Murder Drones: A Merch in Time

One month before the Copper 9 Extinction Event:


Copper 9 was once a vibrant human world. One of many colonies that humanity had spread itself to. Unbeknownst to the majority of its residents, an unimaginable threat was among them. Both the catalysts and their salvation lay beneath the surface, in the facilities of Cabin Fever Labs.

“Alright, if you need anything, you let me know, okay? Try to take it easy.”

2 figures in hazard suits exited a room in the medical ward of their facility. Sitting next to the door were two sentinel bots. This particular room was being heavily guarded. A sign above the door  said “Ward A-1: Priority Patient, authorized medical staff only” Underneath it was another sign that said:

“Seriously, the savior has no time for the unworthy.”

The two figures walked away from the medical ward, chatting amongst themselves.

“The first surgery was successful. We managed to completely mechanize her internal organs.”

“I still think we should have replaced the limbs on this cycle. We’re running low on time.”

The shorter figure looked over at the taller one. They’d probably be looking crossly at them if their face could be seen. “Sure, if you want to bring the success rate all the way down to 10 percent. Then you can explain to the doctor where you’re going to find another subject with an I.Q. of 200.”

“Yeah… well…”

“Besides, that’s no way to treat the savior. Show some respect to her.”

The taller figure sighed. “Sorry Dr.Zetner. It’s just that I’ve got drone duty again. With her.”

“Oh, subject 002?”

“Yes, that one.”

“My condolences.”

---

Drone holding Facility, Cabin Fever Labs

Drone holding Facility, Cabin Fever Labs

Only a few of the solver drones were actually allowed to be active at any given time. Not all of them were stable and there was no way to realistically control them all. Granted, one of the ones that was constantly active wasn’t the most stable. But 002 made it clear that as long as they didn’t try to stuff her into a locker then she’d be fine with keeping her here. Sort of.

When the employee went to the holding area where Nori was supposed to be, he found 048 instead. He put his hands on his hips, raising his voice to the other drone.

“Where is 002?”

048 Sheepishly smiled at the man.

---

A break room in the facility.

The employee found Nori just chatting it up with a bunch of humans. Who were probably terrified underneath their hazard suits.


”So Doctor Zetner was all like ”you can’t just bite an intern!” And the whimp was yelling a few feet away. Honestly I didn’t even bite him that hard. He still had his finger fater I… oh hi Yeva!”

She raised her hand in greeting the drone, who had led the employee right to her. Yeva didn’t say a word: that went to the employee.

“002, you aren’t supposed to be here.”

Nori stood up straight, tilting her head. She looked around. ”Really? Cause it doesn’t look like security’s coming to drag me away. Not like they did when I tried to break into the medical ward.”

Nori turned and looked at the two guys she was talking with, grinning. ”Besides, me and the boys are having fun chatting, aren’t we?”

“Oh yes!”

“Fun chatting!”

Both of them nodded her heads frantically, causing Nori to snicker. She turned when the Employee let out a sigh. She looked at him, curiously tilting her head.

”Say Doctor Rhino…

“Reinhard”

Nori waved a hand dismissively. ”Potato Patatever. Isn’t the savior out of surgery?”

“You aren’t getting access to her. You aren’t going to be within a hundred feet within each other until…

”Yeah yeah, ”Until the day of ascension comes and humanity evolves!”. Save Dr.Chamber’s sermons for someone who believes.”

Nori moved forward to Reinhard, Yeva stepped forward just enough to make it clear to Nori not to get too close. She stopped, looking a little annoyed.

”Yeva, do you really think I’m going to hurt him? I didn’t even try that hard to fight when they sent security onto me.”

She turned her attention over to the doctor. ”Look, you’re putting my solver into this human. I want to meet the girl. Don’t I have a right to know who you’re infecting?”

“We’re not infecting…”

”You are. You just are calling it an ascension.” Nori’s voice turned cold as ice. Yeva glared at the other drone. The air was tense for a few seconds. Then Nori let out a sigh.

”Seriously, what’s the worse that can happen? I mean you all are acting like my presence will break the fabric of spacetime and cause a paradox or something.”

Nori had no idea how true those words were about to ring.

It was pretty safe to say that people within the Cabin Fever Labs were prepared for a lot of unusual and strange things to happen. Hell, any day with Nori was certain not to be boring. But when she actually went and said...
”Seriously, what’s the worse that can happen? I mean you all are acting like my presence will break the fabric of spacetime and cause a paradox or something.”

The last thing that anyone could have possibly expected was for a blue sphere to form and expand. There was the sound of rushing wind -- and noises that could only be described as "whirling"


But there it was. It was happening. The one thing proving the innocence of both Nori and Yeva was that neither of their Solver Symbols were activated.

A figure fell through this mysterious, landing on the ground and on their knees with a thud. Slowly, they straighten out and glance around the room -- it's a Human. And he was in a spacesuit. His gaze lands on Nori.

"... Uzi?"
He asks, pointing at her.

Though the brief moment in which his guard is down soon ends, and as he looks at the other Humans, he tenses up and lowers his hand. Then he tightens his hands into fists as he carefully considers his options here.

"Alright... Looks like it's time to answer some questions."

He spoke calmly. But the tense atmosphere suggested that he was ready to defend himself -- which raised the question of what was happening to him before he got here; well, if his mysterious arrival wasn't already reason enough to do so.

Everyone stared as what could only be described as a hole opened up. Reinhard whirled and looked at Nori.

“002! You… aren’t doing it?!”

Nori put her hands on her hips, snapping at him. “Hey, I’m not the source of every problem in this place!”

And then a man fell through it. Everyone was too stunned to make a move. Then the man pointed at Nori.

"... Uzi?"

Nori blinked, then pointed at herself. ”Nori.” She then scratched her chin, giving him a little smirk. ”Uzi sounds metal as hell though. I’d like to meet her sometime.”

Meanwhile Reinhard finally got over his shock. He shouted at the other guys in the room.

“Seize him! Urk!”

Suddenly the solver symbol appeared in Nori’s hand, and around the bodies of every human in the room, save for Karasu. Nori frowned at all of them.

”Oh no you don’t! You aren’t getting rid of the only interesting thing that’s shown up in this fricken place.”

