the emotional moment. J simply tightens her hug a bit for Uzi and Chaos both.

"Awww, but I'm just trying to love you!"

Sarcasm was dripping on that one. But nonetheless, she lets Uzi slip free. Both Ray and Uzi then remark about not making out, with Uzi going the extra step and talking about not making out with a corpse. J rolls her eyes.

"You're so clever. No, I'll wait until the Life Support is back up."

She stated that so nonchalantly, crossing her arms and glancing over at Chaos. Why yes, she did just casually say what she was going to do as soon as she had the chance.

---

V was indeed just a little annoyed that Uzi was coming along. But considering what happened just as they exited the room, that annoyance goes away. It seems like either way, it wasn't gonna happen. Oh well. Karasu and Cloris were here -- and they also brought the power regulators that were needed, too.

With a quick greeting and a briefing from Ray on the situation, Karasu and Cloris relay how things went on their end. For now it was just the summary, they had plenty they needed to do still. But there was a slight deviation as Uzi comes into light. Ray introduces her.

And as Cloris reaches a hand out to greet her properly, a metallic clang echoes throughout the hall, along with the pained reaction from Uzi, who just learned that biting metal doesn't really work as one would expect.

Karasu, for his part, just made a note about this. The Drones could hurt Humans, and that could raise all sorts of complications. Though he thought about holding that card close to the chest, Cloris just outright said what it meant.

The Captain gives a small sigh, and decides to interject at this point.

"Which is concerning. But as long as they're unaware of that fact, we should probably try to keep it under wraps."

He then glances at Uzi.

"Still. You're not like any Worker Drone I've seen before."

And that assessment does carry quite a bit of weight... Considering he had seen what the Proxima Uprising was like.

Meanwhile V crosses her arms, and steps a little closer to Ray, as if becoming a little more protective of him. But she's looking off elsewhere.

"I could have probably killed it too."

She states in reference to the monster that Uzi took out.

I embraced Uzi, and soon after J joined in. I calm down a bit too and shortly after we stopped hugging. "Thats better."

"W...well, how about you not make love to... to your robot girlfriend once the life support system go back online!" I replied to Ray. Soon after, Uzi added onto his teasement. "Im sure J is smart enough not to do that." I somehow let J's comment about her making out with me after the life support system going on slip by.

Uzi and the others finally leave, leaving me and J alone. I sit down on a broken chair, letting out a sigh. "Phew."

”No more playing catch up: we need to be the ones to stay ahead of everyone else.”

Since arriving on Copper 9, thing after thing has been thrown at them. They had faced against not one, but two abominations hellbent on killing them. They needed to be the ones to make the next move.

Cloris looked over at Karasu, then back at the drones. ”I suppose my options would be limited if I wasn't armed.”

---

Uzi’s visual display of her eyes simulated a rolling motion. "Geez, I'm missing out on grass. Poor me.”

Uzi grumbled about J. “Seriously, is there a decision you've made that you were ashamed of? I'm not convinced you've ever felt that.”

When J commented about showing that she loved her, Uzi groaned loudly.

”UGGGGGH!”

She looked over at Chaos. She gave him an awkward smile before going off. The whole situation was frustrating. She didn't know what to feel right now.

---

Cloris shook her head. ”It's almost inspiring how trusting they are. It's a miracle it hasn't come back to bite them before now.”

Cloris looked over at Ray, rubbing the back of her neck. ”Things certainly appear grim right now. Even if I wasn't intrigued about 99, I’d still take whatever information I can from her. We're in a more precarious situation then we realized.”

Cloris watched Uzi rubbed teeth, and Ray addressed her. Uzi glared at Ray as he pulled back.

”Don’t push it Ray! She shouldn't have invaded my personal space!”

Cloris raised her hand, looking at it. ”I'm worried about the potential implications. But given everything else it's not as high as it would normally be. I have countermeasures against drones. Besides, she didn't hurt me.”

She opened and closed her hands a few times. She was silent for a few seconds. ”To think these drones are able to simulate most asoects of human life. What a remarkable evolution of their programming.”

Meanwhile Uzi looked at Karasu, pointing at her shirt.

”There's only one me. I'm an emotionally unstable, teenage goth robot and I'm proud of it!”

Uzi looked over at V, letting out a scoff. ”You almost ended up as that things lunch! I could have killed it sooner if you weren't in there. How did you even survive that?”

A few minutes later, the breathing problem was resolved. Uzi followed next to Ray, withCloris following behind. She was looking at him curiously.

”So… I guess we're going to see what you guys actually look like. I wonder if you're as ugly as the rumors make you out to be.”

"Shame implies regret. I've not made any decisions that I regret making."

That was J's simple and quick retort to Uzi's words. The smugness of her smirk is only topped by the one she has when Uzi's very loud groan results from the shared hug that the three have.

She gives a small wave as Uzi departs, and then she looks over at Chaos as he takes a seat to catch his breath. She gently pats him on the shoulder.

"You take a breather, alright? I can handle tidying up from here."

