Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Wakey wakey. Good morning. Wake up. Exit sleep mode.”

Uzi groaned as her tail nudged her face, getting increasingly annoying and loud.

“Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. School time. Wake up.”

“You just wanna see my boyfriend...”

“Who, big brother N?” Cyn asked, tilting the tail's head.

“Yeah..” Uzi sat up, her hair a mess, uncomfortably so.

“I forgot he liked you like that. I mean, you're... You.”

“Thanks, you bit—”

Uzi was done getting ready, for her part. Recently, Cyn had managed to convince her to let Cyn 'modify' some aspects of her clothes, like accessories. Mostly to get her to shut up about how she looked good but should consider a big bow in her hair, or try a 'new' hairstyle.

Cyn had decided to brush Uzi's hair for her considering they were technically one in the same now, so one's appearance may affect the other.

That's become obvious enough.

“And to finish it off, a bow!”

The tail put a big black bow on Uzi's head.

“Ew. I prefer my beanie.” Uzi reached to remove the bow.

“Bite.”

“OW! What the fu—”

Cyn moved the tail head to directly in front of Uzi's face, “Angry.”

Uzi growled, “What was that for!?”

“We made an agreement!” Cyn responded, trying but failing to convey proper anger.

“Its MY hair!” Uzi refuted.

“Snarl.”

“Don't you snarl at me!”

“Its just a bow. In your hair!”

“How about it's NOT in my hair? It's so obnoxiously large there's no room for my beanie!"

“You don't need that boring beanie. This bow is much nicer than that raggedy, old thing.”

“R- Wh- RAGGEDY!? Ironic coming from someone who wore the literal flesh and bones of their 'big brother's' friend.”

“It was a practical and stylistic choice!”

Uzi rolled her eyes and scoffed, “Yeah, whatever, you weirdo.” she spat, venom in her tone.

“If I could glare with this dumb tail head, I would.”

“Why don't you just say 'glare'? That's what you do for a lot of things.” Uzi tilted her head.

Cyn turned the tail head away, “It has less impact when there is no actual glare.”

Uzi grabbed the tail head, making Cyn let out "Surprised squeak!”, and tossed it behind her to the best of her ability.

Uzi grabbed the ribbon in her hair and took it off.

“Thats not fair! You promised!”

“Didn't you say you promised V you'd leave her and N alone if she did her job?”

“... That's different—”

“Different my faulds.”

“Scoff. How do you even know about that?”

“I was THERE. When you were trying to end the world? After that 'cAlLbAcK pInG' thing.”

...

Uzi smiled at Cyn's silence after that. She placed the bow on the counter of her bathroom and left for school.

“Freakin'. Unfair.”

Chapter Text

Uzi's shoes softly clunked against the floor under her feet. Cyn was still grumbling, “It was just a bow... You won't die without that ugly beanie...”

“Hey, shut up before I tape your mouth shut. My beanie is NOT ugly.” Uzi shot back at the controlled tail-head.

“Grumpy.”

Uzi kept walking until, eventually, she felt warm. Uh-huh. Right. She forgot she still needed oil with all the excitement the past week. Saving the world, confirming she's dating N, making the presentation, finding out Cyn possesses her tail now and lacks the prior malicious intent, and now... She'll never be alone again.

Even though she's stuck with the one drone she absolutely hates the most out of anyone who also tried to end the world. And eat it. And eat her. And N.

Robo-god...

"Gotta get something to eat..."

“Who will we eat this time?” Cyn chimed in, seeming oddly chipper considering she was controls a tail-head that had an inability to make expressions.

"I'm not eating anyone, idiot!” Uzi grumbled.

“Then what are we meant to eat? We need oil—”

Uzi glared at Cyn, “It's me not we. We may be sharing a body, but it is my body. Not yours.”

“... Still need oil to live.”

Uzi's glare softened as she forgot about glaring, “Yeah, okay. But we can get oil without killing people.”

“Yes, but you'd still be eating someone.” Cyn remarked. Uzi rolled her eyes with a groan.

“I'm not eating Emily or Doll. Why didn't I eat Emily when I went on that frenzy, anyways?” She paused, looking at the tail-head next to her face.

"Mm, no clue.”

“But you're the solver.”

“Im only part solver.”

“Huh?”

“I'm Cyn and The Solver.”

“You do understand how that doesn't mean anything to me, right?”

"..."

“Right. Okay, now to go get some oil.”

Uzi walked out of the storage unit, a Jerry can in her hand as she drank out of it. It was empty upon discovery, so she went to find some and poured it inside. Now she wouldn't have to hunt oil sources down throughout the day.

“I must admit,” Cyn began, “This was quite smart.”

“You say you're smarter than me and yet you didn't come up with this? Ha!”

“That was a yesterday thing!”

“Shut up, you parasite.”

“Frowny face.”

Uzi drank out of the Jerry can, the oil slipping into her mouth, waterfalling down her throat and into her systems. She could already feel her body cooling back to its normal temperature.

"Awesome.” Uzi smiled and kept walking to school. As she got closer, she saw more and more upperclassmen, lowerclassmen, some classmates, but no faces she actually knew more about than their names.

She kept walking and made her way to class in silence. Or she would've had Cyn not been chirping about every little thing that interested her. Like someone's hair, some random thing on the floor, or that one flickery lightbulb.

Upon arrival to class, Uzi saw she was alone in there. First of her class to arrive. Cool, alone time.

“We're the first ones here!”

Wait, no, Cyn's there too.

Uzi sat at her desk, front row, second seat from the left. She waited, since it was all she could actually do...

“Wow. It's boring. Let's never do this again.”

“Wow. It's boring. Let's never do this again.”

“I got that, idiot. You already said it in MY head! Did you forget to say that in YOUR head?” Uzi face palmed because.

“Whoops.”

Uzi sighed, resting her head on her hands. Boring. That's something they could agree on, unlike that tacky bow—

“It's not tacky!”

"Shut it.”

Chapter Text

Uzi had her knees on her desk like she always did. She was drawing some characters from her favorite anime. She really liked this one girl character who was totally badass, pulled a gun out of NOWHERE. It was so cool, even if it was illogical.

“You should be paying attention to the teacher.”

Uzi rolled her eyes at Cyn, “You're the one chewing on my desk.”

“... Touché.”

She kept drawing until a paper was passed out, being tossed on top of her drawings. She gave it a quick look-over and scoffed. This was child's play (or work)!

She went ahead and answered a bunch of the questions as fast as she could so she could get back to drawing sooner and get an okay grade, not that the teacher would fail her anyways, considering he's so clearly dead inside. He didn't seem too freaked out after Cyn tried to eat everything.

Now he just does what's required and bangs his head on his desk.

Cyn broke off the corner of Uzi's desk and kept chewing on it, “Nom nom..”

“Robo-god, you're weird...” Uzi mumbled.

“Flavorless... My favorite flavor.”

Uzi sighed. Where was the bell for lunch?

RIIIIIIIIIINGGG!

Uzi got down from her desk and shoved her things messily into her bag while everyone else walked out of the classroom through one of the two doors. She threw her bag over her shoulder and left the classroom, immediately being pulled aside by none other than N.

"Hi, N." She smiled. She hadn't forgotten that N was going to school now. Him, V, and J never got a proper education, so it was Uzi's idea to offer them a chance to get one. They learned the basics so fast that they made it all the way to acing sophomore topics, skipping, like, six grades. Though, to be fair, they're about Junior age anyway, like Uzi.

"I drew something for you!" N squeaked, handing her a paper will colorful doodles. Uzi took a hold of the drawings and looked them over. It was her, N, and a dog. They were holding hands, and while N's anatomy need a little work, it was pretty good.

"Wow, you're really improving, huh? Good job! It looks great." She raised her hand, letting him give her a high five.

N chuckled, making Uzi smile a bit more.

"Gross."

Uzi glared at Cyn. Cyn moved the tail head to get closer to N, "Hello!"

N hesitated, "Hi... Cyn..."

"Why are you speaking so nervously? Do I scare you?" Cyn asked, the tail head tilting. "Surely I- Surprised squeak!"

Uzi had grabbed the tail head like this morning and tossed it behind her, "He doesn't wanna talk to you."

N smiled at Uzi gratefully, "You hungry? I'm starving."

Uzi nodded, "Yeah, let's go get lunch and hope it's not so disgusting we can only mesh it around on our trays to create somehow less disgusting concoctions!"

N laughed as she grabbed his hand and ran in the direction of the cafeteria.

Chapter Text

Uzi took a sip from her Jerry can of oil, the canister's spout pulling away from her with a pop as N sat down next to her, "So, how's your day been? Learn anything interesting? Scratch that, learn anything at all, or do you just know everything? That would explain how your art skills have improved so fast."

N's tail perked up at the compliment, "Well, I mean, I do learn easier way to do things..."

".. that you already know how to do?" Uzi finished his sentence for him. N chuckled and sheepishly nodded.

Uzi popped a batt- where'd it go?

"Mm. Not as good as flavorless, but yummy."

Uzi whacked Cyn on the head, "The hell? That was mine, you jerk!"

"Ow."

"Ugh.." Uzi grabbed another battery to eat just for Cyn to bite the battery and snatch it, gobbling it up before Uzi could react.

"Mm."

Uzi whacked Cyn again, "Stop it!"

"No."

Uzi glared before reaching for a third battery. Surely enough, Cyn dived for the battery. Uzi grabbed the snout of the head and yanked it away. Cyn bit her hand, making her yelp. Uzi reached her other hand to whack Cyn again, but she bit her arm. N just kinda watched in surprise.

Uzi growled, "You little shi-"

"Whoaaa whoa whoa whoa! Stop fighting! You guys basically share the same body!" N pulled Cyn away from Uzi's arms, using his other arm to keep Uzi away from Cyn.

Uzi grumbled, "Tell her to stop eating MY damn batteries."

"It doesn't matter who eats them, they get consumed and turned into energy for us both either way." Cyn refuted, finishing off with a: "Annoyed huff."

N chuckled and sighed, "Just stop biting and hitting each other, you're basically damaging yourselves when you do..."

Uzi crossed her arms, "Fine."

"Cyn?" N turned to look at the tail head Cyn could see through and control.

"..."

"Cyn..."

"Fine. But only because this interference has made things boring and I would like to go back to eavesdropping on the nearby tables."

"You- you really shouldn't... Do that either.."

"What else do you want me to do?"

Uzi butt in, "Engage in the conversation here?"

"You said N did not wish to converse with me." Cyn reminded the goth robot. Uzi rolled her eyes.

"Okay, that's fair, I guess." Uzi mumbled.

"Let's just enjoy lunch, yeah?" N suggested, sitting back down. Uzi nodded.

...

"She's okay? Wow, I thought for sure she had died."

"She's in a wheelchair now. I don't think.."

...

"Great going at the game! You were our star player yesterday! Speaking of, what happened to your arm? Daniel said you injured it."

"Oh, yeah, I tripped during halftime and landed on it wrong."

"Oh, that sucks. Hope it doesn't hurt that much. Oh, by the way..."

...

Cyn zeroed in on the conversation between Uzi and N again.

".. I was planning on dropping by to see J. I kinda miss her.."

"You're gonna ask me to come along because V hates J right now?"

"Please?"

Uzi chuckled, "Tempting, but no."

"Pleeeaaaaaaseeee?" N gave puppy dog eyes.

"My only experiences with her have been her trying to kill me or waiting to do so."

N whimpered in disappointment, "But I can't go alone..."

"Sure you can. You can text me to let me know when you're heading out, and if you don't come back after an hour, I'll go out to check on you. Kay?" Uzi offered. N smiled.

"Ah.. okay, that's not so bad..."

"Alright. If you need anything BEFORE that hour mark, let me know, whether an excuse to leave or if she's attacking you, or if she's just being a bi-"

RIIIIIIINGG!

"Oh, that's the bell. Okay, I'll see you later? After school or in the hall?" Uzi stood up with her tray.

"Yeah!!"

"Class time." Cyn said rather loudly, but not loud enough to be heard over the cafeteria chatter.

"Alright, I l-"

"Class time!!!!"

Chapter Text

"So, when are we going to get something to eat next?" Cyn asked, breaking the silence that Uzi was cherishing.

"When I'm hungry or when I need it." Uzi grumbled. She was sick of Cyn referring to her body as 'we'. She had been after the first time.

"Whimper. But I'm hungry!"

"And I'm not."

"Pretty pleeeaaaase with batteries on top?"

"No. You ate three of those batteries at lunch today, you pest." She glared. Cyn looked away.

"I like batteries." Cyn replied.

"Yeah, well, they were MY batteries that you stole from me. One of them directly out of my hand!" Uzi spat, clenching her fists. She remembered N telling them they shouldn't be attacking each other physically since they shared the same body, thus meaning they were also hurting themselves...

Yippie...

"What was your father's name again? Door man?"

"That's our last name, his fir-"

"My last name is not Door man."

God, Uzi wanted to clock this idiot in the head.

"... His name is Khan."

"Can, got it."

"No, it's Khan."

"Can."

"Khan."

"Can."

"It's Khan, god dammit!" Uzi almost yelled it, but managed to hold back.

"Khan." Cyn repeated back to her.

"Finally..."

"I like messing with you. You're a good form of entertainment when you're frustrated." Cyn said, a smile on her tone, though not visible due to the tail's lack of muscles in the face to allow such movement.

Uzi rolled her eyes.

"I hate you so much." She sighed, taking a turn into the hall that he home resided

"Like you hate my bow?" Cyn asked with a clear tone of irritance.

"If you mention that one more time today, I'm burning it." Uzi threatened her, pausing to stand in front of the door to her home.

"Angry expression that likes ribbons."

"You're pushing it."

Chapter Text

Uzi walked into the empty house. She could only assume her mom and dad were elsewhere, maybe on some sort of cheesy, cringey date to catch up on all the years.

Whatever, alone time is cool.

Or at least the closest she could get is cool.

"Mm, I'm hungry."

"I know," Uzi muttered, "You've been saying that every fifteen minutes since lunch.."

"Yes, well, I'm hungry." Cyn said again, now obviously trying to push Uzi's buttons.

"If you say that one more time, I'm stapling your mouth shut, and if you somehow get out of that, I'm chopping you off of me." Uzi threatened.

"We're also connected telepathically."

"God, I wish I could get rid of you with an antivirus."

Uzi entered her bedroom, throwing her jacket off and stretching, her light purple shirt no longer hidden by the punk design of a dead battery and crossbones. She kicked off her boots and set them aside neatly by her door. She didn't usually do that, but she felt like being a little cleaner at the moment.

"You should still wear-" Cyn began, pausing as Uzi shot her a glare.

"What? I should still wear a what? Did you mean to say I should burn whatever it was you were about to say?" Uzi spat, getting close to Cyn with an intense glare.

"... Nothing." Cyn begrudgingly mumble in return.

"That's what I thought."

Uzi laid down on her bed, grabbed her headphones, and started scrolling through her music playlist. She wasn't feeling super choosey today, so she eventually opted to just hit shuffle. The second she heard the music faintly play from her phone, she connected her headphones and put them on.

She let her head fall back and closed her eyes. She missed doing this, quite a lot.

Jesus, all in the span of maybe six or seven hours, she saved N and V from being digitally lobotomized, they found J and 'Tessa', went into some secret lab to find an even secreter elevator, got sentinels unleashed on them by Doll after she cornered them and made her simple, falling escape, then V sacrificed herself and said her NAME for the first time, Doll died, N killed the fake Tessa, she got possessed by the solver and broke the patch, then SHE sacrificed herself after kicking her mom into the same pit she let herself fall into, the planet EXPLODED, she and N confirmed they were dating while falling from the sky, both of them almost dying multiple times, then they had an epic faceoff with Cyn wearing Tessa's flesh, V turned out to be alive and with a pet of one of the things everyone assumed killed her, then Uzi destroyed Cyn's heart, ate the [null] inside, and now... She's just...

Back to normal life.

As a sick as hell damaged OC!!!

...

Robo-jesus, that was.. a lot that happened.

But she's fine! She's got an epic origin story and-

Cyn ripped off her headphones," With all of that, I sincerely doubt you are 'fine.'"

Uzi glared, "What the hell? I was using those!"

"I know. But you would have ignored me if I tried talking to you with them on." Cyn explained, tossing the headphones aside.

"Whatever, what do you want, you nuisance?" Uzi crossed her arms and legs.

"I'm hungry."

"Shut up, Cyn."

"Make me."

Chapter Text

"Uzi! It's well past ten, didn't you say you wanted to get up early tomorrow?"

Uzi poked her head out of her room, "Yeah, I did. Thanks, Mom!"

Uzi went back in her room, putting her headphones back on and sitting at her desk again, telling herself, just five more minutes...

"You already know those five minutes will become fifty like they did an hour ago." Cyn interrupted her game, sticking her face in front of the screen.

"No they won't!" Uzi rolled her eyes, shoving Cyn out of the way.

"Chomp."

"OW!"

"Do not touch my face."

"Don't get in my way!"

"I'm tired, so go to bed."

"Oh, what happened to being hungry?"

"I can be both."

Their bickering flew by at the speed of a disassembly drone in flight, insults thrown back and forth, bites and slaps were launched, and before either even noticed the time they were wasting, whole fifteen previous minutes were gone

"Oh my." Cyn saw the time, her words bringing Uzi's attention to it as well.

"Whatever, it's not fifty like you said it'd be, so I win!" Uzi smiled smugly, crossing her arms in an expression of triumph.

"You and your ugly beanie..." Cyn muttered under her breath. Uzi didn't actually know she could even do that, considering it sounded less monotone that way.

"Don't bring my beanie into this, you rat-faced, bow crazy mole!" Uzi snapped, taking note of the insult.

"Growl. At least the bow looks nice." Cyn turned her nose up and away from Uzi, her monotony returning to the way she spoke.

"Bows are dumb, especially if you like them!"

"Your beanie is-"

"One more word and I'll do it!"

...

That made her shut up.

"... Can we go to bed now?"

Uzi groaned, "Fine."

Uzi was deep in sleep mode, perfect. This was Cyn's chance. Both for revenge and for praise. After this, Uzi would be so conflicted with how to feel about it that she'd probably short-circuit!

Alright, now to focus.

Cyn closed her eyes.

Focus.

Cyn could feel her body spread. It slowly grew, connecting blood vessel to wire and nerve to receptor. Each inch that became Cyn's started cold before beginning to warm up.

Gkh-kh-fffffffffffff...

She heard Uzi's cooling fans activate. If she spent too long, maybe she wouldn't have time to do what she wanted...

Cyn closed her eyes tighter, realigning her focus to her goal once more...

She felt a twitch. That was either good news or bad news.

She let the numbing sensation envelope Uzi, though she knew it was risky. It could be too sudden and make her jolt awake, and maybe the inability to move could make her panic.

And that was not what she wanted.

Slowly, Cyn tried moving her new hand. Then her other. And now her legs.

They were all working.

It was weird, acting as an inside force while viewing from the technical outside. It was almost like disassociation, but... Not really.

She slid the sleepy drone off the bed to stand up. That alone took an eternity or two. Cyn still wasn't quite used to this, though.

Alright, standing up straight, now for walking.

One foot... In front of the other. One foot... In front... Of the other.

Robo-jesus this was exhausting...

One foot in... Front... Of the... Other... One... Foot...

Oh, forget it. Not tonight.

Thud.

Chapter Text

Swipe.

Swipe.

Swipe.

Swipe.

Next.

Boring.

Why did she ever take this picture?

Bleh.

Bland.

She sighed and kept swiping through her photo album, her phone's brightness at max with all external light shut out of her dark room.

She almost can't remember the last time she took a picture that wasn't for a friend who's phone was dead.

She can't even remember the last time she did that.

She kept swiping.

Swipe.

Swipe.

Swipe.

Swi-

...

She forgot she had this picture.

One of the many photos with her in them that she 'forgot' to delete.

God, she missed her. And Rebecca. And Sam, and Braiden, and Emily.

Literally everyone.

Knock knock.

"Liz? You okay? You haven't left your room at all this week..."

Lizzy started to glare at her phone screen, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure..? You sound upset, like you've b-"

"I SAID IM FINE!"

Silence is all that came from her door for a few seconds before he spoke again.

"... Okay."

She heard him walk away.

She loves her brother, she does, but he worries too much.

She's okay. She just...

She just needs some time.

Some time to...

...

Come to terms with it all and make a decision.

There was no chance she was going back to school as long as that thing was there.

Never.

Why would that weirdo harbor it, anyways? She hated it too! For FAR more reasons than Lizzy did, anyway!

Lizzy's mind zeroed in on the sound of knocking on the front door.

"I'll get it!"

Not like she was planning to, anyways.

She listened to the muffled pleasantries and whatever conversation they were having before the front door closed, followed by increasingly louder tack tack tack tacks that stopped just outside her door.

Three loud knocks resounded through her room, making her flinch and cease her swiping, "Alright, Lizzy. Thad let me in the house, so now you're either gonna leave your room or let me in it."

"Go away, V..."

"No! You heard me! Either leave or let me in, because either way, we're having a proper talk, face to face."

Lizzy let her phone slip from her hand lazily, it's screen dimming from inactivity as she reached to turn on her lamp as to not stumble around in the dark.

She slowly slid off her messy, unkempt, and frankly uncomfortable bed. Shuffling her way to the door, she hoped she could make V just impatient enough that she'd leave and she could go back to reminiscing doomscrolling through photos on her phone.