Nori looked over at Karasu, looking at him curiously. ”It isn’t going to be long before more security shows up. So before that, start talking. Who are you and why are you here?”

Meanwhile Yeva just stared at the intruder. The whole situation was super out of the ordinary. One could practically hear a pin drop in the room.

Well, this seemed like a place that not just anyone could stroll into. So that was going to complicate things. And he was also wrong about that being Nori. To top it all off, the man named Reinhard finally gave the order to have the newcomer seized.

He immediately shifts into a combat stance, ready to fight off his captors. But before he even gets the chance, they're caught in strange symbols and summarily knocked out. Nori apparently deciding to do this just because he was interesting.

Of course, that doesn't stop her from quickly explaining the situation and asking questions. Once more, he straightens out, giving a nod.

"Karasu, Captain of the Stormborder."
He introduces himself.
"We crash-landed on Copper 9. Then we were attacked by corrupted Drones. Different from every kind I've seen before."

And then he glances down at the unconscious Humans in the room.

"... And I'm pretty sure everyone on the planet was already dead by the time we got there."

After that remark, he turns his attention back to Nori and Yeva.

"I'll answer more later. For now, it sounds like I should get ready for the security teams that are on their way. I'll follow your lead, tell me what to do."

Well, the ball was in their court now, at least.

Nori listened to Karasu introduce himself. She then looked over at Reinhard.

”Hey, can you go and confirm all that? This facility keeps eyes on the surface too, right?”

“I don’t have the… owowow!” The solver symbol tightened around him. “OKAY! I’LL GO ASK SURVIELANCE!”

”That’s better. Now get going, and take your lackeys with you! And tell the incoming security not to come in here until you get an answer. Or I’ll actually try fighting them this time.”

The solver symbol vanished on all the people in the room.Reinhard and the others  ran as fast as he could, scrambling out of the room and nearly tripping over each other out the door. Nori  put her hand on her hip, looking at him sternly.

”You start talking, that’s what. Tell me a little bit about yourself. And if I feel like it I’ll help you. The security team isn't getting in anytime soon. First of all, how did you get here? Most people don’t know that this place even exists.”

Yeva meanwhile just stared, not making a move. She was rather curious about this individual too, but she didn’t see any need to speak right now.

Seems like Nori was in charge of this place... To some kind of degree, anyway. Reinhard decided to go along with it and ask surveillance what things were like on the surface. The symbols vanished and it almost seemed like they couldn't run fast enough out of the room.

Nori then gives Karasu a stern gaze, insisting that he continues talking with her.

"Well, I'd like to answer that for you, but I'm pretty sure I'm just as lost about what happened as you are."

Karasu replies.
"And, I don't recognize this place either."
He adds soon after.

He pauses for a moment, trying to figure out the situation on his own end -- and he has some suspicions... Nothing concrete, but he has a feeling he'll get definitive answers when Reinhard finishes checking in with surveillance.

So right now, Karasu needed to get these two Drones on his side.

"So, I'm going to lay my cards out on the table. This appears to be some kind of black site, which means surrender is not exactly an option for me. I'll probably end up fighting my way out of here to stay alive, unless you decide to help me."

He admits, recognizing that this could really only go poorly for him; a place like this meant to be kept secret, filled with things that would normally never see the light of day? Intruders would be interrogated and killed, most likely. Even if the intrusion was accidental.

"In light of that, ask as many questions as you want. I would rather try more peaceful options first."

Nori let out a sigh. “Okay Karasu, how about you start with where you were before you ended up here? You fell through a fricken portal, so you must have been in some kind of climatic fight or experiment gone wrong. Or something else cool.”

Nori made a sweeping gesture with her hand. ”Welcome to the Cabin Fever Labs. I’d give you the tour, but they wouldn’t be too happy. And don’t ask me why they call it Cabin Fever either.”

Nori peered forward at the human, scratching her chin. ”Well aren’t you generous. Alright, what kind of corrupted drones were you fighting? Where they Zombies? I’ve always wanted to gun down a bunch of zombies.”

Nori said with a very eager grin. This was eerily similar to the time Uzi had gotten excited about the Zombie drones.

"Well, like I said. We crash-landed on Copper 9. The whole planet had frozen over. Toxic snowstorms, too. Fortunately the ship was still running on reserve power, so I was able to check the star map and see where we ended up."

He explains -- the beginning of the story was just as important, he figured.

"That was when I let the crew know that JC Jenson had the whole planet quarantined because of AI gone rogue. Like on Proxima. Disassembly Drones were sent for clean-up and retrieval of company assets."
He pauses briefly.
"It didn't take long for those Disassembly Drones to find us... Along with those things."

There is a brief detour in his explanation as Nori gives him an official welcome to the Cabin Fever Labs -- along with a remark that she doesn't know why it's called that either. An official tour would have to wait as well. Still, as Nori remarks about zombie drones -- and knowing that they would want to find out what he was referring to anyway...

Karasu continues his story;

"It's funny that you mention zombies. Because we did run into zombie drones. They swarmed our ship -- and they could repair themselves from critical damage, even in complete shutdown. Individually they weren't a threat, but..."

He pauses briefly. How do you even describe what happens next? Even he wouldn't believe it if he hadn't seen it.

"Well, we thought we had the situation under control, between us and the Disassembly Drones, it wasn't long before we had them all taken out.

Or so we thought. One of them got right back up and started... Eating the other zombie drones. And it changed. It was actively spreading throughout the ship, trying to take control of it. We just barely managed to destroy whatever it became.

It wasn't the only one like that though. There were at least two others, and each of them had mutated differently."

A bit of a longer explanation this time, but it's not like you could cut corners on talking about what these strange monsters were like, either...

"Eventually we put two and two together. Those things were going to keep hunting us. We found a nearby bunker, met up with some Worker Drones, and we got ready to repair our ship and take the fight to those things."

As Karasu recounted his story, he pauses for a moment, thinking over the events after that point... He was silent for longer this time, but it was easy to tell that he was trying to remember what happened next.

"... Maybe the rest will come to me. But I can at least tell you this much now: I remember something saying to me "ANUBIS System activated.""

He lets that hang in the air -- and allows them time to process everything he has said.