With that, J gets back to work. Both cleaning the room and putting on a show for Chaos. Now that they were alone, she could certainly put some real oomph into it...

And soon enough, they also hear the fans kicking in, and the air seems to be improving quite rapidly. J stops cleaning the room now, and turns her attention to Chaos. All the while she was running a scan on the habitable nature of the Bunker.

As the numbers rose, she draws closer to him. Then running her fingers along his suit.

"Life Support is running again. Soon it'll be safe enough for me to get this stuffy thing off of you."

---

Cloris seemed to be mirroring a sentiment that Karasu has had for awhile now; ever since they arrived they were on the back foot. But it was time for the tides to turn. He didn't want to keep being strung along by these monsters, he wanted to take the fight to them. This Bunker was the first step to doing just that.

But Ray raises an excellent point too. These Drones were just... Far too innocent.

"Yeah. I can only guess that they're like this because the circumstances have kept them pretty well under control, compared to Proxima."

Karasu remarks, and Ray also comments that he's not fully trusting of Type-99 either. At least the Captain wasn't alone in feeling that way. She wasn't an outright threat or something like that, but she was clearly out for her own ends, and the Humans were just along for the ride if they could keep up.

Cloris was more hopeful about it, and as long as they could get the information, there was no need to be picky about it... Though he would prefer something less dangerous and taxing than the method to get the scraps that they did.

But more important than all of that was Uzi. Ray lectured her about hurting the Humans -- which made it pretty clear that this "secret" was already discovered. Karasu gives out a sigh, especially after she insists that she's very unique and proud of it.

"You're just lucky it was us, and that we view Drones favorably. There are plenty of them skittish enough to think that single action is worth taking out this entire Bunker over."

Still, they would keep this under wraps. Karasu had his own feelings about this revelation, but he could at least agree that it was unfair to treat all Drones as monsters. Ray's explanation on the matter also made the overall stance on this pretty clear. Don't let the other Humans find out about this.

As for V's part in all of this, she softens up considerably as she's pet by Ray, and praised for her efforts against that beast... Though when he once again remarks about how she probably needs a bath...

"Yeah... Kind of a walking CDC nightmare right now. Makes me want to hug Uzi."

She grins as she glances over at Uzi. A grin that fades a bit as the teen drone spouts off about her almost ending up as that monster's lunch.

"I carved my way into it's chest and I was trying to disassemble it from the inside. It had some crazy regeneration factor, and it clearly knew that our nanites can counter that."

She then rolls her eyes.
"Would have worked too, but that thing kept evolving."

Finally, her eyes settle back onto Uzi.

"You're welcome for me slowing it down long enough to take the shot, by the way."

In any case, Ray starts to take off to the Life Support Room, and V follows suit! It isn't long before he's tinkering with the machinery. A tentative moment of silence follows his work... Before the hum of the fans kicked in, and the toxic air was being filtered out in real-time.

Eugh, you could actually SEE the air clearing up visibly.

"Oh, ew. Looks like the Drones in here need a bath, too."

V teased, once more looking at Uzi.

Karasu tries to stay focused on the good news here, though.

"Alright. So we have a safe place to stay aside from the ship now. Although I'd like to check the other critical aspects of the Bunker, too..."

They would need supplies. Food, water, medicine -- they would need bathroom supplies, too.

"Seeyou, Uzi!" I said, giving her a smile as she leaves.

"N...no no, let me help you. You shouldnt do it by yourself." I got up and tried to help her clean the room. But hers multiple flashes to me caused something to rise, so I sat down. "Y...yknow what nevermind, turns out Im tired!"

Soon enough I hear the fans kick in and the air quality improving. "Phew, finally..." Then suddenly J teased me, running hers fingers along my suit. I blush deeply as my body begin to squirm caused by her touching me. "I... I can... Undress myself you dont need to help me...!"

”Okay, I'm convinced. They forgot to program any regret or shame into you.”

---

Cloris watched the exchange between Ray and Uzi. The latter of who was still looking at him with annoyance.

”Fricking bite me! It shouldn’t have backfired! Why is her hand metal?!”

Cloris crossed her arms. ”The reasons are extremely personal. I’ve had to replace parts of my body over the years.”

Uzi raised a finger, opening her mouth and trying to find an argument for it. ”Oh yeah?! Well… you shouldn’t have… ugh! I can’t even vent at you for not being well!”

Uzi grumbled, crossing her arms.Her head snapped over to Ray when he whispered to V, pointing at the both of them.

”Hey! You’re totally talking about me! I know when someone is whispering bad things about me! I’ve been in high school!”

She looked over at Karasu, a triumphant smirk crossing her face. ”Hah! I knew it! You guys are weirdos! Must humans are jerks!”

Cloris stared at the short worker drone. ”That reeks of desperation. Like you want that to be true but know that it isn’t.”

Uzi looked over at Cloris, staring at her like she was some kind of ghost. ”Okay. You need to get out of my head like, right now.”

Uzi rolled her eyes, huffing at V. ”Well you shouldn’t be so reckless! What if that thing had evolved too much and you died? We… Ray would have been sad.”