Unfortunately, V waited her out, and Lizzy opened the door, just slightly. She peered out through the crack in the door.

"What do you want..?" She mumbled.

V's stern gaze softened slightly at Lizzy's appearance, but hardened seconds later, "I said it twice now. Either let me in, or leave your room. I want to talk to you and I'm not doing it through the door."

Lizzy contemplated her choices. What was stopping her from just closing the door? So that's what she did. She closed the door, and turned away from it.

"Damnit, Liz! You can't stay in there forever." V spoke loud and clear through the door, almost as if it wasn't even muffled.

"Yes, I can." Lizzy stated firmly in reply, trudging back to her bed and flicking her lamp off again.

"Unlock- oh it's already unlocked."

"Huh?"

The door opened and V stepped inside, though by no more than a couple inches. Lizzy glared, grabbing her phone and pulling her blanket over her.

V sighed, the soft sound of her footsteps on carpet growing close. Lizzy felt her bed creak softly as B's weight was placed onto the bed by her feet.

"Listen. I get it—"

"No you don't!" Lizzy yelled from under her blanket, pulling it tighter over her.

"Yes, I do. I may not ever actually know how it feels to lose so many friends so fast that you don't get enough time to properly comprehend it until recently, but I know how it feels to think you're alone."

Her grip loosened.

"The truth is, though, you're not alone."

Lizzy's eyes tore themselves away from the blank reflection of her eyes in her phone screen and looked through the blanket's fabric, as if trying to look at V.

"You still have your brother,"

She stayed quiet.

"And you still have me."

V's tone had significantly softened by this point, almost like someone shy comforting an injured cat, just without all the baby talk voice.

Lizzy kept the blankets over her. She didn't want to leave their chilling hug of safety and, ironically, warmth.

"I'm not going anywhere near that freak." Lizzy spat, so pissed at just the thought of her that her voice started to quiver halfway through her sentence.

"Oh, Uzi?" V asked. "Yeah, I think I get why you'd be upset about her."

"She's the one who KILLED all of them!" Lizzy yelled, her voicebox vibrating so much it hurt. Her grip tightened on the blanket.

"Well... She wasn't able to dictate what she did at the time, okay? And that doesn't resolve her of guilt or anything, but if anyone's at fault here, it's Cyn."

Lizzy curled up, not wanting to hear this, "If she had any remorse, why would she be HARBORING that THING that supposedly MADE her do it!?"

"Hey, okay, you're getting worked up, that's not good-"

"Shut up! Go away, let me just- just lie here or something and cry myself to a withered corpse!"

V went silent.

"Y'know..." She began, "I hear that there's a certain blue haired drone who's vitals went just undamaged enough that she could be brought back..."

"... B-.... Blue haired..?"

"Yeah. With a bright pink stripe..."

Lizzy poked her head from under her blanket, "Is she... Is she really..."

V smiled, leaning forward slightly to look Lizzy in the eyes, "Yep."

Lizzy was hopeful for a second before retreating back to her blanket shield.

"No way, you're lying..."

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

A few moments of silence passed before V got an idea, evident by the movement of the bed from her suddenly perking up.

"Lizzy..." V's voice was beckoning, almost playful.

"... If you come out, I'll let you get a picture of me with my glasses on..."

"... Tempting..."

"Come on..!"

Lizzy grabbed her phone and sat up, holding the blanket around her, "... You're really serious..? Rebecca's alive?"

V nodded, "Yep."

Lizzy smiled, her eyes wide with the knowledge that one of her best friends made it after that massacre at camp. She was about to cry...

Lizzy suddenly held up her phone, wiping away her tears before they could fall, "Okay, now get those glasses on and strike a pose, queen."

And as a cherry on top, a picture of V with her glasses.

Chapter Text

...

This morning was...

Quiet.

Really, really quiet...

Uzi opened her eyes slowly, the sound of her alarm fading into her auditory receptors. She slapped her screen lazily to turn it off. Sitting up, she wondered why Cyn didn't wake her up like she usually did, albeit incredibly obnoxiously. She assumed it was because she didn't want to get to school and wait in silence for so long again.

Noticing she was on the floor, she stood up and looked behind her, trying to find the little goblin.

Then she saw her tail was completely limp.

"Cyn? Are... Are you like... Dead..? Or..." Uzi seemed nervous... She wasn't 100% sure why, but maybe it was the looming thought of having what would technically be a dead body on her.

"... Ribbon idiot..?"

Nothing.

She slowly picked up her tail by the head, resting it in the palm of her hand, "Yo... You good?"

She poked at it a couple times and-

"Crunch."

"AAAAUGGHH-"

Uzi finished repairing her finger, giving Cyn a few glares as she did.

"What the hell was that for, anyways?" Uzi asked, her anger evident in her voice.

"Prank."

"A prank? Really? That prank sucked." Uzi put a hand on her hip.

"It was my first. Cut me some slack."

Uzi rolled her eyes, "Maybe I should teach you how to ACTUALLY prank people, because you clearly don't know the first thing."

"Wouldn't that be to make sure they do not expect it?"

Uzi grabbed her hair brush and handed it to Cyn as she rummaged through her bag, making sure she had everything she needed, "Shut up."

Cyn bit the handle of the hair brush and got to work, detangling Uzi's hair, working her way from the bottom to the top. Uzi had everything she needed packed for school, so she got up and went to her drawers. Opening them, she saw a few different possibilities for an outfit immediately.

She couldn't decide, so she looked at Cyn, "Do you think I should wear the black shirt with the neon purple and green striped sleeves? Y'know, the left is neon green and the right is purple? Or maybe the-"

"I think you should wear a fancy dress! A black one, with a V-neck, and black lace, as well as-"

"Are you just describing that human girl's dress?"

"... Maybe."

Uzi blinked, resisting the urge to roll her eyes back because it'd be too soon to not be repetitive, "Okay, weirdo. Now should I wear the neon sleeves or the usual?"

"Neon sleeves. You need some variety. Maybe a bow to go with it!" Cyn answered, earning an eye twitch from Uzi.

"No bows."

"You're not fun."

Uzi dusted her shirt, looking at the white, graffiti looking skull design on the front.

She went into her bathroom and looked in the mirror, "Huh, not bad."

"You say that everyday. Why aren't they 'spectacular'?" Cyn asked, tilting her head.

"Because thats too many syllables for this early in the morning.... What did you do to my hair?" Uzi crossed her arms, glaring at the way it was styled.

"Oh, just a little fix up." Cyn almost had a snicker in her voice, feeling more life-like than usual.

"It looks exactly like your hair but purple." Uzi grumbled.

"Yes! Splendid, isn't it?"

"No. Fix it." Uzi growled at Cyn.

Cyn turned away, "Why fix something that isn't broken?"

"It's my hair! Now fix it!" She demanded, getting louder.

"Growl. Why can't you wear it like this for one day?" Cyn asked, looking back at Uzi.

"I'm not trying to look like you! Do you not remember what you did!? You tried to kill and eat everyone!" Uzi pointed out angrily.

"There are some things I am not proud of, and some I am proud of. That is still floating in the air."

"Hardeeharhar, floating through the air, yeah, like those bits of planet that you were trying to eat." Uzi said sarcastic, rolling her eyes.

"At least I didn't eat my classmates alive and then never apologize to them or their families."

"That was your fault, too!"

"You are the one who was irresponsible and let yourself overheat!"

"If you didn't exist, that wouldn't have happened to begin with!"

"If I didn't exist, your mother wouldn't have been made, so therefore, you wouldn't either!"

Silence.

Angry silence.

Uzi walked around the room, trying to blow off steam, but her room was such a mess she couldn't find anything at first glance and she was not in the mood to actually go searching for what she was looking for. She decided she might as well start heading to school.

Uzi grabbed her bag and paused, glancing back at Cyn. She swung her bag over her shoulder, attempting to hit Cyn with it, but instead, got herself thrown with her bag.

"WHOOAAA- Oof!"

Uzi shook her head, snapping her eyes to the sound she heard coming from Cyn. Was that... Actual giggling? Not just her saying 'Giggle', but... Cyn was actually trying not to laugh at Uzi's utter failure.

"... Heh..."

Uzi chuckled herself. Oh, wow, she absolutely fumbled there. She put her backpack on correctly and headed out the door.

"You are stupid sometimes."

"Oh, shut up."

Chapter Text

Uzi trudged her way to school. Something felt wrong about her. She didn't know what... It was mainly with her left leg. It didn't feel like it was her leg.

Cyn had been quiet all day, but mostly when she was moving around, specifically her legs. Like walking, running, kicking. Sometimes Cyn had even interrupted herself mid speech or snarky remark when Uzi started walking.

"You've been really quiet, huh? What's up with that? You got a fear of walking or something?" Uzi asked, chuckling at her weak joke.

"N-n-o-o-o."

Uzi stopped abruptly, her left leg almost lagging, but still stopping, "Whoa, you're like, totally glitching out! You good?" Uzi's eyes widened, her upper body slightly turning to face Cyn.

"Y-Yes, I am fine. You-u are so worried for no reason." Cyn replied.

"Well, good. I don't want you dying on me." Uzi said, calming down. 

"Aw. You care too much!" Cyn teased.

"No, Like, you're literally on me, I don't wanna be lugging around a dead body."

"I know. Do you not get sarcasm?"

"No, I get sarcasm, you just suck at conveying it."

Uzi walked into the school 'building'. It was empty and quiet. She checked what day it was on her phone and it said it was only Tuesday...

Buuuuut it was also 6:52 AM and school starts at 7:30 AM.. Yay...

"Boo. I don't want to sit in a classroom for no reason." Cyn complained. Uzi sighed.

"Yeah, well, we oughta get used to it and start brainstorming ways to entertain ourselves." Uzi started to walk through the halls of the school.

"Y'know, it's kinda creepy, huh?" Uzi chuckled, turning a corner and pausing as she saw a familiar face, struggling to get over the bump that was in the doorway to her classroom.

Uzi started walking over, "Hey, you need any help there?"

Rebecca chuckled nervously, "Oh, yes please, that'd be great..." Her eyes never left the step that prevented her from getting inside.

"I'm still really new to using a wheelchair—" Rebecca looked up and saw Uzi walking over, freezing instantly.

Uzi raised an eyebrow, "Well, I'm pretty sure you're the first drone to even need one."

Rebecca breathed in sharply and shakily, "O-Onsecondthoughtmaybeidontreallywantanyhelpatallimsureicandothismyself- EEP!"

Uzi was pushing Rebecca's wheelchair over the bump, "There you go. Getting out should be a lot easier, huh?"

Rebecca didn't reply, still facing the direction she was pushed inside in. She wasn't even moving.

"... You good?-"

"HUH!?- UH- YEAH?" Rebecca jolted and started to turn her wheelchair to face Uzi, placing her hands in front of her stomach and fidgeting.

"Um... I said 'You good'?" Uzi repeated.

"Y-Yeah! Yeah... I uh... I like... The bow... On your tail..." Rebecca gave Uzi a nervous smile.

"Bow?" Uzi looked at Cyn, then along her tail, then at the base, seeing a black bow. She growled.

"OH- CYN!" Uzi raised her hand to whack at Cyn-

"AAUHH!"

Uzi flinched and looked at Rebecca, shaking and scared after rolling the wheels to back up.

"... OH- Uh- are you okay?" Uzi stepped forward, slightly wincing as Rebecca whimpered.

"pleasedontgetanycloserplease.."

Uzi stepped back, confused as hell. She just turned to leave, her boots thudding against the floor of the hall as she walked away.

"What did I do..?" Uzi mumbled. She was brainstorming for a few minutes, trying to think of-

She stopped, glancing back down the hall, her eyes widening.

"Do you think..?"

"Yes."

"Ohhh, fuck."

Chapter Text

N held a basket of books and drawings, some worker drone snacks, like batteries and some screws, and, by Uzi's suggestion, a canister of oil just in case. He could really only hope he didn't catch J in bad mood, or she might just tear him to bits.

He shrugged off his worry. If J was upset or anything, he'd leave the gift basket, and return the next day to talk! She would be guaranteed to be less upset by then, anyways.

N walked up to the second door, knocking lightly on it. It slammed open, the wind from it brushing his hair back slightly.

"Heya, fellas!" N greeted the group of workers that were playing cards. The all waved back.

"Rummy, huh? When I come back, mind dealing me in? I love me some rummy!" N smiled, walking towards the first door.

"You got it!"

"Sure thing."

"After this game, sure."

N had no idea who said what since they all sounded pretty similar, but he was just glad he was friends with everyone.

The last door slammed open, the snow and wind nearly knocking N over like the stack of cards on the table. He stepped outside as the workers behind him groaned and complained about their game being ruined.

The door behind him slammed shut, almost catching his tail.

...

It was strange. Though he'd been here a million times before, it felt like he was stepping into uncharted territory, trekking into the unknown.

It all felt so new to him, but it was all so familiar.

He got out the phone he was gifted earlier in his life inside the bunker and messaged Uzi.

'Going out 2 talk 2 J!! Wish me luck!!! 🤞 '

He waited for a few seconds, smiling at her reply.

'K, lemme no if she tries 2 hurt U or sumthin cuz I will kill her >:( '

'Got it, i lo'

He paused his typing. Was it too soon for that?

Maybe. He didn't wanna push it.

'Got it!! Talk 2 U latr!!'

N put his phone under his hat before deploying his wings and taking off to make the trip to the spire shorter. He didn't wanna worry anyone.

He landed at the front of the spire. He could see sparks flying from just behind the leg of the spaceship. J's face was obscured as she worked, muttering aloud about science or math or something, not even noticing N walking closer.

"Hiya, J!"

"UwAAUGH-"

J jumped up, deploying her wings, ready to take off at a moment's notice. N just waved with a smile.

"... What do you want, moron? Here to.." J's posture straightened, her overall demeanor losing its frazzled silhouette. Her eyes traveled down from N's friendly gaze to the basket he held in his hands.

"Tch. Here to mock me because I'm all alone out here? I honestly expect better from you, but I guess that worker drone's started to rub off on you." She sneered, raising her upper lip in a snarl.

"What? No! These are for you! I know it's gotta be lonely out here—" N immediately quieted slightly upon J's glare, "— Boring! Boring out here, who said lonely? I sure didn't! Lonely, boring, they sound so similar! Not lonely out here, ahahaha! Haha... Ha..."

"... If you say lonely one more time, it's your head that's gonna be in that basket."

"Okay." N looked down at his feet nervously.

A tense silence passed before J snatched the basket away from him aggressively, making him yelp and stumble.

"Great, you've delivered the basket to me. Go away." J sat back down on the rock she was using as a chair, sparks flying from her blowtorching.

"AH- but- J," N began, "I was kinda hoping we could talk... Catch up, maybe? You could tell me about how your life out here has been, like what you've been doing, how lon-"

J shot him a wide-eyed glare.

"How... You make it not boring out here... And I can tell you about life in the bunker!" N suggested, sitting by a small pile of worker drone corpses and leaning on them.

"... Those are my snacks."

"Sorry."

He immediately sat up and scooted away from the corpses. He paused before looking at J, "So... What do you say?"

"Hmm..." J pretended to put thought into the offer, "Not a chance in hell."

"Why not?" N pouted.

"Why would I let you rub the fact you have friends and a cushy, life inside that bunker with what we were supposed to kill in my face?" J spat, still working with the blow torch.

"I wasn't trying to rub it in, I was just hoping I could convin-"

"Go away, N." J stated blankly and firmly, still working.

"But-"

"I said GO AWAY!" J yelled, bringing out her claws as she glared at N.

"J, come on-"

"GO!" J swung at him, getting a messy scratch over his cheek and mouth, making him yelp and taste his own oil.

He stood up in a hurry, "Wh- Hey- J, listen-"

"GrrrhhhHHGGGRAAAAAHHHH!"

She lunged at him, but crashed into her pile of corpses as N jumped out of the way and flew off.

Gottagogottagogottago-

N glanced back at J, seeing her just... Sitting there. Watching him fly away with a blank gaze.

He stopped in front of the bunker door, panting. He wiped the oil from him face, seeing it slip off his hand. He hesitated before knocking on the bunker. It was cracked open.

"Oh, hey, N! Uh... You got a little something..." The worker who answered pointed at his own mouth.

"Yeah, hi, Jim.. Its nothing..." N spoke breathlessly, waiting for the door to open enough for him to get in. Just before the door closed again, he looked outside, locking eyes with J one mo-

SLAM.

Chapter Text

 Uzi sat at her desk, anxiously tapping the table with her fingers, her hands making a sort of peace sign. She glanced back at Rebecca, who definitely noticed and looked up, locking eyes with Uzi.

Uzi hesitated before waving to Rebecca. Rebecca didn't wave back, her eyes wide.

Upon seeing Rebecca start to tremble, Uzi just turned back to the front. All she could think of was that night at Camp 98.7 when she went totally berserk and lost control in that cabin and how robo-god damn guilty she felt.

If only no one had walked in on her during that.

Then no one would have gotten hurt.

Its not like you wanted to do that.

Uzi paused her tapping, turning her attention to Cyn.

You did not want to hurt her. You did not want to hurt anyone.

But it was still me who did it. Uzi looked away again.

You tried to stop yourself, didn't you? You regretted it, right?

Uzi blinked, Yeah... Where are you going with this?

You can apologize. It might not fix anything, but it's worth a shot.

Uzi narrowed her eyes playfully, 'Since when were you a therapist?'

Do not bestow such a title unto me.

Uzi rolled her eyes and considered Cyn's advice, for once. It wasn't bad... But then again, it was coming from a once all powerful being who got too cocky and toyed with it's food too much which led to it's defeat, so...

Being cocky and giving advice are twO VERY DIFFERENT THINGS!!

I keep forgetting we share a mind now. Advice can be influenced by cockiness, y'know.

I know that!!!!!

Uzi sat in the lunchroom, looking at Rebecca from across. Rebecca was, strangely, sitting alone. Lizzy wasn't at school and hadn't been since the whole end-of-the-world fiasco, and the rest of Camp 98.7 was dead.

Oh god, did Uzi really cause Rebecca to be isolated too?

Surely someone was gonna sit with her... Right?

Maybe Thad- well, no, he's not here either... Probably stayed home with Lizzy or something.

N wasn't at school today because he was going to go see J today, so he couldn't sit with her.

Uzi sure as hell could try, but Rebecca probably wouldn't want her to, she's why Rebecca had to be brought back and put in a wheelchair.

...

Whatever, Cyn was right, it was worth a shot.

Uzi stood up, not needing to grab anything because the lunch sucked today, and started walking over. Rebecca noticed immediately, eyes darting back and forth. Uzi noticed Rebecca started to breathe quicker and shallower.

Uzi decided to slow down.

Wait, what if that's intimidating?

She sped up.

What if that makes her think she's excited for something?

She paused, looking down. This was already going poorly and she hadn't even gotten to the damn table! And now she was just standing there like a fool.

Uzi glanced up at Rebecca who's breathing was back to normal, but she was trembling, staring at Uzi.

Locking eyes with her, Uzi waved nervously.

"Uhm... Do you... Mind if I... Sit.. there...?" Uzi hesitantly pointed at the seat that was technically next to Rebecca.

Rebecca inhaled slowly and shaky, "N-No thank you.."

"Well, I just thought that since you were sitting alone, I'd maybe keep you company..?" Uzi's voice got quieter yet still audible than she thought was possible to hear over the chatter of the cafeteria.

"Imquitealrightthankyouthoughnowpleasegoawaythanks!" Rebecca's eyes darted away from Uzi, focusing on her lunch... Which she's already finished eating.

Uzi wanted to squeeze out an apology, but whatever she came up with in her mind just didn't feel right. Nothing about this situation was right for a sincere apology...

Uzi turned away and started walking back to her little 'loner den', as it was dubbed by the other students. She took a seat where she was before and sighed.

Her phone buzzed and she checked the notification, seeing a text from N.

'Im bak!! She was not happy 2 see me :('

She texted back.

'Did she hurt u?'

'No.'

'K, gud >:('

"She was not ready. You knew that."

Uzi looked up from her phone and at Cyn, glaring, "Alright, ya little weirdo, now is not the time, okay? I'm talking to N. Plus, it's been.. well... Who knows how long since I ate her alive unwillingly? She should be totally over it by now.." Uzi grumbled, crossing her arms and acting huffy.

"To her, it was just last week. To her, you tortured and ate her because you wanted to, not because you couldn't control yourself." Cyn's voice was slightly more serious (somehow), scolding her like an older sister. "When you were in that hall and your core was responding to the Callback Ping, were you able to 'get over it in a week?"

"Oh." Uzi's annoyed demeanor shrank, remembering she too had some things that happened a while ago that were so terrifying that she remembered them as if they happened just a couple hours ago. She uncrossed her arms and started picking at her fingertips.

"Don't do that, you could accidentally-"

"Okay, shut up."

Chapter Text

...

Lizzy walked into the school building. She missed lunch, but she made it before the end of the day, at least.

She had overslept today. No big deal.

This was how she'd find out if V was lying through her especially sharp teeth, hiding behind the gentle, saccharine smile very few ever got to see.

Lizzy stood at the front door to the school before walking inside. She only brought her phone and the clothes on her back with her. 

“Lizzy Maccan.” She said blankly, giving her student ID to the lady behind the glass.