Nori stared at Karasu incredulously as he told his story. It sounded like a a completely wild tale. Strangely it wasn't the zombie drones that was the most unbelievable part. Nori and Yeva looked at each other. Then Nori lowered her head and let out an exasperated sigh.

”I knew it was too good to be true. You're just fricking crazy. Copper 9 is a lush, vibrant world. It's not quarantined or frozen over or…”

Nori froze, a realization coming to her
”Wait a minute… this is just like one of those anime they have in the rec room. That Time I Traveled Back in Time and Saved the World From Impending Doom. Oh please, Please let this be real!”

Nori put a hand on her hip, looking at Karasu strangely. ”Karasu, this might sound like a  weird thing to ask, but what year is it?”

It seems that his detailing of what happened to Copper 9 was contradictory. This was another hint for Karasu on what had really went down before. But he couldn't be certain of that just yet. Ironically, the question that Nori had to ask was the same one he was about to ask...

So, without hesitation, he answers;

"3071. That's the year where I come from."

And after that statement, he calmly gestures towards Nori and Yeva.
"Let me guess. The year is different for you two?"

He then queries. It was then that he remembers what Uzi said before about her mother; she was named Nori. So, as unlikely as it seems... He must be in the past right now.

"Am I right?"
He then asks, hoping for confirmation of his theories.

Time travel seemed like an impossible thing to accomplish, but after everything he had seen and experienced... Well, he could hardly say that it seemed that way anymore. It was just another thing stacked onto the crazy deck that they were dealing with right now.

There was one other theory he had as well. If Nori was Uzi's mother -- then Yeva might be related to someone as well. Though he had yet to hear her speak, he briefly wondered if Doll might be the connection here.

(Pulled the year from this page. Not all the details match with our RP, but I figured this would be a good ballpark to work with nonetheless.)

Yeva stared at the human, completely dumbfounded. Meanwhile Nori gave Karasu a wide grin.

”Welcome to 3054 future guy!”

Suddenly the door slammed open, and a pack of sentinels ran in and surrounded the group. They started making chirping noises. A smaller drone walked in behind them. She was dressed in a maid outfit of all things, and had blue eyes. Nori rolled her eyes.

“Oh great, it's the mute bot of obedience.”

“Nori, I checked and there has been no ship crashes on Copper 9. So hand him over.”

Nori opened her hand, the solver symbol appearing in it. ”Well I decided he's worth keeping around. He's more interesting then all you bores.”

Then you give us no choice! 020, help 048 subdue 002 and seize that human!”

”Yes master.”


Just as when it looked like things would get out of hand, a red solver symbol appeared around all the Sentinals necks. Reinhard gasped from behind 020.

“048! Why are you helping her save an intruder?!”

It was then Yeva decided to speak at last.

”YA veryu v to, pochemu on zdes'. YA ne pozvolyu tebe prichinit' yemu vred.”

["I believe his reasons for being here. I won't let you hurt him."]

Nori glanced over in surprise. ”Woah. And here I thought I was going to have to do all the heavy lifting.”

Nori turned and looked at the doctor.

”As much as I would love to do things the hard way, Karasu wouldn't make it out of things unscaved. Rhino, tell Dr.Chambers I want to meet with him. I want to make a deal with him.”

Doctor Reinhard stared at Nori skeptically. “The last time you were in his office you pinned him against the wall with his own desk.”

”Yeah, and that was fricking hilarious.” Nori gave a slight smirk. But then she looked at Karasu, then back to the doctor.

”But this time I mean it! I swear to your god that I'm not lying.”

Nori raised a hand in the air. Dr.Reihard hesitated. Then he sighed. “Any funny business and the intruder dies. 020, disengage.”

The solved symbol Vanished. Likewise Nori and and Yeva deactivated theirs. If he allowed it Karasu would be led away to the office to meet the leader of the facility.

Karasu, Nori, and Yeva would be flanked by sentinels on both sides and 020 following behind them. There were employees walking around the well kept hallways. At one point they passed a sign listing certain paths. They were headed down the sentinel one by the look of things.


Nori leaned over and whispered to Karasu. ”I’ve never been able to get into the secret elevator, even though it’s labeled. It’s one of the more well guarded places.

They would be led into a cubical area that was being manned by humans and drones alike. This part looked like a typical office building. They got a bunch of curious stares as they were lead to a series of double doors at the end. Reinhard knocked on the door.

“Enter. Bring in a few sentinels to accompany them.” A gruff voice came from inside the office. Karasu and the two drones were led in, flanked by drones. Inside they would meet a guy who was holding a clipboard.



”Apparently it’s too much to ask for you to make our lives easy. Usually we’d get to interrogate then dispose of intruders. But you aren’t going to let us, are you?”

Nori plopped herself down on the chair, propping her legs out on the desk. She conjured the absolute solver symbol in her hand.


”Nope! But I’m willing to behave if you make a little deal with me.”

The doctor sighed, turning to look at Karasu. ”I don’t suppose you’re willing to make my job a little easier and tell me where you’re from? Are you a sabetour working for Apeture labs? A mercenary hired by someone else? No matter where you’re from, you’ve made my life much more difficult.”

Well. That confirmed it... Seventeen years in the past. At this point, there was only two possibilities that Karasu could think of. Either he genuinely time traveled, or this was all some elaborate illusion from their enemies -- but even if it was, it was too risky to do anything right now. He'd play along, see where this leads.

"Well. I can safely say that I didn't expect this to happen today..."


Not long after that remark, the door opens, and Sentinels rush in, backed by another Drone -- this one seeming to be decked out in an outfit fancier than the hospital gowns that Nori and Yeva were in. Nori also took the time to voice her annoyance over said Drone's sudden arrival.

And since this was the past, Reinhard would only be able to confirm one thing... No ship crashes. So naturally, they'd want the intruder for interrogation and summary execution. But it seems like his gambit of convincing the Drones to be on his side worked.

Even if only for Nori at the moment. Karasu eases into a fighting stance as Reinhard insists that "020" captures him and subdues "002."

Just as he's about to crack his knuckles in anticipation... Yeva acted, easily restraining the Sentinels as she announces her intentions to side with Nori and Karasu. Now that there was another opportunity for dialogue, Nori suggests that they do things an easier way, to ensure that they got out unscathed -- that is, Karasu and Reinhard.