And then Ray took his helmet off. Uzi looked on with anticipation. Only to look a little disappointed when she saw his face.

”That’s it?! But you look so… normal!” Laaaame!”

Uzi was right about one thing: J seemingly had no concept of shame programmed into her. That became ever clearer as she put on a show for Chaos to enjoy. He started off saying that he should be helping her clean up the room, but between her show, and her following response...

"Now now. You've done enough. You just sit there and enjoy this."

J was a multi-tasker after all. And having someone to give her the undivided attention that she craved, well... She enjoyed that. It felt as though her every movement and action left him captivated by her.

As she had implied before, Disassembly Drones were designed to crave the approval of Humans. But that was even more true with herself. Even before she became a Disassembly Drone, she wanted to be seen and praised.

But she saw an even better opportunity presenting itself now. She wanted to see what Chaos looked like underneath the suit. With everything that had happened, she didn't have the chance yet. But now that the air quality was steadily getting safer...

Hmm... J ran one more quick scan though. The atmosphere was getting safer. But... Ah, there it is. J takes a step back, and initiates a self-cleaning process. Normally the healing and cleaning properties are limited to their saliva, but in the event of accumulating materials dangerous to Humans, they could run a deep-cleanse with the nanites and purge the undesired specimens from their form.

Metal and machinery had the tendency to hold onto radiation and other toxic elements, after all. But now she was safe to be around -- and she seemed to sparkle just a bit more compared to before. J approaches Chaos once more and begins to remove his suit.

"Perhaps you can. But isn't it more fun if I do this for you?"

J then answered with a grin.

---

Well Uzi seemed friendly enough. General hormonal angst notwithstanding. Karasu could only suppose that she picked up how to 'survive' in a social environment mirroring that of school. He normally wouldn't have enough information to pick that out, but her words practically confirmed it.

Regardless... He did have this to say;

"Well, maybe the more important thing is not to bite people in the first place, Uzi."

After having said that, Ray leaned in to whisper to V, and she cracks a small smile and whispers back.
"She's a weirdo. I think that's just how she operates."

After V finished, Uzi pointed at them and shouted that she knew that they were talking about her. V casually waves her off with her hand.

"Yeah, yeah. Bite me, or whatever."

Things then take a brief detour as Uzi looks towards Karasu and triumphantly declares that Humans are the weird ones, and that they're jerks. Cloris gave a wonderful retort to that, but Karasu also had a more practical approach:

"You think so? Given the fact that I can see your railgun, mixed with the story I've just heard, I'm willing to bet you designed that gun either for dealing with the Disassembly Drones, or for those strange monsters."

He calmly explains his reasoning, and then adds;

"So you understand the concept of fear and self-defense. One of Humanity's deciding factors is their sheer will for self-preservation. Beings that don't get tired, that can learn faster than we can, can learn more than we can... You can imagine why that would drive one to take countermeasures."

With that stated, Uzi then proceeded to lecture V about the dangers of what she did. Now normally the Disassembly Drone had a lot of attitude to work with, but Uzi did manage to say the right thing here. She glances over to Ray for a moment, and her expression becomes a little more sympathetic.

Then she sighs and tries to keep up her hardened appearance.

"Yeah, you're right. I just knew if I didn't try to take it down, then everyone was in danger."

There wasn't a hint of sarcasm or anything of the sort in her voice right now. It seems like she genuinely accepts that she needed to handle things better back there.

But at least the conversation didn't stay heavy for long! Ray expresses his relief over being able to remove the suit now, and V perks up, watching him attentively. Sure, unlike J she had seen Ray without the suit. But after everything that had happened, she wanted to get another good look at him.

Uzi had a wildly different reaction, one of disappointment and remarking that he just looked normal.

V on the other hand, she seemed rather transfixed by his appearance, staring at him in silence. A few blinks on her optic visor, and then blush markings began to fade in. She doesn't say anything as of yet, though.

Karasu decides to follow Ray's lead, however. Now removing his own suit's helmet.

"Feels like it's been too long since I've had some fresh air."

He comments, and then pulls the helmet off.


"There... That's better."

Feeling the cool air wash over him was nice too. It could end up pretty stifling in those suits, even though they were equipped for extreme conditions, and had some air-conditioning. It just didn't compare to being totally free in an atmosphere like this.

He takes a few deep breaths, for the first time seeming to relax.

"Sounds like you've got a good handle on things, Ray. I'll go make sure the supply situation is sorted. If we have to, we can bring things from the ship, but it would be nice to have more permanent solutions here at the Bunker."

At least it seemed like the group had a good idea of what to do now, and they had their first breather in quite awhile...

"Alright J, I'll watch you clean." I replied to her. After the air got cleaner, it became safe for me to breathe and J approached me once more. I hesitate as J began to remove my suit "W...wait J, are you sure about this?" I said to her, being a bit scared about her seeing his face. "What if you dont like what I look like?" I said to her, a bit nervous. "After all, you never saw me without my suit on before. Just..." I try to collect my thoughts, but I got nothing.

However, with a lot of persuasion from J, I eventually allow her to take my suit off.