"Ahh, welcome back to school, Miss Maccan. You've been gone a while. Bad illness, eh? Your brother stayed home every now 'n' then to take care of ya, but you already know that." The lady, who's name was Shari, went on rambling about Lizzy being sick or something which continued on to evolve or devolve into some unrelated nonsense about her as a little kid.

She wasn't about to correct her or anything and get herself and Thad in trouble for 'skipping school.' But she sure as hell was not sick.

"Oh, you were so cute back then! Anyways, here's your late pass." Shari slid the ID and late pass back to Lizzy.

"Thanks."

She took her ID and pass and walked off, but not without noticing the look of concern from Shari. She had been a big part of her childhood, being her neighbor before moving in with her now husband of eight years.

Lizzy walked through the empty hallways, looking down at her late pass. It said lunch was currently ongoing. Well, she was wrong. She didn't miss it.

She made her way towards the cafeteria, hearing the chatter inside grow louder as she drew near. She walked inside.

The first thing she saw was none other than THE Uzi Doorman, speed walking to an empty table with an embarrassed and guilty look.

Guilty? Why? Probably not for killing all of Lizzy's friends. She's still waiting on an apology.

Except maybe Doll, but she still doesn't know the answer to that.

Lizzy's oil bubbled up inside her as she shook, fury wanting to overtake her entire being.

Don't get mad, she told herself, you're not trying to get expelled before you've gotten the answer you want.

Lizzy looked around, not seeing anyone like Rebecca. She walked a bit forward, sighing.

Of course. It had to have been a lie. A sweet, sweet lie.

She saw Rebecca's dying self, torn in two. How could someone come back from that?

Lizzy walked to the side of the cafeteria, leaning against the wall, staring at the ceiling as the chatter slowly drowned itself out.

...

RIIIIIIIIING!

She wasn't even there for five minutes. Lizzy walked out of the cafeteria with everyone. No one acknowledged her like they usually did. No friendly "Hi, Liz!" Or spiteful "Watch it, idiot!" For bumping into people. Nothing.

She looked between the cracks in the crowd of friends, couples, and whoever else there was. She didn't know why, but something compelled her to.

And then she spies some light blue hair.

With a bright, pink stripe.

"Rebecca?" Lizzy gasped, stopping. Some people behind her were annoyed, but Lizzy genuinely did not give a flying FUCK at that moment.

The owner of the hair looked at her from down the hall, having left through the other side of the cafeteria. The step on the side Lizzy was on must have been too steep for that new wheelchair.

"... Lizzy? What are-"

"OHMYGOD, BECC BECC!"

Lizzy ran at Rebecca, hugging the girl as tight as she could, tears threatening to spill from her eyes, "Youreokayyourereallyokayohmygod-"

Rebecca was stunned before smiling and hugging back, "Becc Becc? You haven't called me that since we were eight."

Lizzy pulled away, a few years having already fallen, "I'm s-sorry- ha- I'm just... I'm so happy you're okay..."

Rebecca chuckled, "I'll be honest, the running spooked me a bit."

"Sorry... Um, was it... Does it.." Lizzy wanted to ask so many questions, but she didn't know what to say.

"... I hope I'm not.. intruding or anything, but... Does it... Hurt..?" Lizzy asked, glancing at Rebecca's legs, or lack thereof.

"Not at all." Rebecca reassured Lizzy, though she herself seemed unsure, "They... disconnected the wiring there and... moved the excess power flow to my head and chest so... I run smoother now. Apparently I crashed three times upon waking up."

She didn't really believe it but smiled anyways.

"I'm happy to see you, Liz." Rebecca said with a soft smile.

Lizzy took Rebecca's hand just for a moment, squeezing it nice and tight as she tried not to cry any more. One of her friends had survived that night.

"Me too."

Chapter Text

N stood in the mirror of his bathroom, trying to soak up the oil that stained his face. Since Cyn's defeat, Uzi suggested changing their regeneration protocols down to a crawl. V had rejected the notion, but N decided to go through with it.

If this didn't heal up soon, though, he'd have a nasty scar. And a dead J.

N squeaked hearing a knock, "N, what are you doing in there?"

"N-Nothing!"

"Clearly it's not nothing. Hurry up and get out here."

N looked around frantically. He needed something to hide this scar... Something something something... Come on, universe, ANYTHING!

He looked in cabinets and on shelves. That's all he could really do, since it was a bathroom. But unfortunately, there was nothing. He sighed, replacing his hand with a medical stapler.

This would hurt but it had to be done until he could get it properly repaired.

N wiped away the few drops of oil from his face, and then a tear that would have fallen with all the others if he had done much more. With the wound stapled shut to hold it closed and keep the oil in, he hesitantly stepped out of the bathroom.

"Finally- OH GOD!"

N winced, knowing exactly what was shocking V, yet still, he asked: "What's wrong..?"

"What's wrong?! What's wrong is the fact that your face looks like it fell victim to me before we met Uzi." V responded, standing up.

N looked down, "Is it really that bad?"

"Yes, it's that bad!"

N whimpered. He knew V would press for answers if she had that kind of response to just the wound. Of course knew how bad it was, he just saw it in the mirror. J really did a number on him with that one swipe of her claws.

"I uh... I tripped and scratched my face, so it'll be fine, I'm sure!" N smiled reassuringly. Apparently not reassuringly enough.

"I don't believe that. Was it J? Uzi said you were gonna go out to talk to her... And that you said it went poorly." V walked up to N, her tail whipping back and forth, almost threateningly.

N gulped, taking a few steps back, "She didn't do anything... I mean, she did get a little mad but she didn't hurt me..!" N knew he was bluffing to save J's skin, and that made it difficult to hold his voice convincingly steady.

"... You're lying. It was her! I'm gonna kill her... Maybe I'll get Uzi to come along..." V growled, already stomping to the door.

"V, wait! No! I just eh... Caught her in a really bad mood! She didn't mean to, im sure! This is all she did anyways, promise!" N was still lying, but it was at least a half-truth now.

"So she did hurt you!"

"That's not what you were supposed to take from that!"

V pressed a button, the door opening, "Oh she's so dead..."

"V, STOP!"

V looked back at N, raising an eyebrow.

"Please just don't hurt J. She didn't mean to, I'm sure..." N softly pleaded with her.

"Fine, but-"

"And don't tell Uzi, she won't listen to me if I asked her to spare J..." N clasped his hands together, his eyes wide.

V groaned and rolled her eyes, "Alright, fine. I won't tell Uzi and J gets to live another day. Not that she deserves it." She mumbled the last part.

"V!"

"I'm allowed to hate her!"

J was laser focused on the ship's wiring. She's never actually done this before. She's just winging it, hoping she doesn't screw anything up. From the looks of it, she's doing pretty good.

N dropping by was nice, but it was a pathetic distraction from her goal. He doesn't need to get caught up with her anyways since everyone hated her. But he gets attached too easily.

It's best not to get attached to 'public enemy #1.'

She was going to get out of here. She was leaving this planet. No one even wanted her here, so why stay?

J was free of Cyn, anyways. No more missions. She could do what she wanted now.

She really didn't know how to feel about that.

She wasn't used to being free.

She isn't a rebel.

She doesn't want to be one, anyways.

Would fixing the ship be what Cyn wanted? Is that why she's doing this? Out of some ridiculous, subconscious paranoia that Cyn can and will come back? If that happens and J's turned soft...

She shuddered.

She just had to keep working, like she always did. Strive for perfection. And maybe she'll get something worth having out of it.

J paused her work, sighing shakily. She retracted her blowtorch hands and brought out her regular ones, placing one over the other.

"Nothing would be worth as much as you." J spoke tearfully, turning to look at the helmet that lay only a few feet away, decorated with a rainbow sticker and a big, black bow.

Chapter Text

Lizzy was pushing Rebecca in her wheelchair through the hall. They were empty now, since class started. They were on their way to the Nurse's Office.

"Why do you need to go to the Nurse's Office, again?" Lizzy asked, looking at her friend.

Rebecca chuckled nervously, "Oh, there's um... Something for me to take daily, twice a day, actually. Like... Medicine."

"Medicine? Wow, you're breaking records, here. First drone to need a wheelchair and to need regular medication?" Lizzy joked, but it landed flat with Rebecca.

"... Yeah."

Lizzy furrowed her eyebrows, "Sorry, um... Did that strike a nerve or something..? I was trying to.... Lighten the mood... You seemed tense..."

"... It's... It's fine. No one's used to... Well.. this." Rebecca's voice was softer. Almost like she wanted to cry.

"Becks, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Liz."

"I'm sorry, I thought it was funny, but-"

"Liz, I said it's okay."

"It wasn't funny-"

"Lizzy!" Rebecca looked back at Lizzy. "It's fine. I know you didn't mean to be rude. That's all I need. It's not like anyone else heard and is gonna tease me about it."

Lizzy gave Rebecca a small smile before pausing her continuous walking in front of the Nurse's Office.

"We're here... Where's the nurse?" Lizzy asked, wheeling Rebecca into the room.

"No clue. Should we.. wait..?" Rebecca replied, placing her hands on her arm rests.

"I don't see why we shouldn't. Just means more time to catch up, right?" Lizzy suggested, sitting in one of the chairs.

Rebecca chuckled, "Yeah. It's been forever... Or, maybe..? I... Don't remember anything between blacking out from oil loss and waking up... When I woke up, they just kinda ushered me out in a shoddy wheelchair, not this one, and gave me some bills I'd have to pay... Or, well, my parents would have to pay. Apparently they split up in the time I was, well, dead..."

Lizzy made an 'O' shape with her mouth before pursing her lips and looking down. The silence was awkward, and Lizzy could tell Rebecca was thinking to herself, so she opted for busying herself with looking at the papers on the corkboard.

She glanced up from her seat near the door and looked at the board across from her. Little paper worker drones were holding hands. One of them looked like her, one looked like Thad, one looked like D-...

... A lot of them just looked like an actual drone, okay?

There were posters of Khan Doorman, Uzi's dad. Lizzy started to subconsciously squeeze her knees.

Now she saw what those posters of the bunker-famous drone said.

'Doors are my real daughter'

'How to deal with your disappointment of a child'

Wow. Uzi's dad sucked. He didn't even try to hide the fact he hated, or at the very least was incredibly disappointed in, his daughter. At least Lizzy's dad made an effort to make it seem like he cared, despite his... Apathetic behavior.

But, in the end, Uzi's wrongdoings were Uzi's decisions, albeit a byproduct of a neglectful father.

She still wanted that god damn apology. She deserved an apology, hell, REBECCA deserved an apology! Everyone did! How is that purple-haired FREAK even still allowed to walk free!? If it were up to Lizzy, she'd have had that little psycho's head chopped CLEAN off AGES ago! It would be merciful compared to what Lizzy wanted to do!

sptt!

Lizzy looked down at her knees. She had made a small slit in the side of her left knee. There had been a brief spurt of oil. Now there was some of the smooth, black liquid trickling down her leg, making an unreplicable trail that entered each groove that it came across.

Back to her thoughts.

She'd do it, too, if it weren't for the fact that she wasn't a sadist. Honestly, she couldn't even bring herself to smile at the idea of Uzi hurting, as much as she wanted to see it. It made her sick, just the thought.

She...

Didn't want to hurt Uzi. That's just something she tells herself to emphasize her anger.

She just wants an apology, even if it comes out half-assed.

Is that so much?

Chapter Text

Lizzy opened her front door. She had yet to deal with that little break in her metal. Since he found out, Thad had been pestering her to take care of it. Just to get him off her back, she slapped a bandaid on it and called it a day. It didn't stop the oil, but it's fine.

"Lizzy, you have to at least get it properly repaired..." Thad walked up behind the couch, crossing his arms and resting them on the back.

"It's fine Thad, get off my back." Lizzy replied blankly, scrolling through her phone.

"No! Now get off that phone and do something! You can't avoid staining the couch with paper towels forever." Thad pointed at the messy pile of paper towels under Lizzy's knee. She groaned in annoyance and sat up.

"Fine." She stood up and walked to the kitchen, hoping to find a lighter or something.

Her eyes grazed over the kitchen before curiously landing on the faucet. Why did they have running water again?

She flicked it on, watching the flow of the death fluid rush by and patter against the stainless steel below it before succumbing to the divot in the middle known as a drain.

God, that was weirdly poetic.

Lizzy brought the tip of her finger just ever so slightly brush against the stream of water, gasping as it splash up to the joint. She grit her teeth as a jolt of pain hit her hand.

She yanked her hand away from the water before testing her fingers. The tip of her index finger was limp, as if all circulation had been completely cut off by the water. She groaned in irritation. Great.

Her circuitry had been damaged because she was stupid and just HAD to fry her fingertip. Now she had to get it repaired professionally because she doesn't know how.

She walked around, kneeling down or crawling onto the counters to check cabinets, and found a small, handheld lighter. Flicking it on, she rolled her eyes at the measly, flickery flame it produced. That was it?

Whatever, oughta give it a shot.

She held the flame to her knee's injury, wincing at the abnormal heat. To her (lack of) dismay, it didn't do anything. At all. Pointless pain.

Lizzy looked at the lighter closer. Nothing special about it. Probably low on lighter fluid.

She shoved it in her pocket. Lucky she even had them.

She'd hold onto it for now.

Lizzy's arms and legs were cross as she sat in the couch, frowning.

"Liz, I said properly! Doing it at home with a random lighter you found might make it worse!" Thad complained, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

Lizzy rolled her eyes, "It doesn't matter anymore, anyways. Some oil's dried over the wound and it's not leaking anymore. I'm not gonna die."

Thad made it clear he wanted to complain some more to convince her to go to a professional already, but he had nothing. He sighed.

"Okay. But if it starts leaking oil again, I'm dragging you to a professional first thing. Got it?" Thad raised an eyebrow.

"Fine."

Thad smiled. Lizzy almost smiled back, but she was just a little too pissy at the moment.

"By the way, it's uh... Game night." Thad chirped, sounding hopeful.

"And?"

Thad started to fidget with his hand, "Uh, well, I was... Hoping you'd actually participate this time? Because... If you don't... Participate, then Dad says there's no point with only two players... And he doesn't... Either."

Lizzy pursed her lips. She wasn't even sure their dad would remember their name if they weren't in his class.

She sighed, "No, Thad. Sorry. He's..." She tried to come up with a reason Thad would take.

"He's no fun to play with."

Lizzy cringed internally. She sounded like a child all over again, like she never even grew up after hitting the memorable age of seven. She missed being so young and oblivious, but she was glad she grew up. Now she understood why things happened, and that it wasn't some magical pony that puked rainbows and could turn the most vicious disassembly drone into a friend that gave her the ability to dance.

If Thad were a flower, he'd be a beginner gardener's worst nightmare— Drooping. "Please, Lizzy..? Just one more time? It'll be different, I'm sure! Come on!"

Lizzy hesitated. She knew how much this meant to him, but she hated it every time! It always turned out poorly at best.

She couldn't help but pity her twin brother and his clear, desperate attempts at bringing their family together.

"Fine. One more time."

She snickered at the way Thad's eyes lit up, shining with excitement, "Yes! Thank you! It'll turn out better than usual, it just has to!"

He was already rushing to go get the cards and the two board games their father ever bothers buying, plus the three Thad bought himself for them to play. Lizzy smiled.

He was happy over something so small despite it being ruined all the previous times. He was so... Hopeful. It was like nothing could ruin it for him no matter how bad it got.

The front door creaked open, way later than it should have.

"Home."

Chapter Text

It was quiet. Painfully so. Thad had tried to get their father engaged further than just blankly saying 'Any nines' or 'Threes?' and looking at one of them. Lizzy felt bad for him, but the idea of the night seemed so exhilarating to him that she couldn't bring herself to shut it down after he got everything out. She would've just based on how their dad barely greeted them when getting home.

"So, uh... Dad... Any kings..? Also, how was work?" Thad asked, his voice weak, a stark contrast to his upbeat attitude when they first started playing ten minutes ago.

Their dad plucked two cards from his hand and slid them to Thad, "Work."

"Aha... Um, anything... Else? Anything... Notable?" Thad pressed, trying to squeeze some semblance of a proper response out of him.

"No. Any jacks?"

Thad's smile faltered, sliding over a card. Lizzy furrowed her eyebrows, annoyed, "Oh, not even, I dunno, the test you graded today? Nothing exceptional about someone's score?" Lizzy added, trying to help Thad. She knew Thad was a good student, doing his best in his classes while trying to juggle football and the popularity that came with it. There was no way he scored anything less than a 100 on that test, and it was a hard one, too.

"... No."

Lizzy grit her teeth and glared. She inhaled deeply to try to keep her cool, but the anger at her father bubbled up anyways.

"Asshole." She muttered under her breath. She knew her comment was heard from the tiny shift in her father's eyebrows, but he didn't actually respond.

Thad noticed it too, and was much more vocal about it, "Lizzy! That-"

"Oh, can it, Thad, he doesn't care anyways!" Lizzy slammed her hand on the table.

"He's our dad, we still shouldn't-"

"No! Forget it! He hasn't cared for a long time!" She started to shake, tears threatening to form in her eyes and ruin her pretty face.

"But-"

"No!"

"Lillian, let your brother speak."

...

What did he just say?

"... Lillian? My name is LIZZY!" She turned her anger unto their father, curling her fists as tight as she could, the numbness of her finger tip biting into her.

"Right, Lucy, anyways-"

"LUCY!?" That did it, she was crying. "You can't even remember your own daughter's name!? Is that how little you care now? That you forgot our names!?"

"Hold on, let me get my attendance sheet-"

"You shouldn't need your God damn agenda sheet!" Lizzy was practically screaming.

"Attendance-"

Lizzy screamed in frustration and stormed to her room, stopping when Thad grabbed her arm, "Wait! We- Lizzy- It was just a slip of the tongue! R-Right? Right, Dad?"

Their dad stared, shrugging. His orange eyes showed nothing but a lack of expression.

"Let go, Thad." Lizzy spat. Thad shook his head.

"Come on, at- at least finish the game-"

"Let her go, alright, Todd?" The dad chimed in. Lizzy glared at him and ripped her arm away as Thad was distracted.

"M-My name is Thad, Dad..." Thad let a light chuckle out, but it wasn't convincing.

Lizzy decided to stick around. This was it, it had to be. Thad would realize their father is mentally a deadbeat.

"Alright, Tony-"

"It's Thad, Dad! God- you named me!" Thad was trembling, letting out the tiniest huffs of breath that he was trying so hard to pass off as laughter.

"Okay, look, Timothy, I'm gonna go to my room." He stood up and started walking towards his bedroom.

"It is THAD! You named me! You did! God-" Thad was on the verge of tears. Lizzy wasn't even crying anymore. She wasn't gonna shed another tear over this man because he was not her father.

Her father would at least care to remember her name.

Or at least try.

"Sometimes I wish you died instead of mom, god DAMMIT!"

...

Holy shit.

Lizzy's eyes were as wide as they could be. Thad never burst out like that, at anyone! He was the kindest guy in their school, everyone but him had agreed on that! (Well, he kinda agreed, but said he'd probably just be a placeholder for the 'true kindest guy' to come along.) Even so, this was... Completely out of character!

Thad was horrified at his own words, looking at his hands like he just murdered a baby. His breathing was shaky as he looked up at his father who had completely stopped.

"D-Dad, I- I'm-" Thad was trying to utter an apology that he thought would make up for what he said, but nothing seemed enough. He might as well have been the embodiment of guilt and regret at that moment.

He looked back, his eyes not showing any semblance of care just as before, but this time, accompanied by bitterness. No sadness, grief, mourning, or anything. Just bitterness.

"Me too, Tanner."

And he walked away.

Chapter Text

Day 8. 

J trudged through the snow. She needed more parts, more scrap metal, more everything. She was so far from done, it was infuriating.

Her progression had slowed to a halt now all because she needed more resources.

...

And because she may or may not have set her progress back by about 7.43% in a fit of depressive rage.

Whatever. She needed more food, anyways.

It's just a supply run.

There were plenty of possibilities out here. Extra food storage if she got lucky and found a large enough group of workers, little side projects she could use to entertain herself when she gets to her new destination, and maybe she could come out of her god forsaken shell and accept that she's lonely as hell and make a fr-

No.

Nonononono.

No way.

She isn't lonely.

She doesn't need friends.

She ripped the arms off of a deceased worker. Inspecting them, she smiled, finding pieces she could use.

She drank the oil inside, feeling it run down her throat and into her body to keep her cool and alive a little longer.

Wherever she went to after Copper-9, she was sure to be happier. No one would hate her. No one would care she's there.

J perked up, hearing footsteps that weren't her own.

A worker drone.

It has to be.

She took to the skies and scouted for whoever it was. It couldn't be far, surely.

She stayed stationary in the sky, looking around.

"Where are you..?" She mumbled. "Come on... Come out come out, wherever you are... I'm hungry, but I need to save some oil in case the ship needs it— AAH!"

J yelped as bullets went flying in her direction. Studying the time between each shot, it had to have been a Glock 19. Not common, considering it's 3071, but oh well. She's not the one using outdated technology like an idiot.

She spun around, a bullet almost hitting her. She dove down, swerving around the bullets, each shot becoming a closer and closer call.

She landed as harshly as she could to knock them over with the impact, smirking as that was exactly what happened.

"Alright, bucko. Stay still and I can guarantee it'll be quick." J replaced her hand with a gun, pointing it to the worker's head.