"Ease up on the death threats, doctor. This situation isn't as advantageous for you as you'd like to think."

He finally broke his silence -- but he left his remark at that. Shortly thereafter, the group is led by Reinhard through the facility. Along the way, Nori points out a few things of interest to Karasu.

"...Why would they label a secret elevator-
It's meant to be secret."
He asks in a whispered tone, dumbfounded by the choices of the people running this place.

Regardless, they reach their destination, and after a knock on the door, they are ushered inside along with a couple of Sentinels. Nori proceeds to make herself right at home, and shrugs off the lecturing from Chambers.

The doctor then finally turns his attention to Karasu, sighing and asking if he'll make his job easier now.

Finally, the Captain calmly steps forward.

"Realistically, you aren't going to believe any story that I give you. Even if you did, you would rather have me killed soon after."

He then glances at the Sentinels.

"So, I'm going to approach this from a different angle -- I'm pretty sure that the Drones here would be more inclined to side with me if I said I was going to free them. This is a black site, and you're obviously up to something that involves keeping them captive here and conducting experiments on them."

He explains, keeping it coming at a reasonable pace.

"Funny thing about those Sentinels, too. They're not really equipped to deal with a Human enemy. I'm pretty sure I can tear them apart, if I needed to. And even assuming you send in one of those other Drones, they're going to be just as vulnerable to the Sentinels."

He briefly glanced at the dinosaur-like bots, before turning his attention back to the Doctor.

"To put it another way... I'm not trapped in here with you. You're trapped in here with me."
He calmly leans on the desk, using his hands to hold himself up as he peers at the Doctor.

"However. I'll keep things peaceful, and I can be useful. These two have taken a shine to me. So I'll stick with them. You want something done, I'm pretty sure I can convince them to go along with it; and I'll probably have a better time of it than anyone else in this facility has."

After explaining the situation, he calmly straightens out, pulling his hands off of the desk in the process.

"You don't try to kill me, and I can make your job -- and life -- significantly less complicated than it could be."
He pauses briefly, only then adding;
"Pretty sure Nori would be happy to help me tear this place up, by the way."

Karasu finished. He was bluffing a bit, he didn't fully know the circumstances with Nori and Yeva, and whether or not they would ACTUALLY go along with him if things escalated. But they didn't necessarily have to. It just needed to be convincing enough.

All while providing a much more reasonable alternative.

”Me neither future boy”

Reinhard ignored Karasu, and opted to just leas then through the facility. When Karasu questioned the secret elevator, NorI whispered back.

”It's an inside joke. Everyone knows that it goes to somewhere secret. But you need a special key to get to the secret level. Otherwise it's just a normal elevator.”

Dr.Chambers stated as Karasu talked to him about the situation. ”It’s for the good of humanity. These drones are corrupted and unsafe for surface life.”

Nori's eyes rolled. ”That and you want our power.

”Nori, if you want any hope of making this deal, you'll let me negotiate with this ruffian.

”Fiiiiine.”

Her turned and looked at Karasu. ”They’d be able to take you out if their programming didn't prevent them from harming humans. But I'm sure you know that. Just as I'm sure you know that you won't survive the day if anything happens to me.”

Dr.Chambers listened to what Karasu had to say. Nori cackled when Karasu said she's probably be happy to tear the place apart.

”Oh I'd love to smash this place.

Dr.Chambers looked at her. ”You know that will never happen. There are too many defenses against you.

Nori grinned. ”And there’s only one person who could stop me. But you aren't letting Atta out of her cage anytime soon.”

Dr.Chambers grimaced. [Color=grey]”I don't need 001 to deal with you.

”Yeah, keep telling yourself that doc.”

Dr.Chambers was silent for a moment, then turned to Karasu.

”This is how its going to work. You and these two are going to be given heavily guarded quarters that you all will share. You will not go anywhere without an excort. You will keep those two in line for as long as possible. Do that and you'll live.”

He looked over at Nori. ”I presume you have no objections.

Nori grinned. ”Nope!”

---

And with that, they were led away to a repurposed holding cell.


When the doors slammed shut, Nori walked over and plopped onto the bottom bunk, looking at Karasu with interest.

”Looks like we got a lot of time to ourselves. Tell us about the future. What's it like?

Yeva sat down on the bed too, looking at Karasu with interest.

"Yeah, everyone always says it's for "the good of Humanity." How come that is never once how that turns out?"

Karasu asks rhetorically, and then smirks as Nori rightfully calls it out for what it is; a pursuit of power. Though he does turn his attention back to the doctor as he refers to him as a ruffian.

"I'm actually quite nice when you get to know me. And when you're not trying to kill me."

Regardless, Nori backs off and lets the two of them discuss things from here on -- at least for a bit -- as Chambers retorts that the Sentinels could simply have their programming altered to allow for Human targets to be acceptable.

Yet again, Karasu leans on the desk -- one got the sense that he was glaring at the doctor now, even despite the helmet that obscured his face right now.

"Pull the pin on that grenade. Let's see if it plays out like you think."

And soon afterwards, Nori lets out what can only be described as a gremlin's laugh as she absolutely agrees to tearing this place up. The doctor seemed sure that his defenses would work -- and then seemed a little LESS sure once this mysterious "001 Atta" was mentioned, and how they would always be kept in their cage.

But regardless, it seems like they were able to reach an agreement. Karasu would be kept alive, but under the same kind of restriction as Nori and Yeva. That was fine.

"Then we have a deal."

He straightens out once more.

---

So here they were, in a holding cell... Karasu managed to avoid getting killed, but he was still effectively a prisoner. But at least he had two close allies to count on here. Nori and Yeva seemed like they would be very dependable -- and now that they would be together for some time, this was an excellent opportunity to find out more about each other, and their respective goals.

Though Nori decides to open the conversation by asking about the future, as she plops onto the bed expectantly. Yeva soon follows suit, taking a seat as well. For now, Karasu remained standing, and he crosses his arms.

"Well, I wish I could say that I had good news about what the future is like...."

He admitted as he briefly wonders where to start... To be truthful, he wasn't entirely sure of the exact timing of things, but...