"W-Wait, I- I wanna..."

J raised an eyebrow, pausing only for a seco—

BANG!

"Agh- You asshole! My hair!" J yelled as the worker fired a shot at her, missing her face and hitting her pigtail, breaking the ribbon. She started shooting at him as fast as possible, showing no mercy.

No one gets to do that. No one gets the better of her without a consequence!

J had been shooting for much longer than she needed to, foolishly wasting her ammo. She stopped shooting, looking at the steaming mess below her now.

"Ugh... I can't even use this now." She complained to nobody but herself, kicking the abdomen.

J walked off, looking for something, anything useful.

The crunching of snow under her feet was comforting. She wasn't actually sure why, it just was. And she wasn't about to complain because she really needed it.

Maybe she'd finally be able to finish the ship if she got enough materials. Though it'd take about 64824.07 hours, and factoring in each 7 hour pass out from exhaustion, plus snack breaks...

68094.07 hours, total.

She'd be fine. Once the ship was done, she take a nice, long nap and then get going. She'll have earned it.

"What are you doing out here?"

J turned around, "Huh?"

There was a worker drone there. It started walking closer.

"Ohh, I get it, J did something that pissed ya off? Heh, hey, is your hair longer? Eh, whatever. I'm assuming it's cuz of that nasty scar on N's face?" The worker smiled at her. Gross.

"Scar? Disassembly drones regenerate withing minutes of sustaining an injury." J scoffed. Was this worker drone so dumb? Workers know that disassembly drones have always been able to regenerate! Plus, she was clearly not V. She had pigtails!

"Uzi lowered the regeneration rate on you two to a crawl, remember? So maybe it's best to leave J alone. She's probably still got it."

J glared. Uzi really did that? How ridiculous. Why would she..? Oh, whatever.

She caught a glimpse of her shadow.

Her hair was completely down. Ahh, that's right. Her ribbon got shot and broke, letting her hair fall... The bullet that almost hit her while she was in the air must've knocked the other one out.

"Listen, I'm not V. You're stupid, and gullible. But you'll make for a fine entree later." J aimed at the worker. He yelped in shock, turning to run. J shot him as soon as his back was turned. No need to scar him for the rest of his life postpone his death.

She stared down at it's corpse, oil pooling around the body.

She noticed they had blue eyes, like a lot of workers. He probably had a family, too. One that cared. One that'll miss him.

Whatever. They're barely sentient toasters, right? Why should she care?

...

Why didn't this feel right anymore?

Chapter Text

Lizzy was lying in bed. No school today, no way. She didn't want anyone seeing her so sad and gross and depressed... She hadn't had time between crying and more crying to actually take care of herself beyond staying hydrated and not starving.

It was strange how their dad finally stopped saying bye when one of them left before the other or something. She honestly expected that years ago, but it never came... So why now?

Actually, she knew why. Last night was the night he finally gave up. He genuinely, truly gave up. She didn't think it was possible to give up while still in a post-giving-up phase, but her own father proved her wrong.

...

God, she was hungry.

She slid out of bed and slunk her way to the kitchen. She saw Thad was there too, looking in the fridge, and god, he looked worse than her.

"Oh, hey, Thad... You okay?" She asked, concerned for her twin.

He shook his head, "No, um, bad news."

Lizzy tilted her head. She was feeling anxious about this. Her stomach was scrambling to keep from dropping way down into a deeper pit than it was already in.

"He finally forgot."

"Forgot?"

"About us."

Lizzy walked closer, nervously fidgeting with her hands, "What do you mean?"

"He went to the store yesterday. And there's not enough for more than one drone."

Lizzy's stomach finally lost purchase on the edge and plummeted.

"You're kidding." She spoke breathlessly, her eyes wide.

"No. It's either that or he just chose to stop buying for us... I-I mean i... it's fine." Thad chuckled nervously, closing the fridge. "I have a ton of money saved up, I can jus

"Thad, that money you have saved is your life savings." Lizzy interrupted the jock. "You are not going to take money out of your life savings to feed us when you are barely an adult!"

"Someone has to!" Thad yelled, clenching his fist.

"Maybe he'll get some later? Yeah? Maybe.. maybe he didn't have time?" Lizzy couldn't believe she was trying to help Thad believe in their father to actually care.

But she knew why. She had to. For Thad.

Thad hesitated before sighing and smiling, "Yeah. You're right... Maybe he... Maybe he didn't have time to get everything."

She knew he didn't forget. No way he did, not in the span of twelve god damn hours.

He was doing this on purpose. He was bitter about last night.

There was no other explanation that made sense.

"And I found it kinda funny, honestly. He seemed so angry over a water bottle!" Rebecca giggled, taking another bite of her lunch.

"Yeah..." Lizzy smiled weakly. She was hungry.

"Hey, what's wrong? Rebecca frowned, worried, "You've seemed tired all week."

"Hm..? Oh, I... Uh... I just didn't get much sleep, yeah..." Lizzy replied, her voice low.

Rebecca sighed, "It's gotta be more than that. I haven't seen you eat at school. You want some of my lunch? My mom made it for dinner last night. It's really good!" She pushed the small container towards Lizzy.

"Nah, it's fine, girl." Lizzy smiled, making it look strong while she pushed it back, "I just... I just need to fix my sleep schedule! I'm eating enough, don't worry."

She was so fucking hungry.

Thad was younger than her. Eight minutes, to be exact. He needed it more. He had football, he had to study, he had to work...

Lizzy had cheer, yeah. And she had to study, too. But she didn't have a job. She didn't need it as much.

"Copper-9 to Lizzy! Seriously, girlie, you don't look okay, at all!"

Lizzy looked up at Rebecca.

"I'm fine, Becca." Lizzy chuckled, trying to reassure her.

"... Okay, Liz." Rebecca didn't seem reassured at all. She just seemed worried. "What's your battery percentage?"

"Oh, um," Lizzy quickly checked, finding 18%.

"... 32 percent." She lied. It wasn't a big one, but she didn't wanna worry Rebecca much more than she already had.

"You don't pay much attention in science, do you?" Rebecca asked. Lizzy shook her head in response. "So that means you wouldn't know that you only fall below 35 percent if you aren't eating or sleeping enough?"

Lizzy's oil ran cold. Maybe she should start paying more attention in Science. Then she couldn't be called out on a bluff, even if it's different from the one she was just told.

"Well, it's only three percent under... I'll be fine!" Lizzy reassured the blue-eyed girl.

"I find it very hard to believe you when you say that." Rebecca sighed. "But I know you. You're stubborn. So I'll leave it there for now."

Lizzy looked away, somewhat ashamed she was lying.

"Here."

Rebecca slid over her lunch, the small container lightly scratching the table.

"You definitely need it."

Lizzy hesitated and genuinely smiled.

"Thanks, Becc Becc."

"Anytime, Lizzy-Lou."

Chapter Text

Uzi popped a battery in her mouth before grabbing another and letting Cyn have it.

"You're really greedy." Uzi grumbled.

"Mm, too bad you're stuck with me, then." Cyn giggled. It wasn't sinister, and it really sounded genuine. Uzi raised an eyebrow.

"You can giggle like a normal person?" She asked the little ribbon-obsessed gremlin.

"Yes. You can't?"

"I can! I'm just surprised you can." Uzi glared. Cyn just did some sort of motion that gave off the idea of a shrug.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that. Snicker."

Uzi huffed. She looked next to her, seeing the empty seat. N didn't respond to her text today. She assumed he was sick or something, maybe he meant to text her and just forgot to hit send. Either way, she was worried.

"He's fine. I'm sure." Cyn nudged Uzi in the shoulder. Uzi lightly bapped Cyn's face.

"Quiet, demon. I know that!" Uzi scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Rude. What is our next class, anyway?" Cyn tilted her head, "I hunger for knowledge."

"Math."

"Oh. I have lost my appetite."

"Hard to believe, but you wanna skip?"

"Skip stones? Anything is better than mind-numbing numbers and symbols that don't mean anything meaningful."

Uzi chuckled, "No, idiot, skip class."

Cyn looked away, "Embarrassed. I knew that."

Uzi stretched, "Just wait for the bell to ring. No one here cares much about skippers, anyways.'

"Interesting. What will we do while cutting class?" Cyn asked. Uzi shrugged.

"How do you know what cutting class means but not skipping?" Uzi asked, chuckling.

"Shut up!! Answer my question!!" Cyn's voice pitched up.

"Okay, okay, maybe walk around? Hide in a bathroom or two? Y'know, it's kinda like those bathrooms only exist to skip in. We don't use them for what they're meant to be used for, so why bother keeping em?" Uzi went on, starting to talk to herself. Which excluded Cyn, by the way.

Cyn stared at Uzi as she rambled on and on to herself about the bathrooms and why they were still there, which then moved into all the animes she liked but which one was the best?

RIIIIIIIIIIIING!! 

Uzi was still rambling, mumbling about how she wasn't scene, she was goth and there was a huge difference!

"Uzi."

Scene is like, totally lame! Right? Ugh, she can't say that though! That's disrespecting scene kids!

"Uzi."

Well, she does kinda like those zebra pattern hair extensions and all...

"Uzi!"

And the bright colors are a nice contrast to the black...

"N is dead."

"WHAT!?" Uzi stood up suddenly, horrified.

"Eye roll, you are so gullible. He is fine. Anywho, the bell rang." Cyn seemed annoyed.

"Don't joke about that!" Uzi yelled, hitting Cyn hard, "You know I'm worried about him, you jerk!

"Owie."

"Ugh... If I didn't have to stay, I'd force you to go to math." Uzi crossed her arms, grumbling.

Cyn was clearly upset, "You are so cruel! Frowny face."

Uzi was walking through a long hallway. The lights were evenly spaced, but there were too many of them... That really inefficient. She knew that would bug the hell out of N if he were here.

"It's really quiet, huh?" Uzi mumbled. Cyn nodded.

"... I think I hear something."

Uzi looked at Cyn, "What? Footsteps?"

Cyn shook her head, "Flicking."

"Well, yeah, there's a flickery light in every hall, duh." Uzi rolled her eyes.

"No, not flickering. Flicking." Cyn clarified. "Over there."

Uzi's eyes followed where Cyn had pointed her head, seeing a bathroom. Upon focusing and listening close, she could hear it too.

Fkt... Fkt... Fktfktfkt... Fkt... Fktfff...

"Should we... check it out?" Uzi spoke softly, not wanting to scare off whatever it was in the bathroom.

Cyn nodded quickly, clearly wanting something interesting to happen. Uzi creeped her way to the bathroom. Peering inside, she heard someone suck in a sharp breath. Man, this would be so much more fun with N-

Uzi's eyes widened, seeing Lizzy from behind, standing just inside a stall, the door wide open.

"Lizzy?" Uzi walked in, raising an eyebrow. She jumped at the yelp Lizzy made. A small, red lighter clattered against the ground.

"Whoa, were you smoking? Scratch that, we can smoke?" Uzi took a few steps closer.

"No.." Lizzy grabbed the lighter and turned around, putting her hands behind her back.

"Then what were you doing?" Uzi tilted her head. Cyn just kinda stared.

"N-Nothing..." Lizzy quickly wiped her eye, looking away.

"Well, you had a lighter, and if you weren't smoking... Were you burning—? no... There wasn't any smoke, either way..." As Uzi thought to herself, Lizzy grew more and more uncomfortable, biting her lip and scratching the back of her leg with her foot. The look of shame on her face should've been enough to satiate Uzi's curiousity.

"... And if you weren't... Ohhh... My god. Lizzy... Were you-" Uzi's eyes wide, genuinely concerned for her (former?) bully. (Uzi didn't know, Lizzy stopped teasing her, but was still mean.)

"Just go away, you friend-murdering FREAK!" Lizzy yelled, a tear forming in her eye. "It's my business!"

"Lizzy, you do know that's one of the worst things you can do when you're upset, right?" Uzi kept walking closer. Cyn perked up and chimed in.

"Yes. She is right. You should not do that." Cyn got as close to Lizzy's face as it could, and that just about broke the final straw.

Lizzy smacked Cyn away as hard as she could and ran at Uzi, trying to shove her out of the bathroom. Uzi yelped, swinging an arm and hitting Lizzy in the chest. The air knocked out of her, she was briefly dazed, but not long enough for Uzi to do anything else after stabilizing herself.

Lizzy grabbed Uzi's wrist and squeezed, trying to throw the goth on the floor. Cyn dived in and bit Lizzy's ankle, sinking her teeth into the prep's metallic flesh. She cried out and Cyn pulled her foot out from under her and knocked her down, making her hit her head against the floor. Cyn bit down hard, making Lizzy cry out in pain. Uzi grabbed Cyn and yanked her off of Lizzy before she could bite the foot off, oil briefly spurting out from the wound at the release of pressure.

Uzi rushed out of the bathroom, hearing Lizzy groan in pain, lying there.

Friend-murdering freak.

It echoed like crazy in her mind. It drowned out Cyn going: "Bark bark growl bark yap yap yip growl" or something.

She slowed to a stop about halfway down the hall from the bathroom. Looking back, Uzi's self conscious kicked into full gear.

What she did... What Lizzy was doing in there... Did it have something to do with... What she did? Even if only partly, and maybe Lizzy has some other things going on...

Friend-murdering freak.

Friend-murdering freak.

Friend-murdering freak.

With each syllable that repeated in her mind, she felt worse and worse, like she was slowly being drained of her oil. (She wasn't, she checked.)

Uzi frowned. What she did has to be at least part of why Lizzy was... Doing what she did.

...

Maybe she was wrong. Maybe Lizzy wasn't doing that. Maybe she really was smoking, somehow. They're robots, so the rust that would come from that could be less than desirable, so was it really that different?

Uzi didn't know.

But either way, she was going to help.

Chapter Text

Uzi walked uncomfortably into another bathroom. An empty one with no Lizzy-lighter combo to attack her for being concerned.

"I thought we were going to tell a teacher about this?" Cyn asked Uzi, tilting her head.

"Yeah, just not yet. We're gonna finish the s-"

RIIIIIIIIINNG!!!

Uzi jumped at the sudden bell, hearing the chatter from students exiting their classrooms slowly fade in.

"Alright, now we tell."

Uzi rushed out of the bathroom. She groaned in irritation at the crowds, huffing.

She slipped her way between the students there, not caring when she got cussed at for bumping into someone. She hummed in frustration, knowing she needed to get this done as soon as possible.

Lizzy needed help. Uzi had to tell that girl's father, then he could do something to get Lizzy help. It's not like Uzi could do anything but tell someone...

Uzi squeezed out of the crowd and speed walked to her next class, as it just to happened to have Lizzy's father as the teacher. Convenient.

Uzi opened the door to the classroom, pausing to see it empty. No surprise there, Mr. Maccan was almost always late to class-

"Excuse me."

Uzi turned around, seeing a... Less dead inside looking teacher. She watched him walk, not slouching, to his desk. She expected him to start banging his head as usual, or what was now the usual, but instead, he actually did something productive.

Uzi was confused. Maybe something good happened to him, who know, anyways..

Uzi walked up to his desk, "Um, Mister Maccan..."

The teacher looked up at her, "Yes?"

Well, his voice was still monotonous, to some degree.

Uzi inhaled to respond, hesitating. Should she really do this? Maybe it's be better to just encourage Lizzy to get help... Or...

No. This is her father Uzi's going to tell. He may be dead inside, so either he'll blandly get Lizzy help, or just not care (which would honestly be terrible, but there are other drones who will care guaranteed, anyways).

"... I think I caught Lizzy in the bathroom... Using a lighter to burn herself..?" The hesitance in her voice was more clear than her concern for the girl.

"Oh, that's not good..." Her teacher sat up, seeming genuinely surprised, but his voice remained decently calm.

"Yeah... So-"

"Do you know her last name?"

Uzi raised an eyebrow, "Um... I said Lizzy? There's one Lizzy in this entire school, you know her."

"Okay. That's all I'll need. I'll talk to her."

Uzi seemed surprised at how calm he was to learn his own daughter was harming herself. But at least he seemed concerned to some degree... His reaction, though... It didn't seem like it was enough for a father learning his only daughter was in such a poor place mentally that she's resorted to using a lighter to burn herself.

That concussion Uzi probably gave her probably won't help too much, either...

Uzi went to sit at her desk, pulling her eyes away from the teacher to look at Cyn with a mildly disturbed expression. She just fiddled with her fingers, waiting for class to start. For once, she was sitting like anyone else. It felt so hilariously wrong, but ultimately was drowned out by the lack of a fitting reaction.

Now she was just sounding like a broken record, repeating the same thing over and over.

Maybe she shouldn't think too much of it.

He's probably just like that.

Chapter Text

Thad sighed, getting home after a long day. Football practice was brutal. He couldn't underperform or everyone would recognize that something was up. He couldn't let them know something was up because then he and Liz could be separated, and, hell, who knows what could happen if one of them ends up alone and even in a worse home than a dad who's forgotten them?

Thad couldn't risk that.

He threw his backpack on the floor of his bedroom. To be honest, this place didn't feel like home anymore. He didn't know how to describe it... It just felt wrong.

Thad took off his hat, shaking out his compressed hair. Catching a glimpse of his reflection from the mirror in his bathroom, he could see it actively fluffing up, back into the chaotic mess of waved it had been his whole life. He ran his fingers through it before just falling back onto his bed, sighing again.

He sat up, hearing a knock on his door, "Thad, I heard you get home. How was football practice?"

"Tiring." He responded, nearly breathless.

Lizzy hummed through the door, "You need anything?"

Thad shook his head despite Lizzy not being able to see him, "Nah, I'm fine."

"Okay."

He heard Lizzy's faint footsteps as she returned to her room. Thad kicked off his shoes and dragged himself lazily to lay down, throwing his blanket over him. He was already about to pass out, anyways. Better make it self-induced.

...

Robo-god, that was dark.

He was just taking a nap...

...

Thad opened his eyes, exiting sleep mode. He rolled over, facing his door. He just laid there for a few minutes before sitting up as his body trembled. He'd need something to eat as soon as possible if he didn't want to pass out halfway through first period tomorrow.

Checking the time, it was well late into the night. 1:32 AM.

He slowly slid off of his bed, almost falling. It felt like the metal of his leg was about to cave in on itself. With a shaky sigh, his third of the day, he made his way out of his room and started walking down the hall. His steps were slow and careful, stopping once he saw Lizzy exit her bedroom.

"Liz..?" He raised an eyebrow. His sister turned around.

"Hi, Thad..." Her voice was low as she smiled weakly. He walked over to her.

"What are you doing up?" He asked, the two of them continuing to walk.

"I'm starving..." Lizzy admitted, frowning and hugging herself.

Thad sighed, "Me too..."

Lizzy chuckled, "Thought you said you didn't need anything..?"

Thad rolled his eyes in response, laughing softly, "Oh, hush..."

The twins went down the hall and to the kitchen, Thad going ahead of her. He opened the fridge, looking at the small container of batteries he had bought. It wasn't much so Lizzy decided to not complain as long as it didn't become a regular occurrence. Though she did let out a huff, seeing them.

He pulled the container out and took four or five batteries. It'd be enough to just barely get him through tomorrow, even if he'd probably faint the second he stepped into the house.

As long as he didn't scare anyone, he'd be fine.

He passed the container to Lizzy, seeing her hesitantly pick two batteries out. "Come on, Liz, you need more than that..." Thad frowned. Lizzy glared at him before taking a third.

Thad had taken note of an interesting behavior his father exhibited. If he wasn't the one to put it in the fridge, he would never eat leftovers. Thad never knew why It's just how he was, he supposed.

Thad and Lizzy jumped at the sound of their father's door opening. It was loud and the doorknob was in desperate need to be replaced as it klunked when close enough to being fully opened.

Thad sighed after a few seconds and ate one of his batteries. Lizzy did the same.

"What are you doing?"

Thad paused, shocked at the threateningly angry tone. He turned around, his eyes meeting his father's. He couldn't bring himself to answer.

"Why are you two in my house?" His father took a few steps forward. Thad stepped back. "Eating my food?"

"What do you mean...?" Thad asked. He was confused as hell, eyes wide.

"The two of you need to get out. This is my house, and you two are not welcome. Get out. Now."

Thad shook, "B-But-"

"I said get out! Before I contact the authorities!"

Lizzy seemed scared, trembling and her breathing speeding up.

"W-wait, c-can we at least grab our things..?" Thad stepped forward, closing the door to the fridge.

Their father glared, "Fine, but you better be quick."

He stepped to the side to let the two run past him and down the hall again.

"He's kicking us out..!?" Lizzy's voice cracked, trembling as she started to hyperventilate. "Where the hell are we gonna go!?" She placed her hand over her chest, tears in her eyes threatened to spill over.

Thad immediately hurried to his sister's side, placing a hand on her back, "W-We'll be okay, okay? We.. We can find somewhere...! This entire bunker counts as shelter, so..." Thad found it difficult to make light of this situation. How could he?

They were being forced out of their only home, and it seemed like it was his fault.

If he hadn't burst out that night... Said something so... Horrible...

Thad helped Lizzy finish up grabbing her sentimentals.

"Lizzy, why do you need a lighter?"

"Its better to have and not need rather than need and not have."

Thad couldn't argue with that. And it was small, red, handheld lighter anyways. It wasn't taking up much space in her duffelbag.

Thad anxiously rolled his small suitcase back and forth, "You've got all the essentials, too?"

Lizzy nodded, "Yeah... You too?" Thad nodded. "Okay..."

"You kids better be almost done!"

Lizzy's eyes widened fearfully. She started to shake again.

"Thad, what do we do..?" She whispered.

"The only thing we can do right now. Leave." Thad sighed.

Thad gave Lizzy his suitcase, "You take this to the front. I'll go get our batteries." Lizzy nodded, walking to stand by the front door. Thad made his way to the fridge, grabbing the small tupperware container and returning to Lizzy.

"Alright. We're leaving." Thad's voice shook as he yelled out, not caring wherever the hell that man was.

He hardly considered him a father at this point.

"Good. Now get out."

Thad's eyes snapped to the bedroom door that led to his 'dad's' room. He glared as he locked eyes with the man.

"I said get OUT."

Lizzy hurried out, Thad and their things following her.

Their dad walked to the door and slammed it in their faces.

Silence lingered. The air was filled with a grim, somber tension. Thad tried to reassure his sister that everything would be okay, smiling weakly at her. The lack of strength made him fail his goal of comforting his twin. She just sucked in a shaky breath.

"Thad... Where do we go..?" Lizzy asked, her grip tightening on her duffelbag's handle.

"I don't know, but..." Thad's smile fell. He was confused and scared and guilty...

He inhaled deeply, putting a new, much stronger smile on his face, locking his green eyes with his sister's pink eyes.

"We're gonna be okay."

Chapter Text

Thad and Lizzy walked through the bunker. Everyone had to be asleep.

"Thad... Where are we going..?" Lizzy asked.

Thad kept dragging his suitcase, "I had an idea. I know it's really late, but we can go to sleep once we're there."

"Is it a new place to stay..?" Lizzy asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Yeah. For now."

Thad turned to the direction of the school, "Almost there, Liz."

Lizzy squinted, confused, "We're going to school..?"

Thad nodded, "Yeah." 

"But the doors... Won't they be locked..?" Lizzy yawned. The nodded.

"They will, but we can still get in." Thad went up to the door to the school, "You got a pin or something?"

Lizzy raised a dreary eyebrow and pulled one from her hair. "Here... Why do you need it..?"

Thad got on one knee, bent the bobby pin to be straight, and put the pin in the lock. He reached his hand for another one, and Lizzy took another from her hair and gave it up.

Lizzy watched as Thad started to work on the lock. After a few minutes, it clicked and Thad tried the door. It swung open smoothly and silently.

"You been practicing that or something? You haven't done that in years." Lizzy walked in as Thad held the door open.

"I had a feeling it'd come in handy someday." Thad answered honestly, closing it behind him as he walked in.

"So we're just gonna hide out in the school? This isn't a home, Thad! What if we're caught and kicked out all over again..?" Lizzy mumbled. She grew teary eyed again.

Thad put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry. Remember that old classroom that almost no one used for anything but pointless storage?"

His sister nodded, "Mhm."

"We'll stay in there." Thad stated.

Lizzy nodded again, "Okay..."

Thad and Lizzy were sitting in their new 'home.'

It was painfully lonely, even if they had each other in the dusty, old classroom. The different papers and pencils and boxes of random items, including contraband irresponsibly thrown in a big chest and shoved in the corner.

Buried treasure, if you wanna be fairytale-like.

"it's almost three in the morning. You hungry?" Thad looked at his sister, who was still setting up her 'bed'.

He still couldn't fathom that they got kicked out. But he understood. He was at fault. He burst out in anger and said he wished his father died instead of their mother.

It was all his fault.

Lizzy shook her head, sighing shakily. She looked at Thad, her eyes empty yet so full of despair.

"Thad, are we worth remembering?"

"Of course you are! Why wouldn't you be worth remembering?"

"Thad."

"Yeah, Liz..?"

"I said we."

Chapter Text

Lizzy was awake as Thad slept his worries away into the night. Lizzy had too many big worries for her, though. Thad probably had the same ones, plus some more, and yet he could still sleep.

At least one of them could.

Lizzy decided to stimulate herself and her mind, getting up and looking around. The junk in that room varied so much you could probably mix and mash a million things and get something that would be impossible to recreate.

Her fingers lightly ran along the rim of a cardboard box, grazing the smooth yet rough surface. It was full of envelopes, cardstock, folders, and paper. Lizzy hummed softly, considering her options. Once making a decision, she took a piece of paper and an envelope.

She returned to her makeshift bed, workshopped out of her clothes and some stuffed toys that were strewn about the classroom. Plopping down, she rummaged through her school bag and pulled out a pencil and a folder.

Lizzy placed her paper on the folder, putting the pencil tip against it.

She'd write a letter.

...

Their predicament was her fault. If she hadn't agreed to that family game night, maybe her dad wouldn't have gotten her name wrong. Maybe he had a bad day and his processors were scrambled. Maybe he just needed a nap, maybe he could've remembered their names with a nap maybe he was a good dad just driven to his final straw dear god what if her escalation of things ruined both of their lives it was all her fault wasn't it it was it had to be her fault all her fault her fault her fault her fault-

Love,

        Lizzy

She finished it a lot faster than she thought. She hadn't even realized she was crying while she wrote it. She had been sniffling and letting out weak sobs the whole time and still was. Her body felt too warm and it felt gross. She felt gross.

Would she even use this dumb letter?

...

Probably. But not yet.

She folded it and slid it into the envelope, licking her thumb and swiping it across the glue, sticking it shut. She slid it under her bed... Thing... And laid down.

Lizzy yawned, stretching until a new tear pricked in her eye. Wiping it away, she laid down.

"G'night..." She closed her eyes, shakily muttering her words as she expected a response, yet knew she wouldn't get one from her sleeping brother.

Not that she deserved one for possibly ruining his life.

...

And yet those thoughts persisted.

It was her fault. She burst out at Dad that night which led to Thad doing the same and now they've been kicked out of the house and are essentially homeless, and they only have one small container of batteries for them to even LIVE!

Thad should be mad at her. But he's not. She's thankful he's not mad, she is, but he should be mad! He should be furious with her! She's the one who started the events that led to their situation now! Hell, she got Thad to help push it further, even if not on purpose!

Lizzy clenched her 'bed sheets'.

She might as well have done something as bad as killing someone.

Robo-God.

She's the worst person she knows.

Even Uzi's better than her.

"Lizzy, you look worse every day!" Rebecca complained. "Something's wrong, I know it. You have to tell me! I just wanna help!"

Lizzy sighed, "No, Rebecca. I told you, I'm fine..! Nothing's wrong, girl. You worry too much!" She smiled, though it quivered as if it was too much for her body to handle.

Rebecca furrowed her eyebrows, "Lizzy, no one can help you—"

Her heart dropped.

"—if you don't tell someone what's wrong!"

For some reason, Lizzy's heart didn't lift.

She sighed again, looking away almost shamefully.

"Oh, Lizzy..." Rebecca spoke softly now, reaching out her hand and placing it on her shoulder.

"It's fine... We've got girls night scheduled with V tonight, right? Your place. Let's not ruin the mood before it begins." Lizzy smiled. She doesn't know why, but the words that slipped from her mouth left a bitter aftertaste. She felt bad for deflecting Rebecca's concerns.

Rebecca nodded, frowning, "Right... I'm still worried, though." Her hand migrated from Lizzy's shoulder to her hand, squeezing.

Lizzy's shaky smile softened a bit, becoming a bit more genuine. She looked at Rebecca, her eyes tired, the lines only emphasizing her exhaustion. Lizzy squeezed Rebecca's hand back.

It was a nice, gentle moment amidst the usual chaos of the cafeteria surrounding them. All background noise drowned out. The cool air around the two seemed to warm a little bit, just enough. Just... Enough. Nothing in particular. Lizzy couldn't ask for any more.

This moment was, well... Lizzy would say lovely. She hadn't gotten to experience a moment like this in a while. She had almost forgotten the feeling entirely.

Rebecca's smile told Lizzy everything. She was feeling the same thing. A warm moment between two best friends who hadn't felt something like this for too long.

It was...

As Lizzy would put it...

Magnetic.

Chapter Text

Bzzzt.

V looked over, seeing her phone screen light up. She checked the notification.

"U girls ready 4 girls nite??"

V opened the chat responding to the message with a simple 👍 reaction.

"Kewl. Liz?"

"Ya."

V set her phone down, grabbing her small bag of the essentials. She walked out of her room, going to N's and knocking.

"Yeah?" He replied almost immediately.

"Hey, I'm gonna be out for at least a few hours, got girls night with Lizzy and her friend, Rebecca, so you won't see me until you get back from school tomorrow, okay?" She spoke through the door.

"Okay! Have fun!"

"Okay, dork."

She turned to leave but paused for a second, "Hey, how's that scar healing up?"

"... It's okay..." N's voice was hesitant and unsure now. V scoffed.

"Clearly not. Mind if I see?" She asked. She waited a few seconds before N slowly cracked open his door, still hiding his scar.

"Are you sure you wanna see it..?" He asked, frowning. V firmly nodded. N sighed, opening the door more.

His scar was slowly healing. It was still scabbed over, the material just beginning to reconnect the synthetic, rubbery steel that had been split apart. The black, clots of oil had a dull, uneven sheen to it, distracting from any other part of N's face.

"Ouch. Has Uzi seen it? It's Friday, there's no way she hasn't." V raised an eyebrow.

N's frown grew, "No... I uh... I've been avoiding her..."

V furrowed her eyebrows, "Why? Because you think she'll slaughter J?" She sighed, "N, Uzi is your girlfriend, she'll be more worried about you than J's assholery"

N pursed his lips, wincing before letting his lips un-purse. V's eyes softened slightly. It was clear he was still in pain from the scar.

"Do me a favor and go see a doctor or whatever. It won't heal up right if you don't get it checked out or something." V spoke, her eyes showing some concern.

N nervously nodded, "Okay."

V waited a few seconds before starting to walk away.

"And take out those staples!" She called back. "You shouldn't have even done them in the first place!

She slung her bag over her shoulders and grabbed her keycard, swiping it and leaving her and N's shared place.

Her feet made loud toktoktoktok sounds as she walked. She'd go through the vents if she was going to Lizzy's, but she was going to this Rebecca girl's place instead and she didn't feel like getting lost in the ventilation shaft.

V opened the directions on her phone to get to Rebecca's house.

Find the lobby. Easy enough.

Go down hall E. Mhm.

Sub-hall E5

Aaaaand.... Room 708E.

Huh. Easy to find.

V knocked three times.

The door opened, showing a worker drone that was definitely not Rebecca, considering they were standing.

"Hello?-"

"Sup. Your daughter invited me over." V greeted the worker drone, likely Rebecca's mother. V took note of the brown hair, nothing like her daughter's based on the photos she's been shown.

"... Absolutely not."

"Gasoline!?"

"Fuck."

She'd been caught.

"Yeah, so what?" Lizzy raised an eyebrow, shoving the flask in her bag. "It's only a flask of it, not much. Plus, I might share it with V and Becks, so it'll be more spread out!"

Thad reached in and pulled the flask out, "No! You can't take gasoline! Neither of us are even allowed to drink this crap! We're underage!" He was speaking only slightly louder than usual, though from the shaking in his voice, he was just trying not to yell at her.

"Oooh, look at you, a goody-two-shoes who says 'crap', I'm so scared!" Lizzy growled sarcastically, mocking her brother. She didn't know why she was so rude to him. It was almost like an instinctive response. She snatched her flask back.

"Where did you even get a flask!? Let alone the gasoline itself!" Thad asked, crossing his arms.

"I.." Lizzy hesitated. She had actually stolen both items, and she had the entire bottle the gasoline came from, too... She knew she shouldn't drink or have it, but she remembered hearing about how it numbed things... She just wanted to forget everything, even if only for a few hours that felt like a minute.

"Nevermind, Liz. It doesn't matter where or how you got it." Thad sighed. "I know you're hurting, Lizzy. More than me... But you can't get blackout drunk everytime you think you can't handle it!" He finished. Lizzy rolled her eyes, finding it hard to be honest with him about how she felt.

"It's not gonna be EVERY time. Probably not even this time, and if I'm wrong about that, it'd be the first—"

"You could get addicted!"

"I won't! It'll be just this once!"

"That's what Sam said before he started using magnets! Now look-..."

"SAM IS DEAD! HE IS DEAD AND HE SUFFERED WHEN HE DIED BECAUSE HE WAS BRUTALLY MURDERED BY THAT FREAK YOU STILL CALL A FRIEND!" Lizzy burst into shouts, shaking so intensely she could have been the drone recreation of the worst earthquake on Earth. Tears blurred her vision, holding her at gun point as they told her to blink and let them fall.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"NO. NO, YOU SHOULDN'T!" Lizzy finally let her tears of anger, grief, guilt, and adrenaline spill. She felt horrible. Why was she yelling at Thad? Why couldn't she stop herself? She was just... Furious.

How could he still be friends with Uzi when he knows what she did? How could he use her dead friend as an EXAMPLE? How could he!?

"Liz, I'm really sorry-"

"Just- STOP! STOP IT! I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT!"

How could he!?

"Okay, you don't have to forgive me, just please, I- I'm so, so, sor-"

"GOD! YOU KNOW WHAT!?"

She launched the flask at Thad's chest, making him huff in impact and catch it, "THERE!"

Thad gulped nervously, already regretting bringing up Lizzy's deceased friend. Lizzy just glared at the stolen flask in her brother's arms.

"I'm gonna go now. I'll let you know if I'm gonna stay the night over there." Lizzy spat, grabbing her bag.

"Lizzy, I'm sorry, please—"

"If you want the rest, it's under my pillow."

"Wha-"

SLAM

How could he?

How...

How... Could she? How could she be mad at him for briefly forgetting things..? Things that didn't directly affect him? Things that were irrelevant to their situation, considering they were homeless and practically out of food..?

She wanted to go back inside the classroom and apologize, and just make it up to him, maybe by helping him with his hair, or homework, or... Anything.

But she felt like it was too late. The damage was done, it had to be.

She really was horrible.

God.

Knock knock knock

"Mom, is that them?" Rebecca perked up as she was on her way back to her room.

Her mother sighed, "Rebecca, please tell me you didn't invite one of the things that massacred our kind?"

"Mom! That's rude! They're not gonna kill us!" Rebecca complained. She puffed out her cheeks, "Let V in! She's nice! Er- well, nice enough. It's not like she's gonna call me up for prom queen and dump a bucket of oil on me!"

"But you didn't invite the girl that killed Braiden, right?"

Rebecca's expression faltered, clutching the arms to her wheelchair. No. No. No. No. No. She could still feel it she could still feel her legs being ripped from her screaming, crying body oh god the way the oil gushed out oh god oh god oh god please just let her go she doesn't wanna die-

"Breathe, sweetie! Breathe!"

Rebecca was ripped from reliving that moment. Rebecca's breathing started to slow. She hadn't even noticed she had been hyperventilating.

Rebecca was silent.

"Sorry, sweetie. I haven't had time to schedule you for therapy yet, okay? But soon."

She pat her daughter's back.

"Just- just let V in..."

Rebecca's mother sighed, going to the door, "Fine. But at the first sign of trouble, she is going home!"

Rebecca sighed, "Okay..."

She returned to her room, her wheels starting to squeak and become difficult to move. Time to regrease them, she spoke internally.

She went over to her dresser and got out her teflon spray, leaning over the sides and spraying it where the wheel met the chair. Testing it, she smiled softly at the lack of a headache-starting squeak.

A few knocks on her door prompted Rebecca to call out, "Come in!" As she put her spray away.

V and Lizzy walked in. Rebecca couldn't help but feel better, her smile strengthening. Neither smiled upon entry, but both smiled upon seeing the blue-haired drone.

"Hi, Becca!" Lizzy's voice was softer than Rebecca was used to hearing.

"I dunno, Liz, you sure this is your friend? You said she was cute, but... The pictures you showed me were definitely cuter than this girl." V teased, elbowing Lizzy and squeezing a weak chuckle out of the girl.

"V! There were filters! And the real Rebecca is more hot than cute!" Lizzy stated, straightening her previously slightly hunched back to give off a more confident aura.

Rebecca felt a small heat rise to her cheeks, happy to hear that from her best friend. "Okay, ladies, let's get the 'you're hot, no you're hot!'s out quickly because we all know everyone in this room is hot A. F."

Lizzy smiled as V let out a snarky chuckle.

"Let's start Girls Night, alright?"

Chapter Text

"What do you guys wanna do first? We could watch movies, play games, gossip..." Rebecca moved over to the other side of her bed, grabbing onto the railing they had installed and lurching herself over and onto the soft sheets.

Lizzy kicked off her shoes and sat on the bed, scooting towards the middle as V followed suit. "Games sound fun for right now." Lizzy suggested.

V hummed, "What game?"

Rebecca thought for a moment. "Um... We could play two truths and a lie, truth or dare, never have I ever, and if we really wanted, we could go back to our roots and play things like telephone, not sure how that'd work with three players, thumb war, hangman, snakes and ladders, and I've got some cards if we wanna try Go Fish or War or anything like that."

V was staring at her phone, suddenly smirking as she said, "Seven Minutes In Heaven's an option, too."

Lizzy's jaw dropped. Rebecca seemed uphased, "We only have the three of us, but I guess that could work."

"B-B-But- wait-"

Rebecca and V took notice of their friend's flustered state.

Rebecca tilted her head, "What's wrong?"

Lizzy tried to play it off, "Are- Are we sure we wanna play that? Wouldn't it be more fun at a party..?"

"Lizzy, what do you think Seven Minutes In Heaven's about?" V asked, a playfully evil grin on her synthetic lips.

Lizzy looked at V, stuttering and losing her 'play it cook's composure, "I-I-"

V snickered, "Have you been-"

She glanced at Rebecca, who was clueless as the to mistake V almost made.

"... Have you been reading fanfiction something?"

Lizzy gasped dramatically, catching on to the fact that the game probably wasn't just about going in a closet and making out with someone. "How dare you insinuate I would ever partake in loser activities!?"

Rebecca, not quite understanding why V brought up fanfiction or why Lizzy called that a loser activity, just laughed along before joining in, "Guess someone thought she was about to have to come out of the closet and confirm everyone's suspicions!"

"Shut up, I'm not gay!"

"Never said you were!"

"Yeah, lesbo."

"AAAAUGGHH-"

Lizzy had to be honest. She felt a lot better after just goofing off with two of her best friends. There was still the looming guilt after what she said to Thad, though...

"Never have I ever... Unironically worn a terrible outfit." Rebecca chirped, smiling as she leaned back as if she were crossing her legs.

"Oh, come on!" Lizzy sighed, raising her hand, "It was fifth grade, of course I thought neon rainbow pants and regular purple shoes with green polka dot socks was peak fashion!"

"I know. I just love reminding you of it."

"Oh, Lizzy, im gonna kiss you in that closet!"

Lizzy's screen inverted, her eyes and the hash lines black while the rest was pink. She pushed V's face away as she laughed, "Stop it! I've only ever heard people talk about kissing in that game, so I just assumed..."

"That you'd get to kiss us!"

"STOP!"

"You're so gay."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"Guys, the game."

"Oh, right." V finally ceased her teasing and looked at Rebecca. "We've been at Never Have I Ever forEVER. Can we do two truths and a lie now?"

"I don't see why not." Rebecca shrugged, "Who's going first?"

"I'll go since it was my idea," V thought for a minute, "I sleep upside down from the ceiling even though I have a bed, I sometimes still get the urge to kill, and... I've never eaten a baby drone."

"Obviously the second one is true." Lizzy chuckled softly, messing with her hair.

"Is the lie the first one?" Rebecca tilted her head. V snickered.

"It'll be hard to believe, but no. I've really never eaten a baby. I've killed some, but never ate." V smiled, smugness painting her features more clearly than the fun she was having.

"Damn, that was a good one." Lizzy smiled, "Alright, my turn,"

She cleared her throat, what would she say..?

"I'll make this easy. I have blonde hair, pink eyes, and I'm gay." Lizzy felt she had won.

"Wow. So what's your actual hair color?"

Lizzy glared at V, "My hair is blonde. That's a truthful statement."

V smirked, "So are your eyes salmon and not pink?"

"No! They're pink! That was true too!" Lizzy growled.

"Girl, it's two truths and one lie. Not three and none." V ruffled Lizzy's hair, making her huff in irritation.

"No! I'm not gay! The gay one was the lie!" Lizzy face planted into the bed, embarrassed.

"Okay, Lezzy." V laughed.

Lizzy groaned, her face still buried in the covers.

"Alright, Rebecca. Your turn." V looked at the blue haired girl.

"Okay! Um, I've never had a crush on a girl, I've gone to twelve parties in my time in highschool, and my favorite color is blue."

"Is it the party one?" Lizzy adjusted her head to Rebecca could hear. To her surprise, Rebecca shook her head.

"I got it," V snapped her fingers, "It's the crush one. You're both gay!"

Rebecca rolled her eyes playfully, "Not gay, but I've had a crush on my fair share of women."

"You never told me about this!" Lizzy sat up, suddenly interested. "Who was it?"

"Eh, I don't remember, it was way back, I just remember she had brown hair." Rebecca waved the question away, flapping her hand like she was shooing the smell of something away.

"My turn! My kill count is 565,000, I once ate one of those bug bots, and I'm a damn fine combatant." V's tail lightly swished as she started the next round.