"I'll try putting together a rough timeline of events for you. I'm not too sure which of these events came first, so I'll go with what makes the most sense to me."

He pauses briefly, making sure they understood. Then he begins his explanation...

"At some point -- and I'm sure JC Jenson wants to keep the exact moment of when a secret -- Copper 9 experiences a catastrophic event. Every Human on the planet dies, and the surface is frozen over. Worker Drones are the only survivors, and thus the story is that there was some kind of rebellion."

Of course. That story wouldn't seem very believable on it's own. And that is why he follows up that revelation with:

"Afterwards, there is an uprising on Proxima. Drones openly rebel against Humanity, and start killing them. It is shortly after this event that Disassembly Drones were created. Machines of war for the explicit purpose of being perfectly loyal and dependent on Humanity, and for the destruction of any AI or Drones gone rogue.

Proxima was not a situation that could be contained from the public. News spread, and unrest towards Drones with it. JC Jenson was quick to save face however it could. Whole PR campaigns on how to properly dispose of obsolete models, turning in old Drones for newer, safer models... The works."

Karasu pauses once more. He understands that this is probably not the most pleasant conversation for them to hear. But it is nonetheless important to go over.

"One more thing... I haven't been able to verify it myself, but apparently Earth was also destroyed. Not just frozen over, but actually destroyed."

With that, he lets out a small sigh.

"Effectively... It's been going awful for us. But at least we were making on effort on Copper 9 to fix things."
He pauses once more. Almost as if carefully considering how much he should reveal here. Certain things like Nori being Uzi's mother was probably too risky... Same with mentioning Khan. He also wasn't entirely aware of the situation here in the past.

But he does eventually decide that he can reveal this.

"As for those mutated Drones I was telling you about before... Apparently they are related to something called "The Witch", and "The Mark of the Witch."

But apparently it was referred to by another term as well. "Solver", "Absolute Solver"."

He lets that hang in the air. Now that they were going to be sticking together, Karasu felt it was only fair to reveal that he could to them. Even if it was practically all bad news...

”Because it's my division. I've assembled the best minds in the world to achieve our ambitions.”

Both Nori and Yeva's eye displayed simultaneously rolled around on their visor. Dr. Chamber’s meanwhile, seemed uninterested in getting to know Karasu better.

”I don't need to get to know you, nor do I need to do so. I am a very busy man with very important goals.”

The doctor stared at Karasu, unflinching staring at the other man. ”I'd rather not. If I have to pull the pin on the proverbial grenade, then that means that things have gotten out of hand.”

The rest of the negotiations went by fairly smoothly. And with that, Karasu was able to get out of that office alive.

---

When Karasu informed them what would happen to Copper 9, Nori threw her hands up in the air in exasperation.

Fricking maniacs! They’re actually going to do it! They’re going to blow it up!”

Nori turned to look at Yeva. [color=Indigo]”I told them this would happen, remember?”[color=undefined]

”YA pomnyu.”

[“I remember.”]

”But Dr.Chambers was all like, ”My calculations are perfect and our countermeasures are absolute!”

Nori looked up at a camera mounted on a corner in the cell. She raised her hand and flipped it off.

“Bite me doctor! You’re going to fail miserably and everyone’s going to die like BLEEEEH! AGGGGH!”

Nori made choking noises, waved her arms in the air, then flopped onto the ground. Yeva let out a sigh. Nori climbed back up and sat on the bed again.

”That felt good to get out of my system. Now give me more future talk!”

Somehow, Nori and Yeva managed to remain quiet throughout the rest of it. Not being directly involved in the other stuff might have had something to do with that. But Nori had some choice words after he was done talking.

”Holy crap, the future is horrible. And I thought the present was bad.”

Nori frowned as she thought that over. ”That's a little too much bad if you ask me. It almost seems like it's all orchestrated.”

Nori stroked her chin, then shrugged. ”Well there's nothing we can do about Proxima and Earth right now. But maybe we can save Copper 9 from itself.”

Nori and Yeva looked at each other as Karasu talked about the solver. Then back at the human.

”This mark, right?”

The solver symbol took the place of the right eye in both drones, and appeared in one of their hands. Then they made them vanish just as quickly.

”Alright, let's get you caught up. So the absolute solver is a rouge ai that can reshape reality. Dr.Chambers thinks it's the key to evolving to a higher plane of existence or whatever.”

Nori extended her arm and held up one finger. ”Anyway, there are two ways a drone can get infected. One is to come back as a zombie drone and develop the solver naturally. The humans here say that's about as rare as winning the mega million jackpot while being mauled by a polar bear in a desert.”

Nori raised a second finger. ”Or 2, you get infected by one and are compatible with the A.I. which is how me and Yeva got it. I was on Earth working as a scrapyard drone when I got infected. Yeva here got forcefed Atta's programming by the scientists running this place.”

Nori let that sink in before continuing. ”The mad scientist running this place wants to make a patch that gives full control of the program to the host, and wants to put the solver into a human host that will be outfitted with mechanical parts. He has a real annoying name for the project. Some weird religious thing. What did he call it again?”

”Just A Demonic Exorcism.”

Nori let out a groan. ”He thinks he's so clever, making jokes like this and the secret… huh?!”

Nori looked at Yeva in shock. She then pointed at the other drone. ”Wait, since when could you speak English?”

”YA vsegda mog govorit' po-angliyski. No moy programmist byl grazhdaninom Rossii, poetomu on sdelal yego moim osnovnym yazykom.”

["I could always speak english. But my programmer was a russian national, so he made it my primary language."]

Nori smirked. ”Or maybe you just heard them saying it all the time. Russian she, Russian do.”

”Bite me.”

[“Bite me.”]

”Hey! Get your own line!”

That silliness aside, Nori looked back at Karasu. “If all goes according to Doctor Chamber’s plans, we have a month before everyone on Copper 9 dies. That's when the project is going to reach its final stage.”

Well, it seems like Nori predicted all of this would happen. Albeit maybe not quite to the extent that Karasu revealed. Either way, both her and Yeva were quiet as he continued explaining the rest of it all. It was only after he finished that Nori broke the silence by remarking that there's a little TOO much bad. Like it was all orchestrated.

Karasu nodded in agreement.

"I think you're right about that part. All of these things happening feel very intentional. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there's something behind it all."

After that remark, Nori gives a shrug and expresses hopefulness about being able to save Copper 9 at least. Maybe they could... It would be a long shot, though. Especially with their current circumstances.

Before Karasu could comment on that, Nori and Yeva both had something to show him, though. The mark of the Absolute Solver... It appeared in their eyes, and above their hands. But they dismissed them after he got a good look at them. And he gives a nod.

"That's it. I am seriously not surprised that "for the good of Humanity" led to this."

Karasu commented. If only he knew... Well, he was about to find out. Nori began to get him caught up to speed on exactly what it was, and what they were trying to do here.

"So he's messing with something he doesn't even understand, and he's trying to implement it into a Human..."
Karasu gives a heavy sigh. It must have been weird, seeing a Human so disappointed in another one of their kind.

But at least it helped them put together what he was like -- and then he realized something, at about the same time as Nori did. He looks over at Yeva, but the other Drone fills in the question he was about to ask.

It didn't take long for Yeva to clear it up. Along with a very brief spat between the two... Yeah... That also confirmed it without a doubt, this really was Uzi's mom.

"A month... That's not much time to work with, and we aren't exactly in the best situation right now."

He comments, glancing around the holding cell. He begins to calmly pace, bringing a hand to his chin as he tries to think of what to do.

"Hmm... The best case scenario would probably be gaining control of the facility somehow... Turning all of this equipment and these projects towards actually stopping Absolute Solver, instead of trying to appropriate it."

He stops, lifting his head up to look at the door.

"With all the security here, that's going to be messy. Something tells me that if it comes to a fight, we could probably get out alive... But the facility would be a lost cause."

He shakes his head, stepping back over and placing his hands on his hips as he tries to map out what to do in his mind. He furrowed his brow, and slowly tapped his foot against the floor. Eventually, that stops, as he lifts his head and crosses his arms once more.

"Based on our interactions in the Office, I don't see Dr. Chambers suddenly changing his mind, either."

With that, he calmly brings a hand forward to gesture to Nori and Yeva.
"Any ideas?"

That was probably another oddity that might have stood out. In fact, a nice tallying of the list...
He didn't seem afraid of either of them. He also wasn't treating them as mere tools -- he even talked about freeing them earlier.

And he was also treating them as equals, asking them for insight. Hell, even while he was trying to think aloud, he was coming up with ways to help them and the other Drones.

Sure. They probably heard about stories of Humans that treated Drones right, but it was another thing to actually see it, especially in a place like this.

Nori pointed at herself. ”They should have gone for the good of the drones. We wouldn't be in this mess if they treated us like humans. Yeva here was stuck in a locker for a month for accidentally breaking a computer monitor.”

Nori jerked her thumb at Yeva, who looked over at Karasu. ”Eto bylo ne tak uzh plokho. YA skorotal vremya, igraya v tetris.”

[“It wasn't too bad. I passed the time by playing tetris.”]

The game in question displayed itself on Yeva's face for a few seconds.


Nori crossed her left leg over her right, and put a hand on her hip. ”Pretty much. Even if that patch they're developing does work, there's no guarantee they'll be able to install it without the solver fighting back.”

Karasu went over their options. Which were all rather limited. Taking over the facility would definitely be fun for Nori, but she also didn't see it happening.

”Even if we did take over, they'd just send in a larger force to take it back. Or erase all traces of its existence, us included.”

”My mogli by dobrat'sya do vybrannoy devushki i pomeshat' yey prinyat' uchastiye v eksperimente.”

["We could get to the chosen girl and prevent her from taking part in the experiment."]

Nori snapped her fingers! ”The human they picked for The experiment!”

Nori looked over at Karasu. ”They can't just use any human for the experiment. They had to find a proper host for the ai systems. I doubt people with 180 or more I.Q. grow on trees. So we can at least buy some time if we take away their ability to transfer the Solver.”

Karasu looked over at Yeva, as Nori mentioned that she had gotten stuck in a locker for a month... Over breaking a computer monitor. He almost couldn't believe it. Now, he was a little biased in favor of Humanity, he DID fight in the Proxima Uprising to put a stop to what the Drones were doing. But he could also realize that there was another side to the story.

A lot of Drones weren't treated very well. Before and especially AFTER the war. It wasn't fair to them, especially when it became blatantly obvious that they were capable of feeling.

"I've heard a lot of stories about people mistreating Drones. But I think this place might take first prize in that category."

He lets out an exasperated sigh.

"... Well, if I can help it, neither of you two will be treated like that."

Of course, the other big issue is that the Solver might end up resisting the patch -- and given that he knows how Copper 9 ended up... It seems exactly that happened.

"I think we have to move forward knowing that his experiment is a failure. If it was a success, I don't think anything I described about the future would have happened."

So that left them with the question of what to do... The options were all fairly limited -- and Nori was quick to point out an issue in just taking over the facility.

"I'm not worried about that. I could turn this place into an impenetrable fortress, and unless they want to start dropping bombs on the planet, they're not getting inside. The bigger issue is that we can't contain the damage and the casualties."
He pauses briefly.
"Like I said. We could break out. Along with quite a few of the other Drones. But it would be messy. And it would probably just be the Proxima Uprising on Copper 9 -- so I think we can scratch that option off the list."

And although Dr. Chambers seemed to be quite a charming individual, they shouldn't hope to be able to persuade him to come around to reason, either. If he had more than a month to work with, Karasu was sure that he could get something done... But that was a strict time limit.

But it seems like Yeva had an idea, and Nori was quick to explain what it was.

"Yeah... That might work. But I imagine she's under lock and key. We're going to have to find out how to get close to her."

He admitted... There was one other thing that he needed to figure out as well;

"One more thing. I know you two are on board with this. But what about the other Drones? Think we could convince any of them to be ready to help us?"

He asks, and soon elaborates as to why:
"A hostile takeover should be our very last resort. But a month is also the point of no return. And I'd rather not find out if I'm going to survive whatever hits this planet when the deadline is up. We may need their help to reach her, anyway."

Nori leaned back, making a dismissive jesture with her hand. ”Hey, I don’t need a prince charming to keep me safe. You just worry about your fragile fleshy hide.”