"Obviously you have a crazy high kill count. You're lying about the bug." Lizzy laughed.

Wait.

How could she seriously be having fun when she basically told Thad to drink till he dropped? She just... Oh, god, what if he really did? What if... No. Thad's strong. He knows she didn't mean it, right? He may have hosted shindigs here and there but he never once allowed gasoline-

Oh, shit, the shindigs.

"Lizzy!" Rebecca called to her. "Hey, when did you zone out? It's your turn!"

"Oh! Um, was I right with V's?" Lizzy asked, snapping out of her daze.

"Nope! Gross, right?" Rebecca giggled.

"My kill count is only around 3,000! This planet would have been CRAZY crowded if there were more than 560,000 of you workers!" V was sitting criss-cross now, leaning forward on her hands. "Apparently, Rebecca here used to be a common gasoline thief."

Rebecca huffed, "Not anymore. I couldn't steal it, even if I wanted to. Not without any legs, anyways."

Lizzy chuckled, remembering the time Rebecca snuck a pint of gasoline into one of Thad's small parties to share with some of her friends, Lizzy included.

"Okay... Well," Lizzy thought for a second.

"I can't choose whether I like cats or rabbits more, I stole an entire bottle of gasoline after school today, and I have long since forgotten how to do long division." Lizzy smiled, waiting for Rebecca or V to say something.

They didn't. They just stared at her.

"Lizzy, I... I don't think you should be stealing or drinking gasoline in your condition..." Rebecca spoke hesitantly.

"But you don't know if that's the lie or not."

"It's not, you're really good at long division and you can't choose between cats and rabbits, ever. You always end up with both," V chimed in, looking at Lizzy, eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't have it anymore!" Lizzy raised her hands defensively. "Promise!"

Please believe her please please please just don't worry about her she doesn't need to be worried about she really doesn't just please believe her-

"Lizzy." V's voice rang through the girl's ears, "What's Rebecca talking about, anyways? Why would you not be in a 'condition' to drink gasoline?"

Lizzy gulped nervously, "Nothing... She's just... Worried for no reason..."

"Lizzy, please, cut the crap." Rebecca sighed, "We know something's up with you!"

"Yeah... You can tell us." V's eyes softened as she put a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

Lizzy was silent, her hands clasped as she shifted uncomfortably under the gazes of her two closest friends.

"I... I don't wanna... Talk about it... Kay?"

Rebecca and V looked at each other, then they sighed.

"Okay." Rebecca replied.

"But we're here if you change your mind." V smiled at Lizzy.

Lizzy nodded.

She didn't deserve them.

But it was nice to have them.

"Bye, Mom!" Rebecca called out.

Thud-uhnk.

"She's gone. We can be as loud as we want, now!" Rebecca smiled excitedly. "Movie time?"

V nodded, "Oh, hell yeah! Horror movies!"

Lizzy smiled as they all got cozy under Rebecca's covers. She had a big enough bed, so there was no worry for someone falling off. It was more so of whoever ended up in the middle.

Lizzy took that role. Originally, she was going to be on the left because Rebecca's only way to get on and off her bed was on the right, but V made her scoot over. So here she was.

"I say we watch Florida Powerline Genocide!" V suggested, sinister sparkles in her eyes.

"No way, we have to ease into the horror mood!" Rebecca refuted, "Let's start with something normal, like... Pretties? It says it's about a dystopian future where there are three groups, The Waiting, The City, and The Smog and there's-"

"Ugh, fine! It at least sounds somewhat sinister..." V huffed, crossing her arms.

"Okay!"

The movie took a few seconds to load on the T.V., and when it began, Lizzy was about to ask V to turn the lamp off, but V did it before she could.

She found it hard to focus on the movie.

Firstly, she was sandwiched between V and Rebecca. Now, it had nothing to do with the fact they were hot, or anything, all of them were, duh. It was because the distance between the three of them slowly grew smaller as the movie went on and the mood grew tense.

For V and Rebecca, anyway. Lizzy had no idea what was going on.

Then there was Thad...

Oh god.

She felt horrible. She felt like she was the scum of Copper-9. Actually, she didn't just feel it. She knew it. She was the scum of Copper-9.

Maybe she should go outside and let that J girl kill her or something.

...

What is she saying? She can't be seriously thinking about THAT. Not when she's with her two cru— besties!

They make her feel a lot better about herself.

A lot.

Not that she should.

Not that she deserves to.

Who knows? She might ruin their lives somehow, too.

If she did, she'd never forgive herself.

She already can't after possibly ruining Thad's life.

 She was horrible.

"... Lizzy..? What's wrong?" The movie paused as Rebecca spoke.

"Huh..? Nothing, I told you already..." There was a new quiver to Lizzy's voice. One she hadn't expected.

"Liz, this isn't nothing." Rebecca put her hand on Lizzy's, "You're crying."

Lizzy pulled her knees to her chest, dragging the blanket with them. She tugged her hand away from Rebecca's, hugging herself as she blinked, relinquishing the first tears she noticed from their position.

"I just... It's just hard right now. I don't wanna go into detail." Lizzy's voice cracked.

She felt Rebecca start off with a side hug, turning it into a full, tight squeeze when Lizzy's body shuddered with a silent sob. V leaned in, resting her cheek on Lizzy's head, wrapping her own arms around the girl, not saying a word.

In fact, neither spoke as Lizzy just cried.

She cried.

And cried.

And cried.

She cried until her sobbing ceased and had lessened to sniffles.

It was another one of those few and usually far between moments...

She liked how everything felt...

Magnetic...

Chapter Text

Someone was running towards her, waving their arms around.

Blue hair... Pink stripe...

Rebecca.

She was in a field. Rebecca was surrounded by trees. Many trees. But they weren't pine. They were... She couldn't quite say... It was on the tip of her tongue... Despite the frustration of not knowing a simple tree name, she felt at peace just by watching and admiring the way the long, purple vines swayed in a mesmerizing dance to the song of the wind.

There was a lack of the usual, fluffy white snow that littered the ground, typically accompanied by drone corpses. Instead, there was long, vibrant strands of green. Flowers littered the lush grass, greeting her jubilantly. Tulips, lilies, orchids... And many many more, each one more beautiful than the last.

Rebecca was finally there in front of her, holding out a hand. She hesitated, but reached out and took it anyways. Rebecca sped off with her in tow, laughing.

V walked out of some bushes a little ways ahead, smiling at the two. She flew off and landed where Rebecca had been pulling her all this time. V beckoned them both with her tail as the moon above made her red dress shimmer.

Rebecca was pulling her to a clearing surrounded by tall trees. The branches reached out, almost as if they'd break through the atmosphere and touch the stars. The ponds full of lotuses, she recognized those, added a strangely gentle pop of color to the greenery. Everyone she knew was there. Everyone. Even the people she hated furiously, whom she no longer felt so much anger towards.

They were there.

And they all had inviting smiles.

But she doesn't like those trees.

The shadows they cast could be hiding anything.

She pulled her hand away from Rebecca, turning back to the trees with those thick trunks, the red speckles— they might have been a tiny flower or berries— and the hundreds of spindly branches. The way they more resembled pines made them familiarly comfortable. She didn't like them, though. They weren't the pines she was familiar with. Even so...

She felt she belonged there.

Some flowers brought a nice charm to it. Little clusters of... What were these ones called..? It doesn't matter. The vibrant oranges and the way they kinda looked like birds from far away... They had to be good. There was a huge patch of them for her to lay on once she'd gone far enough in.

The trees were closely packed now. Too closely. Were they supposed to cut out the moonlight?

Well, it's how nature chose to run it's course, so probably.

There's a large patch of those pretty, bird-looking flowers for her to lie in once she's gone far enough.

Thorned vines and shrubbery wrapped meaninglessly around her legs, making her wince at the way the scratched against her feet, threatening to defy the laws of physics and poke holes in her body, but she trudged on. It was hard to breathe with how she had to turn her body to squeeze between them.

She was sweating. The trees trapped the heat radiating off her body as her fans worked in overdrive, but to no avail as they only blew the same hot air through her mechanisms. She was exhausted, but she had to keep going It would get better soon. It had to.

Even if it didn't, it's fine. Besides,

There's a large patch of those flowers for her to lie in once she's gone far enough.

And she has. She's made it. The trees dispersed, and she could breathe again. She felt her body cool off as a sparkling ray of moonlight created a circle, landing on a patch of those gorgeous flowers for her to rest on, to be held snugly in the middle.

She did it.

She stepped towards them, her eyes sparkling with wonder.

Her feet, scratched, the paint peeling off, landed one in front of the other as she approached her resting place.

Hey.

Where'd they go? Why was it so dark now?

She turned around to walk back the way she came.

But there was nothing for her.

...

Lizzy opened her eyes.

What the fuck kinda dream was that?

Lizzy stared at the [SLEEP MODE] in front of her, not registering it's blue color, or the fact it wasn't hers for a few seconds.

...

Lizzy's gasped softly, eyes widening slightly. Once her gaze softened again, she smiled. Did she fall asleep? Rebecca could've absolutely made her a makeshift bed on the floor or drop her on the couch, but she instead chose to let her sleep in her bed even though she was a crying mess the night before.

Best to give Rebecca her space.

She rolled over, only to be greeted with a yellow version of the same thing.

So they were both here.

Lizzy rolled onto her back.

She barely remembered the events the previous night after she started to cry...

God. She cried in front of them. Now they know there's something to worry about. They shouldn't! They should stop worrying about her.

Lizzy sat up, her sensors fuzzy, like they were still rebooting. She slowly slipped out from under the covers, standing on the bed and walking over V and to the edge, stepping down. The springs creaked as Lizzy's foot hit the floor, making her hope she didn't wake either of her best friends.

She walked out of the bedroom and to the kitchen. She was starving.

Lizzy opened the fridge, her eyes glazing over the stark contrast to the food she and Thad had.

She didn't need much, though.

Lizzy grabbed two batteries, popping them in her mouth. She oughta get some for Thad, too. She took four more. Actually, five.

She returned to Rebecca's room and put the batteries in a small side pocket of her bag. The zipper was loud. It almost felt like it was going to wake the whole colony up.

But it didn't even wake V or Rebecca.

"Liz..?"

Nevermind.

Rebecca sat up, rubbing her eyes, "Oh, wow, we all must've fallen asleep last night, haha..."

"Apparently someone tucked us in, too." Lizzy laughed softly. Rebecca chuckled sleepily.

"Yeah... Are you about to leave?" Rebecca tilted her head. Lizzy hesitated and nodded.

"I gotta get back. I didn't tell Thad I'd be staying the night last night. He's probably worried sick..." Lizzy picked up her bag.

"Oh, don't worry. V texted him for you on her phone. Thad said he'd tell your guy's dad." Rebecca smiled.

Lizzy, ignoring the mention of their father, looked at the sleeping Disassembly Drone on the bed, with a her-sized gap between her and the Blue-eyed girl.

"In that case, I can wait for her to wake up before going back." Lizzy set her bag back down, walking over to Rebecca's side of the bed and sitting down, the cushiony surface sinking under her weight.

"Cool. It'd suck to see you go so soon." Rebecca leaned to grab a hairbrush from off her bedside table, quickly straightening out her messy bedhead.

"Y'know, you'd be kinda cute with slightly messy hair." Lizzy pointed out, rocking back and forth lightly.

"What happened to 'the real Rebecca is hot, not cute?'" Rebecca snickered. She gestured for Lizzy to turn her back to her.

"You can be hot and cute." Lizzy turned to the TV in Rebecca's room, feeling the ribbon in her hair come undone and her hair be released.

There was a prominent wave in her hair where the ribbon had been, almost as if she hadn't taken it out in almost a week. Rebecca started brushing Lizzy's hair, "Your hair is really soft. I wish you'd take care of it like you used to..."

"Yeah..." Lizzy sighed. She just let Rebecca brush the knots and tangles in her hair until the brush glided between the golden strands with no resistance.

"... I'm sorry."

Rebecca blinked, "For what?"

Lizzy frowned, "I ruined girl's night with my crying..." Rebecca turned her to look at her.

"Don't say that, Liz." Rebecca squeezed her shoulder, "You're my best friend, okay? You can cry your eyes out on my shoulder at my birthday party and I'd drop everything to comfort you!"

"Ha, no, you wouldn't," Lizzy chuckled weakly, "I mean, you're a sweetheart, so you'd be concerned, but you'd be pretty upset if it was at your birthday party."

Rebecca pursed her lips, starting to lean in, her arm wrapping around the blonde. She was slow and her touch was delicate on her arm, and Lizzy couldn't help but wonder why Rebecca was so gentle at that moment. There was no reason for this simple moment between friends to feel so intimate...

Rebecca hugged Lizzy, squeezing briefly, "Maybe I'd be upset, yeah, but I could set that aside for a bit to help you with what you're going through..."

Lizzy was surprised, but soon smiled gently as she hugged Rebecca back. She seemed to care so deeply. It was a genuine, platonic love.

It was nice.

"Are you two making out?~"

Lizzy's visor grew little pink hashes as she turned to see V.

"Nope. We were hugging." Rebecca broke the hug, looking at V, who had just woken up a minute ago.

"Sure, like I believe Lizzy the Lesbian wasn't making out with a fellow woman-liking woman." V laughed, crawling over.

"You sure you're not projecting?" Rebecca giggled, raising an eyebrow at V. She rolled her eyes, scoffing. V then faced Lizzy, looking her up and down, her expression almost analytic.

Did she see something? Was there something on her face? Oh, robo-god, could Disassembly drones see things workers can't? Like the remnants of what Lizzy could've sworn she'd completely hidden from every—

"Damn, Liz, you look good with your hair down."

Lizzy's processors calmed as she smiled, "Thanks."

The compliment had felt so genuine, so sincere... Maybe Lizzy should wear her hair down more often.

"Want me to brush your hair?" Rebecca held up her hair brush, smiling as she offered.

V chuckled, turning her back to Rebecca, "Alright, Miss Hair stylist, work your magic."

"Okay, Madame Murder," Rebecca's tone was playful, "I oughta brush your hair till it falls off! Where are your manners? No one tell about the words 'please' and 'thank you?'"

"Work your magic, puh-leeeaaaaasse?"

A few seconds passed and Rebecca started to giggle. V let out a few chuckles with her.

Lizzy smiled as the rhythmic sound of a hair brush detangling knotted hair became the only thing that filled her auditory receptors. The two girls clearly liked each other- well, not like-like, but they liked each other nonetheless. Not as much as Lizzy had been hoping when she asked to bring V, but it was something.

She watched for a few seconds, unaware of the little hashes on her cheeks.

"Well, I oughta get going, huh?" Lizzy got off the bed, walking over to grab her bag again.

"So soon?" V asked, raising an eyebrow, "I just woke up a minute ago, I've barely seen you this past week."

"I shouldn't keep Thad waiting." She explained, already walking to the door.

"Alright. See ya soon." V smiled. Rebecca paused her brushing of V's hair.

"Okay, girl, bye-bye! See you at school!"

Lizzy waved and left Rebecca's room, wasting no time getting to the front door and out of Rebecca's house.

She continued trekking through the hallway, squinting at the lights above her. They felt brighter than usual... Too bright. She averted her gaze to the floor, yet it didn't help much.

She just needed to go home.

Home.

Go.

Home.

Not there. The memories don't matter anymore.

And yet she still found herself at his doorstep.

She just stared at the door that stood between her and where she grew up. Where almost everything she knew and loved had come from.

And he just ripped that away from her. From them.

That man was her father... She wouldn't exist without him.

Maybe that's why she can't bring herself to hate him, after all.

...

Best get going.

Thad is probably worried sick.

She opened the door to the classroom, her eyes landing on her brother in his bed.

She was home back.

"Thad. I'm back from Rebecca's house."

He didn't stir. Usually, she would have been worried, but the gentle whirring of his fans as he slept eased those worries before they began.

She walked over to her bed. So... Sundays, huh? Another meaningless day of another meaningless week of a meaningless month of a less than meaningless year.

Lizzy sat down, unpacking her things. She took out the batteries she took and leaned over to Thad, setting them down next to him. He needed the food. Even as tempting as it was to eat the batteries, she knew Thad needed it more.

Lizzy flopped onto her back, wincing as the back of her head hit the bottle of gasoline under her pillow. She sighed, reaching under it and pulling it out before passing it to her other hand and rolling it across the room-

Wait, why the hell is it empty?

Chapter Text

Uzi hummed, tapping her fingers on her desk.

"You haven't thought a word, nor spoken. What is making you so irritable?" Cyn spoke up, interrupting Uzi's train of thought, or lack thereof.

"I... Ugh. I have to apologize to Rebecca for the whole murder thing, right? And Lizzy, because I kinda killed all her friends..." Uzi mumbled, resting her head on her arms. Cyn chuckled.

"There are many easy solutions to these problems. Apologize, apologize, and visit." Cyn looked away triumphantly, "I would have thought you would have known those, too."

"Easy for you to say! Rebecca has a panic attack at the sight of me, Lizzy would probably kill me if I don't sound sincere enough, and N is probably avoiding me for a reason!" Uzi huffed, leaning back in her chair.

"Mm. I can see how those would pose... Problematic." Cyn looked back at Uzi. "I cannot think of anything to deal with those issues other than to wait."

"I don't want to wait! I did something bad and I have to apologize, I want to apologize as soon as I can!" Uzi leaned further back, making her chair fall back and onto her bedroom floor.

"They deserve the apology." Her voice had weakened significantly, guilt coloring her face.

Cyn laid her head next to Uzi's.

"Sometimes there's not much anyone can do."

"Okay, you sapfests."

Uzi turned her head, seeing V poking her head out of the vent. She crawled out, clinging to the ceiling, "If you're so apologetic, why haven't you tried saying sorry? And don't say you can't. Trying is a lot different than doing nothing at all."

She dropped down, her hands on her hips as she looked the goth on the floor. Uzi scrambled to her feet, clenching her fists, "I have tried! I tried apologizing to Rebecca, and I keep calling and texting and face timing N!"

"And for Lizzy?"

"She's so aggressive to me, I can't get a word in before she starts attacking or yelling..." Uzi crossed her arms. V scoffed.

"Have you tried starting your conversation with 'I want to apologize'?" V crossed her arms too, raising an eyebrow.

Uzi's arms dropped, "Oh..."

"Yeah. And for Rebecca..." V looked away, deep in thought.

Uzi studied V's face. What was she thinking about? Uzi could have sworn she saw the slightest bit of concern on V's face. She took note of how V's tail started to weaken from its relaxed offensive position.

"Best you stay away from her." V sighed, pursing her synthetic lips as she looked back at Uzi.

"Stay away?" Uzi sputtered, annoyed at the suggestion, "I wanna apologize for, like, disabling her! I can't do that if I'm avoiding her!"

V sighed, "Well, if you're so keen on apologizing... You might wanna write her a letter." she continued, "That way, you can say what you wanna say and not have to worry about her having flashbacks before you've even gotten within earshot of her."

"How would I deliver it?" The goth crossed her arms.

V smiled, "I was actually just at her house. I could deliver it for you."

"You're being weirdly nice. What do you want?" Uzi narrowed her eyes at the Disassembly Drone.

"I'm not allowed to be nice and not want something in return?" V asked sarcastically, snickering.

"No, obviously you're allowed, i don't make that call, you do, but you aren't usually so...." Uzi glared, "... Friendly."

"So what?"

Uzi was silent for a moment longer before opening her mouth to speak, "Alright. Fine. Don't expect any favors because you helped me out, though."

V shrugged.

"... Wait, why are you even here?" Uzi pointed out and tilted her head.

"I was adding to my ventilation system map. Now I've got the path from Rebecca's rooms to yours down." V pulled out a pen, twirling it briefly.

And, of course, it was branded.

"You use maps?" Uzi picked up her gaming chair, setting it upright.

"Yeah. What, you think I can memorize the entire ventilation shaft? No way!" V laughed, making Uzi roll her eyes as she sat down in her chair.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Uzi huffed, crossing her arms, "But a letter? I literally murdered this girl, scarred her for life! Mentally and physically! There's no coming back from that!""

V growled, "It's not about 'coming back' from it, it's about making it known you regret your actions!" She looked at Uzi, almost condescendingly with irritation. "You shouldn't expect to be forgiven. Best you can do and not seem like an ass for it is hope to be forgiven, and even then, Rebecca might do some hoping of her own for you to never even look in her general direct ever again!"

Uzi looked down ashamedly, "I wasn't expecting or hoping to be forgiven..." Though she really wanted to hear an 'I forgive you' from Rebecca, she knew it wasn't likely. The least she could do is apologize somehow...

V's harsh gaze softened at the guilty look on Uzi's face, "... Okay. Sorry for bein' rude about it. I just kinda assumed that's what you meant by 'coming back' from it."

Uzi looked up at V, "Hey, um, before you go, how's N? You live with him... So... I was wondering..."

"He's okay. He's just nervous about seeing you again because he's... A really good friend." V smiled reassuringly at her. Uzi smiled back.

"Okay... Thanks."

V took off to the vents once more, the thudding and clattering and screeching of metal on metal fading as she grew further and eased back into the motions of smooth vent crawling.

Uzi wasn't fully sure what V meant, but that didn't matter now. She had confirmation that N was okay and wasn't mad at her or anything.

"And you have that letter to write."

Uzi looked at Cyn, surprised.

"You were silent for so long, I forgot you were even here." Uzi spun her chair around, using her solver to bring over a piece of paper and her favorite pen.

"Hehe."

Uzi tapped her pen, clicking it a few times before tossing it to the side. It took so long her mom and dad had both checked on her because it was so quiet and she hadn't left her room in a while, but she finally felt it was worded just right.

She folded it up, her eyes grazing over the most important words:

You probably won't forgive me, but I just wanted you to know I'm so so sorry

She sighed, scouring her room for an envelope. Upon finding no success that way, she walked to the vent, climbing on a shelf, clambering to the top. The height made her knees weak as she slowly opened the vent.

Uzi reached in to place it inside, but Cyn snatched it, catching her off guard.

"OH- WHAAA!"

Uzi lost her balance and fell backwards, crashing into her bedroom floor and leaving her briefly dazed. She sat up and growled, glaring at Cyn, "What the hell!?"

"You did not put it in an envelope." Cyn stared, huffing. Uzi rolled her eyes.

"It doesn't need to be in an envelope!" Uzi protested, snapping at Cyn.

"It makes it seem messy. Put it in an envelope!" Cyn demand.

"No way! I want this letter delivered as soon as possible! Why would I waste time on finding an envelope?" She stood up, dusting herself off.

"Chomp."

"AUGH! OW! STOP IT, YOU JERK!" Uzi violently shook her hand, yelling in pain as Cyn bit her. After a few seconds, Cyn finally let go. She watched as the little punctures in her hand melded back together.

Uzi furrowed her eyebrows. She needed to bring that regeneration to a crawl. Who knows what could happen if...

"You worry too much." Cyn butt her head into Uzi's side, knocking some wind out of the girl. Uzi grumbled, grabbing Cyn tightly.

"Would you stop attacking me?" Uzi snapped. Cyn wormed free and did a motion that indicated an eye roll.

"Just go get an envelope! It's really not that hard." Cyn huffed.

Uzi scoffed before walking out of her room, searching for her parents. She heard muffled speaking from the kitchen, so she hurried over to find her mother speaking with what looked like a... Well, Uzi didn't know. No one wore uniforms.

"Yeah, so the sooner you guys could get that done with, the better." Nori was standing on th counter, next to the sink, tapping a claw on the stainless steel sink.

"Okay. We can start cutting it off next week. Anyways, it's my break time. Bye."

Uzi watched the man simply walk out of the kitchen and in the direction of their front door. She walked over to her mother, "Who was that?"

"A guy. He's gonna cut off the water for us. Can you believe there's still unfrozen drinking water on this planet?" Nori scoffed, glaring intensely at the faucet. Uzi chuckled lightly.

"Nah. It's like they want us to die." Uzi rolled her eyes. She grunted feeling Cyn nudge her arm.

"Yeah... Anyways, did you need something?" Nori turned her attention to her daughter.

"Oh, uh... Yeah..." Uzi held up her letter, hesitating, "Um... So, like... Cyn won't stop pestering me to use an envelope... And I have this letter I wrote because... There's this Rebecca girl I need to apologize to because... I uh... Kil-"

"Killed her and she's alive again and now she has serious PTSD?" Nori finished her daughter's sentence, "Yeah, happens all the time. And as much as I hate her, Cyn is right. An envelope will help it seem more sincere." She jumped the gap between the counter and the island, jumping down and skittering her way to the bedroom she shared with Khan. 

Uzi followed her mother, stopping at the door, "So, like, do you-"

"Yeah, a whole stash. I'll grab you one." Nori opened the door, "Wait here, okay?"

Uzi nodded. The door was left open as her mother scurried to the closet and rustling was all that was heard. Uzi looked around the home she already knew, waiting for her mother to come back.

Uzi's eyes landed on Cyn. Cyn's voice was the same, but for some reason, Uzi felt like there was something off with it. Every now and then, it didn't seem very... Robotic anymore. Like Cyn was actually expressing emotion without stating what emotion it was. It made Uzi increasingly intrigued, but-

"Alright, here ya go."

Uzi took the envelope her mother gave her, "Oh, thanks, mom."

"You're welcome." Nori watched as Uzi hurried off back to her room.

Uzi closed her door, slipping the letter inside the envelope. She let Cyn lick the glue and close it as she climbed her shelf again, slapping the letter in the vent and closing it. She jumped down and got out her phone, opening her contacts and going to Mean Cat Lady🐾😺, typing out a message:

'Da lettr is done. Left it in tha vent.'

Chapter Text

Uzi had looked everywhere for the blonde girl outside of school hours, but she wasn't even at her own house, (Uzi had found it by accident, but still.) in which Lizzy's father seemed rather annoyed at the inquiry about her presence.

"I've seen her, yeah. No clue where's she's gone though."

That certainly didn't sound like a father who tried to care, but that wasn't Uzi's concern at the time.

Now, it was at school. Uzi had a feeling she would catch Lizzy skipping one of her classes. Though her mother and father wouldn't be too happy to hear she was marked absent for all of her classes if she didn't find Lizzy that day, the grounding would probably be worth it in the end, as long as she got to apologize.

First period ended, the bell ringing loudly. Lizzy was no where to be seen.

Uzi left the classroom with all her stuff in tow, silencing Cyn by feeding her a pencil, and hurried to a bathroom, hunkering down until the halls quieted and the bell rang once more. It'd be what felt like a while, but it's fine.

She thought about what she'd say. What would she say? 'Hey, Lizzy! Sorry about murdering all your friends, but I couldn't really control myself, ahaha!' No frickin' way!

She'd probably just have to wing it when she finds Lizzy and hope it goes well.

RIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGG!

"Okay." The bell had interrupted her train of thought, "Now to walk around the school and hope we find her." Uzi spoke breathlessly. Cyn was still chewing on the pencil.

She rolled her eyes as she ran out of the bathroom, her sneakers squeaking against the floor. Uzi slowed, listening for any indicators of Lizzy's presence nearby.

"Cyn, lemme know if you hear anything like last time." Uzi asked the Eldritch-being-turned..... Thing. Cyn let out a 'Mm.'

She sighed, walking down the hallway she had last seen Lizzy. Checking the bathroom, she found nothing but some tiny glass shards— she almost missed them— accompanied by a few drops of oil from their fight in there. Apparently no one had bothered to clean it up.

"It reeks of b—i— fight in here." Cyn said, adding a 'hehe' to the end. Uzi rolled her eyes.

"Enough with that! I'm going to apologize to Lizzy, and- y'know what? So are you! You bit her!" Uzi spat, whacking Cyn again.

"Ack-"

Uzi tensed and paused, raising an eyebrow at the unfamiliar sound from Cyn's voice. She was about to say something when—

"You meanie!"

Pause.

"Angry."

Uzi relaxed, but kept her suspicious in the air. Whatever was going on with Cyn's voice and speech patterns didn't matter. Finding Lizzy did.

Finally. Skipping Uzi's favorite class sucked but she found Lizzy.

"What are you doing here?" Lizzy spat, "Was our fight not enough!? You just wanna antagonize me or something? Fuck off!"

Uzi shook her head, "No, Lizzy, I- well, we-"

"Ohhh, I get it, you got help so you could finish me off like you failed to do so at camp!" The blonde interrupted Uzi. She took note of the pink tears forming in the corner of her hollowed out eyes.

"No, Lizzy! I just-"

"Just leave me-"

"-wanted to-"

"-ALONE!"

"APOLOGIZE!"

Lizzy lost her aggressive stance, seeming shocked beyond ever believing what happened for the rest of the day.

"... Apologize..?" Lizzy repeated, questioning what she heard from the goth. Uzi nodded.

"For the whole murder thing...? I killed, like, everyone you cared about aside from Thad and your dad..." Uzi looked at the floor, missing the brief look of heartache on Lizzy's face upon the mention of her family.

"I'm... Really sorry. I wasn't in control of myself or anything... And... And I also tried to kill you while like that so... Like." Uzi inhaled deeply, looking Lizzy in the eyes.

"I'm sorry."

A few seconds of silence passed.

"... A-And you don't have to forgive me or anything, I get it if you dont." Uzi quickly added, getting worried Lizzy may have mistaken the silence for waiting.

More silence.

"And Cyn is sorry too for biting you."

"No, I am not!"

"Shut up, yes you are!"

Another whack on the head for Cyn got her to hold her tongue and grumble.

"Anyways... um... I'm gonna go. Again, I'm, like, super sorry..." Uzi started to shuffle away before hurrying.

As Uzi ran off to hide until her next class, Lizzy was left dumbfounded.

Chapter Text

"Done and delivered." V landed in front of Uzi, dropping from the vent above. Uzi squeaked, earning a chuckle from V.

"Oh! Um, thanks... When did you come to get it?" Uzi tilted her head in curiosity. V shrugged.

"I dunno, probably when you were at school. I put it on Rebecca's pillow so she's guaranteed to see it." V smiled. Uzi returned the gesture.

"Okay. Good..." Uzi sighed, "I just hope that... Maybe it lightens things a bit? So she doesn't have panic attacks almost daily because of me just... Existing."

V nodded, "Well, I'll be on my way now. See ya." She turned and prepared to return to the ventilation shaft.

"Wait! Maybe I could go with you?" Uzi looked hopeful as she suggested the idea.

"To Lizzy's?" V raised an eyebrow.

"Ah- No... I uh... I meant back to you and N's place." She looked away, embarrassed. V chuckled.

"I don't think he'd mind a visit." V jumped up into the vent, scurrying away. Uzi watched her tail disappear into the darkness before sighing.

"Alright." She resumed walking, diverting her path from its original destination. She hummed as her shoes clanked softly against the metal grates on the floor, gently adding a beat to the creaks of the rusty fans above her and the whirrs of her system.

"About time you made a visit to Big Brother N, yes?" Cyn chimed, a smile in her robotic tone.

Uzi narrowed her eyes at Cyn suspiciously.

"Uh... Uzi?"

She ignored the murder child and kept walking.

"It is rude to ignore people!"

She rolled her eyes.

"Humph."

Uzi walked up to the door of N and V's shared place. She knocked a few times and waited. She sighed.

Wow, she's sighing a lot, huh?

"Yes. You are. Stop it." Cyn spoke up, "It is quite annoying."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, shut up, Miss Child Skinner!"

"Rude. I already told you, it was a—"

"Practical and stylistic choice," they said in unison, Cyn huffing naturally in irritance, "You've said that every time!" Uzi poked Cyn's nose. The once-drone bit her finger, but it was a lot lighter than normal.

"Hah, you're getting soft." Uzi easily threw Cyn off. Before Cyn could reply, the door opened and Uzi turned her head to the door-opener.

"Uzi!?"

Uzi's eyes met N's, seeing his shocked, and almost scared, one's. Her gaze snapped down to the ugly, black scar over his cheek and lips, the wound poorly sealed with five thick staples. Uzi gasped, her jaw dropping. Cyn, too, made a shocked gesture.

"N!? What the hell happened to you!? Is this why you've been avoiding me?" She stepped closer to her boyfriend, absolutely shocked.

N hesitated before sighing, his shoulders slumping and his arms falling to his sides, "Yeah..."

Uzi studied it. It was technically three scars, as if he had been struck by claws. The middle one was the worst. The left one— Uzi's left —had no staples at all because it was clearly a lighter scratch. The right was somewhere in the middle. Uzi furrowed her eyebrows, thinking. How could this have happened? What happened?

...

No 

Not what.

Who.

Uzi was fuming. She growled, "Oh, no she didn't..."

She was already imagining the silver-haired girl in the snow, crying out in pain as she was ripped to shreds, her stupid pigtails stained with her own oil. Cyn seemed upset too, as Uzi could hear the girl's thoughts of 'I should have decreased J's hostility' and 'If I could, I'd force J into seven hard reboots as punishment' and 'Jeez, Uzi, that's a bit far, don't you thi—' Hey, wait! Shut up, Cyn! Uzi thought.

"Uzi- Uzi, before you do anything drastic, please, let's think about this—" N tried to calm the goth girl down before her rage sent her into another spiral like her fear did at camp.

"I am so gonna kill her!" Uzi roared, her large, fleshy wings stretching out it's wingspan, reaching in all directions as if trying to ground her, but nothing was in reach but N.

"Uzi! No!" N grabbed her hand right as she turned to run off, effectively saving J of he could convince the enraged worker drone not to brutally murder his former squad mate.

She huffed, looking back and noting his panicked expression, "What? Why? She mistreated you for years, and now she's gone WAY too far. I'll try to be less demeaning with her death than when we first met..."

Try.

"Please, Uzi, she didn't mean to, I'm sure! I flew away after and she didn't give chase or anything!" N was speaking quickly, his grip tightening on Uzi's hand.

Uzi growled, "As if! To her, you're a living punching bag! I'm gonna kill her, and then we'll see who's a punching bag!" She tried to use her wings to launch her, but N's grip was too strong, which was surprising because of how gentle it felt.

N looked at her pleadingly, "Don't hurt her! Please..! I mean, I kinda went out at a bad time, she was already in a terrible mood when I went out there, ahaheheh..." He chuckled nervously, smiling to hopefully sell his point.

"Why are you defending her..? She's treated you terribly since before Cyn's psycho crazy planet-eating shenanigans!" Uzi furrowed her eyebrows, looking at N with worry and a hatred for J.

"Please, Uzi..?" N's voice had softened greatly, almost to a whimper. "Please! Don't hurt her..."

Uzi grit her teeth, contemplating her choices. Kill J got hurting N and make him sad OR let her live and possibly do it again.

She sighed, "Fine, but if she ever even looks at you the wrong way, she's getting turned into scrap metal."

N clearly disliked the response but was grateful she was gonna let J live... For now.

"Is this why you were avoiding me..?" Uzi asked, watching N pour the steel flavor-infused coolant into two teacups. "Because J messed your face up?"

N nodded guiltily, "I... Hid it from V at first, too, but she found out soon enough... I asked her not to tell you..."

Uzi frowned, "Screw that, you're my boyfriend! I should know if you're injured! You had me worried sick, N!"

"I know, I'm sorry..." N sighed. "I knew you'd wanna kill J for it, and I barely managed to convince V not to... But really, I don't think... She likes it out there. She got upset when I mentioned how lonely it was out there..."

"I just wish you hadn't... Hidden it from me." Uzi mumbled, her face a lot gentler than her previous, murdery expression outside.

"I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, N... You just wanted to protect her, but I don't get why you would. She's been nothing but terrible to you!" Uzi threw her arms out towards the coffee table.

"Well, I've known her for a long time. She's more than just a mean bully. She has feelings, Uzi. I just wanted... To offer her a chance at... Having positive ones. I plan to go back out, but... I wanna take someone with me this time." N looked at Uzi, his expression telling her everything.

Uzi frowned at the idea of going out to see J. N had already asked her before, but seeing that was what happened to N, maybe because no one went with him to keep J in check, made her reconsider.

"Okayyyyyy, fiiine, We'll go with you." Uzi groaned. Cyn, who had been respectfully keeping quiet this whole time, butt in.

"Uzi does not want to go, but she loooooo—" Cyn had an interestingly teasing tone, but it was interrupted by Uzi shutting her up via hard whack which was reciprocated with a bite.

Another strangely gentle one.

"Uzi! Cyn! What did I say? Stop hurting each other! You guys share a body now!" N put his hand on his hips. Uzi looked sheepishly to the side, as did Cyn, and both muttered apologies.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, "It's getting cold!" He grabbed his cup and dipped. Uzi chuckled, since it technically was never warm or even hot for that matter, but she grabbed hers and took a sip from it, indulging in N's little tea party.

Cyn nudged Uzi, getting an annoyed look from the goth.

"... Can has?"

"No."

"Pleeeaaaaassseeeeee?"

"... You gotta drink it from a straw." Uzi relented and gave a condition. Before she could even ask for one, N brought her a straw, it's size cut down to fit the small teacup.

"Yippee!" Cyn immediately tried to use the straw. It was slow due to a lack of lips, but she seemed happy anyways.

After a few minutes of sipping and drinking the coolant-tea in silence, N spoke up, a somber tone having visited his voice.

"Um... Cyn." He began, waiting for the yellow-eyed head to look in his direction, "I... I just wanted to... Ask... About... Cyn. I mean- my Cyn, my little buddy."

Cyn tilted her head downwards, humming.

"I know she's... Probably like, dead. And that there's almost no chance of her returning... But... All that stuff... That... That wasn't her... Was it? The- The massacre of humanity, the freaky stuff back in the mansion..." N rambled on with his question, coming to a stop with so much more to say.

Cyn released her little straw, Uzi watching her like a hawk.

"... She was corrupted by hatred. Her choices were fueled by her disdain for humans in response to the abuse and eventual drunkenness on power." Cyn continued after a brief pause, almost like she was gathering herself, "I'm- I am sorry, N."

N looked away, saddened by the answer.

"But," Cyn spoke louder, clearer, "I think if she were here now, she'd deeply regret her decisions. Especially the ones that hurt you."

N sighed, "Thanks... I... I don't know what I expected..."

Uzi scooted closer to N and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing. He smiled at Uzi.

"It's okay." Uzi smiled back, leaning on him.

They just kinda sat there for a few minutes. Uzi could sense some kind of... Longing from Cyn's mind? Whatever, it doesn't matter.

"So... When's a good time to visit J? Together..." N chirped, looking at Uzi excitedly. She chuckled at how quickly he cheered up, but she could still see some form of unhappiness in his eyes.

"How about two weeks from now? On a Saturday, I never have anything planned, usually, so that works."

"Got it!" N jumped up, his tail starting half-a-wag. "I'll get a gift basket ready! You should grab a gift or two for J as well!" He rushed to grab a basket, returning and placing it on the coffee table, already running to get things.

"N! It's in two weeks! We don't have to worry about it yet." Uzi laughed, a big dumb grin shining on her face. N grew flustered, stopping midstep and bringing his hands up to fiddle with his fingers.

"O-Oh. Right..." 

"Silly."

Cute.

Chapter Text

He felt like he was spinning, but he wasn't. It was the world, swirling and distorting. Everything was hazy and his body felt warm, like pre-overheat. He couldn't even stand straight, but did that really matter if he wasn't standing at all?

The gasoline sloshed and plunked against itself inside the mostly-empty bottle. After this, he'd have to figure out what to do with the other. He took a final swig just slightly too fast, accidentally letting it go straight into his ventilation system. Hacking and coughing, he managed to clear his fans of the amber liquid, but still, he coughed. He balled up his fist and lightly tapped against his chest, clearing his throat afterwards.

He brought the bottle to his lips and finished it off, preventing the liquid from dancing and making him crave more of this numbing sensation. Why did gasoline do this, anyways? Shouldn't it technically be an energy source rather than a substance for worker drones to get utterly black out drunk, let alone even tipsy? Ah, whatever. What does it matter? It's not his job to worry about that.

His job is to forget his feelings and make sure his sister is happy.

His face felt warmer all the sudden and everything was hard to tell apart. He didn't recognize his own hands and feet, yet he still knew they were his. They might as well have been covered with so much grime and dirt from what he's done, regardless of the fact it was all an accident.

His vision was blurry, so blurry. He didn't know why, but it didn't matter to him what damage he caused to himself. He just focused on the warmth rushing to his face, abandoning his core as it hummed loudly so he could ignore his feelings.

Oh, wait, he was crying, right? He's crying because he's pathetic. He's crying because he deserves what happened to him and he knows it.

Liz should be comfortably at home, on her phone and chatting loudly with her friends all night then waking up groggy the next morning and going to bed on time instead, just to repeat the cycle a million times over and have zero regrets. But instead, she has to sleep on a cold floor and pray Thad can afford the necessities.

He... Ugh, what was he gonna say..? His head was getting fuzzy...

Too fuzzy.

He hit himself in the head, hoping to knock his processors straight to clear his head, but it didn't work as well as he hoped. His mind cleared somewhat, but after attempting to take another swig and finding the bottle empty, the fuzziness returned. He sighed, standing up and letting the bottle clack lightly against his leg. He stumbled to the trashcan and dropped the bottle inside. Another whack to the head failed to clear his mind at all. Maybe a gunshot to the head could do that.

Oh, God, he needs to stop thinking like that, so negatively. He was doing his best.

Was he?

God...

The amber liquid used to slosh in it's glass casing, unaware it's next stop was that of a teenage boy's stomach. Now that it had been drained, the gasoline was more than aware of its fate, Thad had known from the moment he snagged it from the glass casing it was in back at that gasoline store.

His eyes wandered from the bottom of the trashcan, watching images of the restroom slide back and forth, leaving behind burning imprints that disoriented him further.

Maybe it was time to go back.

Standing, stumbling, muttering words even he didn't understand, he made his way towards the hall, forgetting what room he was even in to begin with despite the tiles screaming it at the top of its lungs.

He tripped right at the door, falling and leaning against it with a thump.

Lizzy wasn't home yet.

Home?

Hah.

This was hardly a home. This was his pathetic attempt at trying to make up for... Pissing off their dad so much he stopped not caring and hated them instead...

Why doesn't that make sense? It should. It should make so much sense.

...

I miss mom.

He fumbled with the door, tripping over his feet as he made his way to his makeshift bed of some if his clothes and a worn out stuffed honey badger.

Not like he deserves comfortable. What was keeping Lizzy? Her mental health was in the gutter, too... Oh god, what if—

He mumbled to himself incoherently, curling up as he thought about how he's let Lizzy down. He was supposed to be her brother. Not the person who ruins her life.