Yeva on the other hand looked away. She seemed to be embarrassed by that Karasu had just said.

Nori had a simple thing to say about Karasu’s observation. ”Yeah, grass is green. Of course it doesn’t work.

Nori sat up, looking over at the human. ”Yeah, kind of pointless to stop one apocalypse if we end up starting another one in the process.

Nori stared at Karasu, a thoughtful look appearing on her face. ”Yeah, but right now we know where she is. She just got out of the first of many surgeries. And the doctor set up a room for her in advance. He labeled it like he did the secret elevator.”

”potomu chto etot chelovek dumayet, chto on umneye i smeshneye vsekh ostal'nykh.”

[“Because that man thinks he's smarter and funnier than everyone else.”

Nori made sure to translate that directly for Yeva that time. She didn’t always do it, but she figured Karasu would get a kick out of that.

”She’s completely secure from drones like us. But you might be able to get in if you get your hands on the right hazard suit.”

Both Yeva and Nori looked at each other when he asked that. Then Nori turned and let out a sigh.

”The only ones who would turn against the humans here are the other infected. But it’s hard to tell which ones are close to being fully corrupted or not. If we get our hands on the list and information, we can narrow down potential drones to bring to the cause.”

Karasu was silent for a moment, thinking about what Nori said -- that, and Yeva's blushing reaction. It was hard for his mind not to get derailed right now.

"... Prince Charming? Is that how I come across?"

Really, he was just more concerned about protecting them, keeping them safe -- but, that probably fit the criteria of the title, didn't it? Nori dismissively waved it off, telling him to focus on keeping his own 'fragile fleshy hide' safe. Yeva, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind.

Or at least, she wasn't opposed to his sense of duty.

"Uh... We'll circle back to that at some point, maybe."
He then stated -- if only because Yeva would probably appreciate Nori not finding out what her reaction was like just now.

Still, Karasu sighs as Nori bluntly points out that 'of course it doesn't work.'

"It's just good to be on the same page for everything. It might seem obvious, but it's still worth saying. Sometimes what's obvious to one person isn't exactly that way to everyone else."
He replied, leaving it at that for now.

Still, he also couldn't argue with the terminology that she used; stopping one apocalypse with another seemed very counterintuitive. Maybe if Karasu can collect some more information about the state of things... He could do something besides just throw a wrench into the machine and break the entire thing.

... And it seems that Nori and Yeva did have that kind of information after all. They knew where this mysterious human girl is at. Or at least, where to expect her to be. Nori also translated what Yeva said this time, so Karasu was able to understand it.

"Well... His overconfidence and his cheeky sense of humor might actually work to our advantage."

He smiled, at least now a plan was coming together -- Nori even suggested that the right suit might be just what he needs in order to get closer to this girl. The only other thing to go over was finding out who would be an ally here, and who would be an enemy. Unfortunately, Nori and Yeva couldn't really narrow it down that much. But they did suggest that a database would do all the work for them.

"Alright then. Sounds like we have a plan. I need to find a suit, I need to access that database, and I need to find this girl."

He glances over at the door. Then he looks at the bunk beds, giving a small sigh.

"But, right now it's a waiting game... Guess that gives us plenty of time to talk, and to think about any other possible plans."

Still... A thought crossed his mind. Why the hell did they give them a cell with only two beds? On top of that, he was a guy! It'd be pretty inappropriate to try and get into bed with either one of them, so...

He picks a spot in the room, and starts to sit down on the floor, resting his back against the wall. One knee is slightly raised up so that he can rest his arm -- at least, as long as he wasn't interrupted.

"So. What's next?"

He asks; only if his previous action wasn't interrupted. A whole other kind of conversation would probably play out if either one said something to him, or stopped him...

Nori gave Karasu a grin. ”You aren't exactly my type. But you don't exactly have much competition here, if you know what I mean.”

Nori shrugged her shoulders at Karasu's statement about the obvious. ”I guess. But me and Yeva weren't made yesterday.”

Nori smirked. ”It's about time that karma strikes the Doc for all the crap he's done. Terrible jokes included.”

Nori leaned back, putting her hands behind her head. ”Yep, looks like we're going to here for awhile.”

Nori and Yeva stared as Karasu took a seat in the floor. ”You do realize there's a bunk for you, right?”

After that exchange, Nori would look at Karasu curiously. ”What's next is that we pass the time. Is there anything about the future that isn't horrible?”

"Yeah... Not unless you suddenly develop a case of Stockholm Syndrome, anyway."
Karasu admitted in response. That being said, it did click for him on what Nori was driving at soon afterwards.
"... Oh."

He rubs the back of his own neck. He didn't really know what to say when a woman was making advances on him. Even if he was pretty sure Nori was just fucking around right now.

But at least the conversation keeps moving, and he gives a calm shrug at her pointing out that she and Yeva weren't made yesterday.
"It's a habit of mine. I go over the details several times, and I make sure everyone working with me is up to speed. Got it back when it was protocol."

He explained. And it seemed like this was probably going to be the rest of the day for them -- just sitting and talking, until they were let out of their cell. Not exactly the greatest conditions, but considering the other possibility involved him being executed, it was a massive improvement.

That being said, both Nori and Yeva were staring as he started an attempt to make himself comfortable on the floor. He glances over at them.

"Well. I'm a guy. And I was raised to treat ladies right. There's two beds, and I figure the two of you would like your own bed."
He responds, and then calmly adjusts his hand so that his palm is facing upward as he continues with;
"And I won't be asking to join either of you in bed. I'm not exactly keen on getting tossed into the door hard enough to knock it off of its hinges."

His hand then returns to a more natural resting position. Still... Nori was pretty curious about the future, specifically she wanted to know about things that WEREN'T horrible. Karasu thinks it over for a moment...

"Well, earlier I mentioned that people grow more distrusting of Drones after Proxima. But that's not entirely true. Plenty of people made the distinction that they were different from the Drones that they spent all of their lives with."

He begins to explain, and soon elaborates;
"Even in JC Jenson, there were plenty of people that refused to let their Drones be mistreated. The conversation and controversy got heated enough that it sparked genuine debate about the treatment of Drones... And a lot of people were in favor of treating them better."

Karasu lets that hang in the air for a moment, pausing.

"Hell, apparently there were rumors about Humans and Drones actually entering romantic relationships together -- and I guess that was true, because I saw couples like that."

(Feel free to time skip when it feels appropriate)

Nori's grin grew wider. ”Noooow you’re catching on. This prison might not be so bad for you if you play your cards right.”

Yeva looked over at Nori in annoyance. ”pochemu ty takoy?”

[“Why are you like this?”]

Nori smirked. “Hey, a girl's got to pass The time somehow.”

Nori looked at Karasu curiously. ”So were you part of some special forces or something? The way you phrased that sounds very military.”

Nori let out a chuckle when Karasu called them ladies. Yeva once again looked a little embarrassed.

”The most decent human In the joint is the one who gets locked in a cell. They probably expected you to take one bunk and make me and Nori share the other. Your conscious is making things uncomfortable for you.”

Nori looked almost disappointed when Karasu mentioned one of them would probably throw him against the door if he died getting into bed with one of them.

“Probably. But maybe I wouldn't have done it too hard. Not one human here would have the balls to try something like that.”[/color]

Nori and Yeva listened to Karasu talk about the future. Nori let out a groan.

[Color=indigo]”I got built a few decades too early. Who would have thought that things would have gotten that progressive for drones?” then spoke up, looking at Karasu. [Color=maroon]Chto vy dumayete ob otnosheniyakh mezhdu lyud'mi i dronami?”

[“What are your views on human and drone relationships?”]

Nori repeated it in English, then smirked at her friend. She made sure Karasu couldn't see her face, and had some words flash across her screen at Yeva.

”Could you be any more obvious?

Yeva glanced at her, but didn't respond. Instead she focused on Karasu.

"Well, at least I can say this; it's not going to be boring with you around, Nori."

He replied as she embraced being the chaotic gremlin that she is. In any case, she does ask about Karasu's past and whether or not he was part of the military.

"Yeah, something like special forces. Once Proxima happened, Humanity was very keen on getting anyone and everyone who was good at fighting. And they weren't above hiring mercenaries."
He pauses briefly, soon elaborating;

"Used to have a bit of competition with a group calling themselves Freelancers. I'd almost gotten signed up for that, but apparently they started running into issues -- so, I became a Raven. That business was very cutthroat. But it paid a lot. That's why I was able to afford my own ship and crew."

He thinks over his past for a little bit, and eventually continues...
"Among a few other things. I don't think I'd go back into that life, but it gave me a lot of advantages."

Still.... Karasu couldn't help but notice the difference in reactions from Nori and Yeva, especially when he referred to them as ladies. But he does shrug at Nori's words.

"Well, I'm used to roughing it. You get used to all kinds of conditions as a Raven. Although I have to admit, this is a pretty new situation for me."

And after that, Nori's disappointment and immediate defense of herself made it pretty clear that Karasu made the right call. He does chuckle, though.

"Yeah, that tells me that I made the right choice. You don't really strike me as the type of person that holds back, Nori."

That being said... He WAS caught off guard by Yeva's question -- thankfully translated by Nori -- and he considers it for a moment. Truth be told, it was one of those things he never really thought much about. But taking the time to do that now, he could honestly say...

"I don't mind it. I think if it makes people happy, then there's no harm in it."
He answers, and continues to explain his reasoning;
"It's pretty obvious that Drones are capable of feeling. They can form connections with people. It's not just any run of the mill machinery. I think any attempts to think of them that way went off the table especially when they started fighting for freedom and individuality."

It was kind of a complicated answer, but it seemed to be one that Karasu felt was worth sharing.

"The concept of "the self." Ever since it was proven Drones had that, the whole game changed. So... Yeah. Let them love who they want. Let them be loved."

After that, Karasu lightly smiled.

"And hey, who knows? Maybe our actions here will make things better for Drones a little bit sooner."

And that's when a thought occurs to Karasu... The idea of changing the future. He had the capability of doing that now. Hell, he technically already was. Of course, he had to be careful with it. He does the wrong thing, and maybe Uzi isn't born.

That was a heavy kind of responsibility. And he falls silent as he thinks over the weight of his actions.

Nori smirked at Karasu. ”One of us has to be interesting. Otherwise you and Yeva would just sit around quietly most of the day.”

Nori and Yeva listened to him explain what he was. Suddenly it became very clear how Karasu was able to be so well adjusted, despite the situation he was in.

”I'm going to pretend I know what those groups are and just accept that you're a badass mercenary.”

Nori smirked at Karasu. ”You got that right. Life’s no fun if you hold back.”

Yeva blinked, processing that. Then she gave Karasu a smile.


Nori meanwhile smirked at Yeva's smile. But for once she didn't tease the poor drone. She instead looked over at Karasu.

”Can’t argue with that. Although Things are going to get worse for everyone if that experiment happens.”

Eventually the drones climbed into their respective bunks and went into sleep node. The countdown to save the future had begun.

---

SLAM!

”OH GOD! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!”

“THEN GET A PROPER HUMAN BREAKFAST! I'M NOT LETTING HIM EAT THAT CRAP!”

“DOCTOR CHAMBERS! HELP!”

Yeva rubbed her visor, sitting up. She looked at the door rather annoyed. Nori had her solver out, and had managed to pin him against the other side of the door.

The doctor's voice came over the intercom.

“Fine, I'll let you all come to the cafeteria. Under intense guard.”

“Sir, but you can just…”

“She’d just force her way out regardless. She won’t let that prisoner stay cooped up in there all day. And I’d rather not have to resort to pushing the other solver users and sentinels.”

Nori lowered her hand, the solver symbol vanishing. The guy on the other end backed up, panting heavily. On the floor was a tray containing some grey goop and a glass of water. The doctor’s voice spoke up again.

“First a meal. Then we’re going to get our guest showered and into a change of clothes. And make it timely.”

”Sure thing you bastard!” Nori said cheerfully.

---

A parade of sentinels and the solver drone from yesterday let them to a large cafeteria. Drones and humans alike were eating there. The JC Jenson Logo was plastered everywhere. And underneath the entrance, there was a sign underneath the main one.


Nori looked over, making a grand gesture with her hand. Yeva went off to one of the lines for drones. ”Well, they have no shortage of food here. Get whatever you want Karasu!”