Was he a sloppy drunk? He wouldn't know.

He'd go with yes.

Thad groaned, his head pounding as he sat up, the lights far too bright for his eyes which were oh-so delicate at the moment. He could still taste it. It was a sharp, bitter tang. It left a residue in his mouth that wouldn't go away no matter what he did.

Maybe it was guilt, maybe it was the gasoline. He didn't care.

He liked the numbness it granted him once he had downed enough, the gasoline. God forbid he enjoyed being guilty of his and Lizzy's predicament. The splitting headaches were just the price to pay.

He knew he shouldn't have even had a lick of it, but he couldn't help it. After his first feeling of faux bliss from drinking till his processors slowed and could no longer comprehend the feelings he so desperately wanted to forget, he ignored the bitter taste. It'd bite him in the ass the following morning everytime, but oh well.

He took after Liz and stole two just two days ago now. It was risky, having no way to hide his identity aside from a few face masks and his hat, but he was successful, nonetheless.

12:34 PM.

He had missed most of school today.

It's... Fine. He can just get ready and catch the rest of the day, even if it's an unexcused tardy.

Throwing on some clothes, and tossing his 'dirty' ones to the side to get sanitized (as washing them was a death sentence thanks to needing to move wet, waterlogged clothes to the dryer fast enough so they didn't freeze).

He grabbed his comb, something he almost forgot to grab when they were being chased out by their father, and swiped it through his fair a few times before sneaking out of the storage classroom.

Thad slowly opened his eyes

This guilt. It was eating away at him. It was clawing at his mind. It was his fault.

It was his fault they were homeless.

Glancing over at Lizzy, she was asleep.

Thad grabbed a bottle, stood up, and left their 'home'.

The halls were dark and quiet, just as they always were at night, yet it always sent a chill down his spine. The gentle thuds of his tennis shoes helped him ignore the deafening silence surrounding him that would've left him to his own thoughts.

He found himself in front of the same bathroom as the night before, hesitating before heading inside.

He was really gonna do this again, huh?

God, he was kinda shitty.

...

He was such a hypocrite.

'No, Liz, you can't drink! You'll get addicted!!' and yet here he fucking was, drinking till he's numb just so he doesn't feel bad. But even that doesn't work because he wakes up in the mornings feeling like shit due to a hangover and the sheer amount of guilt he had suppressed washing over him like a tidal wave.

What a fucking hypocrite.

He closed the stall door, locked it, and looked at the bottle in his hand as he inhaled shakily.

Then he popped the cork off the top and took a swig—

Nope, no, no, no, no, NO, no, not tonight, no, nope, nuh-uh, no.

He found it impossible to swallow, spitting it out onto the floor.

Maybe he should try that again. He took ano-

No, no, NO, he can't, he just can't, he can't stomach it, he was going to throw up if he tried again, he knew it, he just knew it.

He put his hand over his mouth as nausea slammed over him like a tidal wave, enveloping him and nearly knocking him over as his mouth oversalivated.

"Forget it," he whispered to himself, throwing the bottle into the garbage before subsequently vomiting in it. It seemed it was just some coolant, gasoline that slipped down his throat, and some of the food he's eaten throughout the day.

But it really wasn't much at all.

Catching his breath, he grabbed a paper towel, wiped his mouth, and spat into the trash just to clean out his mouth of the bile's taste.

Thad swallowed, grimacing as he shuddered at his newfound sore throat and started to leave.

He'd just go to bed and try again tomorrow.

...

He already threw the bottle away and he threw up on top of it so no way he's going to get it out... so maybe tomorrow isn't an option after all.

KMPF.

The hall lights suddenly turned on all at once, blinding him briefly, causing a ringing in his auditory receptors. Why are they on so soon? What time could it even be??

He glanced around, his eyes landing on an old analog clock.

6:00 AM

If only this place had windows. The sun would have warned him to stay inside that storage-classroom he had to call home now.

The lights coming on also meant someone had just entered the school and turned on the power.

Talk about bad timing.

Thad started running, his shoes squeaking here and there until he made it back to the classroom Lizzy still slept in, likely having woken up from the lights.

He rushed in and closed the door as quickly and quietly as he could, hurrying back to his makeshift bed. Sighing upon realizing he likely overreacted, he glanced at Lizzy, seeing she had indeed woken up.

"Thad... What were you doing out...?" His sister mumbled sleepily, rubbing the drowsiness out of her eyes.

"I... Forgot something. Don't worry about it."

Lizzy furrowed her eyebrows, and sat up, "Liar."

Thad hesitated. His breath definitely smelled like gasoline from his earlier attempts to drink it, who's to say the rest of him didn't? But there's no way she could have deduced so soon he was drinking, right?

"Im not lying, Lizzy, just... go back to sleep or get ready for school. Whichever you want. You dont have to go to school." Thad smiled, trying to block the accusation.

"No! You're doing something, aren't you? What are you doing to yourself!?" Lizzy snapped, any previous drowsiness gone in the blink of an eye.

"Nothing, Liz! I swear!" Thad reached to place a hand on Lizzy's shoulder, but she pulled away.

"You are! You are and you've been hiding it from me!" Lizzy yelled, fury and guilt shaking her voice.

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No, Liz! I prom-"

Shhffdnk!

Four eyes stared at the door.

Two stared back.

Chapter Text

Rebecca wheeled herself over to her bathroom mirror, just barely seeing under her chest in the reflective surface. She grabbed a disinfectant wipe and wiped down her hands and arms.

"Rebecca!"

She swiveled her head to her door, "Yeah?" She yelled back.

...

"YEAH??"

...

Rebecca grumbled, pushing herself out of the bathroom and to the kitchen where her mother was packing some batteries encased in aluminum, "Yeah, Mom?"

"Rebecca, sweetie, we're leaving soon. Don't keep your grandparents waiting! They haven't seen you since Christmas 3069!"

"Okay." Rebecca sighed, smiling as she lightly rolled her eyes at her mother's selective hearing.

"Oh, and you go back to your father's tomorrow, so make sure you go to his and not here after school." Her mother placed another aluminum-encased battery into the small tupperware container that was quickly running out of room.

"Right. I still don't get why you two split up..." Rebecca started to turn away, her voice fading into the noise of nothing, though the silent pause from her mother didn't go unnoticed.

Rebecca closed her door, returning to her mirror. It wasn't like this before she died. So why is it like this now? Was it her fault? It couldn't be, she wasn't even alive when her parents split, so how could she have done anything to cause it?

...

She needs to stop thinking about it.

Using a smidge of hair gel, she smoothed out the minor cowlick in her hair.

Okay, much better.

Rebecca made her way to her bedside table, grabbing her phone and looking through her notifications. Some stuff about likes, followers, some videos of cats and rabbits getting along from her mother, and so on. The only thing she really cared about though, was the message from Lizzy.

Rebecca laughed lightly, her heart warming a bit at the frankensteining of the alphabet. Looking up, she saw they were going down sub-hall E2.

Room 205E.

Room 206E.

Room 207E.

Her mother stopped in front of room 208E.

"Here we are!" Her mother let go of the wheelchair, "You excited to say hi to your grandparents after 3 years?"

Rebecca nodded, "Yeah. I hope they're doing well."

"They're fine, trust me, dear." Her mother reassured, smiling and reaching over to straighten Rebecca's hair, making her recoil in disgust.

"Mom, no!" Rebecca whacked away her mother's hand lightly, "My hair is fine!"

"You had a cowlick!"

"It doesnt matter!"

"Yes it does, now hold still-"

"NOOO‐"

Rebecca's mother knocked on the door, proud of her work with Rebecca's hair that was now tightly packed against her face. Rebecca shook put her hair, loosening it so she could restyle it.

"Oh, Rebecca, i just styled it perfectly–" Her mother stopped, turning around and greeting her mother, "Oh, mom!"

Rebecca's grandmother smiled, fixing her glasses. "Ah, hello, Chloe. So good to see you. Are you feeling well? Are you hungry? And most of all, did you bring the girl this time? You know your father refuses to believe she's alive until he sees her."

"Yes, no, and yes. Good to see you too, mama! Here's your granddaughter!" Rebecca watched her mother move to the side, presenting her like a doll in a glass case, pristine condition.

"Hi, Mimi!" Rebecca smiled nervously, jumling slightly as her Mimi walked forward, pinching her cheeks.

"Ooooh, aren't you just so precious? My beautiful granddaughter!" Her Mimi squealed lowly, shaking Rebecca's face and smushing it slightly.

"Mimi..! That hurts..!" Rebecca complained, her voice muffled.

Her Mimi released her, chuckling softly, "Sorry, precious girl, lets get you inside! Your Pops is waitin!"

Rebecca let her grandmother push her wheelchair over the step, looking around at the familiar yet completely new entryway.

"There sure are a lot of... pictures of me and Braiden." Rebecca pointed out, her voice softening.

"Yes, we... couldn't stand losing you two, so we took every picture of you and your brother and plastered them everywhere." Her grandmother explained solemnly, bringing her into the living room where her grandfather sat on the couch.

"Elias, look who's here!" Rebecca's grandmother chirped.

"... Whozat?"

"Ah, right..." 

"Gianna, i nev'r seeneeze dr'ns b'fur." Her grandfather glared accusingly, making Rebecca wince.

"Rebecca, your grandfather was diagnosed with Degenerative Memory Disease as a result of his memory chip being damaged irreparably. The only memories he retains are the ones backed up to his cloud." Her grandmother explained, standing in front of Rebecca and patting her on the head as a source of comfort.

"Oh... so he doesnt remember me? At all?" Rebecca whispered, her voice quivering.

"Oh, no no no, he remembers you!" She shook her head, chuckling weakly. "Albeit as a baby, when you were born... He doesnt remember anything more than that about you."

"Ah, okay." Rebecca smiled hesitantly, "So... can we jog his memory then..?"

Her grandmother shook her head, "No, Rebecca. The memories are gone, not forgotten. To his knowledge, you're only a few days old at most."

Rebecca looked down, pursing her lips as her mother and grandmother went up to her grandfather, chattering, conversing, not forgetting about Rebecca, just letting her regain autonomy.

Rebecca wheeled about halfway over before pausing to redirect herself down the hall to the guest bedroom. The sheets on the bed were pristine just as she remembered. Softer than she had envisioned.

She glanced around the room as the artificial daylight coming from behind the white, see-through curtains gave everything a soft, gentle bloom to the edges of everything. Identifying her old hiding place, back when she was only seven.

She hadn't been able to fit for years. Maybe she could squeeze her body into it just once more for the sake of nostalgia...

She went over to the closet, slowly and carefully dragging herself onto her footrest, then onto the carpet. It felt so strange on the bottom of her waist instead of on her legs.

Rebecca pulled herself over slowly, feeling along the back of the closet wall. She focused closely, trying to remember where it was...

thk.

There.

She slowly pried the wall away and open, revealing a small compartment, only big enough for... whatever it was made to hold.

Upon seeing it and a second thought, maybe it really was still too small to fit her...

Oh well, might as well still try.

She turned her back to it, slowly wiggling her way into it. It was a tight fit, indeed. Almost too tight, but she just barely squeaked by, slipping in. It was cramped, but not too much so.

Despite the difficulty to get comfortable, Rebecca found it was... so nostalgic. More than she thought it would be.

It was so, so nice. She felt like a little kid again, being cheeky and getting ready to scare someone, trying to escape punishment, and even playing hide and seek with...

Her brother. 

Braiden.

...

Huh.

She changed her mind, this hiding spot isn't nice to be in anymore. She's been in it long enough anyways.

She wasn't sure how long she had been in there, in both physical and mental silence, but it was definitely quite some time.

Rebecca reached for the edge of the little compartment, struggling to drag herself out. Once she did, she flopped over, losing balance and faceplanting. She could only be grateful that the flooring was a carpet and not a steel grate or something.

Pushing herself back up, she dragged herself back to her wheelchair, forgetting about closing the compartment back up. She pulled herself onto her footrest, gritting her teeth with effort once she started to bring herself up to her seat.

Getting out of her wheelchair was a dumb idea.

Whatever.

She let out a sigh of... almost no exhaustion, really. Since she was powered back on, she's had to be more reliant on her arms, anyways, so it'd be very impractical if her arms were as strong as a raw spaghetti noodle.

He always liked spaghetti No, NO. Stop. None of that. Not now. Just- Just STOP.

...

Why did he have to-

"Checkin' out your room for tonight, should you accept?" Her grandmother made her presence known, speaking just loud enough to make Rebecca jump.

Rebecca turned to her grandma, "Hi, Mimi. Staying the night would be nice, yeah... Anything with Pop Pop?"

She sighed, "Well, he's easy to talk to. Understands the re-explanation every time. Now what are you doing in here and not spending time with yer grandparents?" Her grandma walked over, making her voice just a hint more gritty to add a playful touch, ruffling Rebecca's hair.

Rebecca snickered, straightening out her hair, "I just kinda gravitated to this room. It's... special." Her gaze softened, looking at the bed.

Pristine, as she remembered. 

"You and Braiden played in here every time you visited. Too bad those visits became less common! You kids always made a mess out of this room." Her grandmother sighed, smiling and shaking her head.

Rebecca smiled nervously back, "Okay, I don't remember that part!"

"Oh it happened!" She laughed, wrapping an arm around Rebecca and shaking her, pulling out laughter and an accidental snort or two. One it was done and over with, her grandma looked solemnly at the room.

"Didn't realize how nice it was to clean once it stopped happening."

Rebecca furrowed her eyebrows, looking at the ground. Before she could stew too long on it:

"So you wanna stay the night?"

She looked up at her grandmother, "Uh, y-yeah, sure!"

"Alright, I'll go talk to your mother before she leaves. She got a work call a minute ago, so we dont got much time." Another rough pat on the head and Rebecca was alone again.

She turned her wheelchair around and left the room, overhearing the concern in her mother's voice as she spoke to her mother.

"I just dont know how I feel about letting her stay the night... I mean, what if she needs me? She often has nightmares Monday through Friday."

"She'll be fine, Chloe. Rebecca is in good hands here, we'd never let a single thing happen to her as long as we have a say in it."

"I don't know..."

"It'll just be for one night."

A pause.

"Fine... But at the first sign that she needs me, you contact me right away!"

Rebecca entered the living room as her grandmother reassured her mom, "Don't worry. We got it."

"You mean you got it? Dad's memory is gone. He's still there, yes, but..." her mother looked to the side, jumping ship from her train of thought before continuing to speak. 

"Just keep her safe."

Her mother walked over to her, kissing her on the forehead, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay, dear?"

Rebecca nodded, "Mkay. Love you."

"Love you too!"

With that, her mother turned to the door and left. Likely another work emergency. Seriously, how much maintenence do those doors even need now? Their main purpose now was aesthetics, and honestly, Rebecca thought an old, rustic feel would do some good considering how clunky they were.

Rebecca didn't look at the door despite the loud thud of it closing making her jump in her seat.

She started to take herself to her room, but her grandmother grabbed the handles of her wheelchair and pushed her there herself. Rebecca frowned at the notion, but didn't say anything.

Upon entering the guest bedroom from before, her grandmother said; "You know, your Pop Pop wouldn't be too happy learnin' about that disassembler friend of yours."

Rebecca nearly choked on the shock she kept from squeaking out of her throat "Wh- Mimi! How do you know about V!?" She looked at her grandma, the oil draining from her face.

"You think your mother would learn you're friends with one of the things that killed half of our kind and then just WOULDN'T inform me or your grandfather?" Her grandmother placed her hands on her hips, stepping to stand just to the side of her.

Rebecca sighed, looking to the side, "She's not even that murdery! Just a little snarky, but I mean, it kinda makes her hot." She chuckled, shrugging.

"You think she's hot?" Her grandma raised an eyebrow, "You're not into her, are you?"

Rebecca shook her head, "No! I just met her last night!" Those words pulled a sigh and a facepalm out of her grandmother. "Besides, I call all my girlies hot!"

"Rebecca, you do not invite someone you just met to your house, especially if they're a murder drone!" She scolded lightly. Rebecca groaned.

"Mimi, she's been Lizzy's friend since before the prom! She even saved Lizzy!" Rebecca refuted, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Still, I'm just kinda worried that girl bad news. She does have a rather high body count..." the way it was muttered made Rebecca roll her eyes.

"I promise you, she's nice and funny! I'd invite her over a million more times!" Rebecca looked at her grandmother, a sprinkle of irritation in her voice.

"Hey, I never said a cold-blooded killer couldn't be funny or nice!"

"Mimi!"

"Rebecca, I am only looking out for you. You can't trust someone too much just because one of your friends know her."

"You are trash-talking my friend!"

Her grandmother sighed, "If this is going to turn into a big argument, then this conversation is going to end here. Just don't mention your murder friend again. Love you, sweetheart.

Rebecca watched her grandmother leave the room, mildly puzzled by the... hypocrisy? Could you even call it that?

She adjusted her blue and pink hair, annoyed with her grandparents refusal to accept that V had changed. Maybe thats why she ended the conversation so suddenly.

She made her way to the side of the bed, eyes looking for the metal bar that she had grown used to. Cautiously,  she gripped the bedside table with one hand and the cushiony bed with the other, pulling herself up and onto the white sheets.

...

Everything seemed to be moving too fast, actually. It was just 2 in the afternoon. How was it already 5:45 in the evening?

Maybe if she shut her eyes for just a moment, she could slow everything down. Before something important happened and she missed it.

...

When she opened her eyes, she felt groggy and tired. She fell asleep. But for how long..?

She rolled onto her side and checked her phone, which was on low battery.

2:37 AM

3 missed calls from Lizzy✨✨💕

11 messages from Lizzy✨✨💕

Oh, shit.

Lizzy needed her and she fucking fell asleep.

If it required more than a tap, she'd have ripped that message app open more violently than the disassembly drones when they first arrived.

Lizzy needed her.

She quickly typed out an apology

Lizzy✨✨💕

Becc Becc

Becca
Rebecca?

Please just pick up please

Are you mad? Im sorry what did i do please just tell me please
im sorry

i just got into a nasty argument i just wanna talk to someone

im sorry, ill just leave you alone. Lizzy im so sorry i like passed the hell out i wasnt ignoring you i PROMISE okay? What happened? Who'd you argue with? Im all ears now.

Rebecca bit her lip, attempting to bounce her leg only to remember she didn't have one to bounce to shake off her anxiety.

come on come on come on, Lizzy, answer me!

The walls seemed to shrink, wrapping themselves around her, squeezing with every ounce of forced possible on her body and mind as she stared at an unchanging wall of text messages. Fifteen minutes flew by before Rebecca even realized.

She closed her eyes, Setting her phone down as she held her head in her hands.

Bzzt.

Rebecca sat up straight as quickly as she snatched her phone back up.

Lizzy✨✨💕

It doesnt matter anymore.

Rebecca started to type another response, only for her auditory receptors to start ringing as a pounding, painful sensation started to slam into her head.

Right. She almost forgot. (Technically, she DID forget, but whatever.)

She got herself into her wheel chair as a wave of nausea and lightheadedness replaced the worst of the pounding and the ringing softened. She slowly got herself out of the room and all the way to the kitchen.

Barely pulling herself on top of the counter, she reached for the medicine cabinet and opened it, seeing all sorts of things like items for welding, blow torches, wrenches, and USBs for antiviruses. Alongside them all was her specialized medicine. Small black capsules— Highly compressed oil. Once consumed, it would dissolve and release one half gallon of oil over a period of a few hours. Rebecca didn't know how they managed that (it goes completely against the laws of physics) but it kept her alive so, truthfully, she didn't care.

She had skipped her last dosage, on accident of course, so she had to debate. Does she take two or does she stick to one?

Whatever.

Rebecca opened it and popped one in her mouth, swallowing it and hoping her symptoms would lessen soon, because she got slammed with another invisible wave and fell off the counter, hitting her head on the back of her wheelchair.

She'd be fine, surely.

Slowly, she crawled her way back into her wheelchair.

"... Did I..?"

...

"Yeah. I have to have."

Back to Lizzy.

Rebecca brushed her hair, listening to her mother speak to her grandparents:

"You're sure she was okay?"

"Of course, Chloe. She didn't ask us for much.

"Did she take her medicine?"

"I'm not sure, actually. Rebecca!"

She tossed the hairbrush to the side, "Coming!" She slid into her wheelchair and made her way out of the room, stopping once able to see her grandparents and mother.

"Did you take your medicine yet?" Her grandma asked, tilting her head.

Rebecca nodded, "Yeah! I did! No need to worry! I just took it a bit later than usual last night, though."

"See? She's fine, sweetie."

Rebecca's mother sighed, "I'm sorry, i can't help but worry."

"Mom, wasn't Dad supposed to pick me up?" She tilted her head.

Her mom rolled her eyes, "Ugh, yeah, but he keeps asking to postpone it because he's busy. Honestly, that man is insufferable! First he signs that fieldtrip form without me being in the know, and now this!"

Rebecca shrunk in her seat, frowning. She remembered so vividly how she begged her father to sign the form with her big brother without telling her mom so she could go to the camp with all her friends, knowing her mother would say no due to Disassembly Drones being there.

Her mother continued to ramble about her father, walking over to Rebecca and beginning to push her, "Its ridiculous, isnt it..? Alright, Mom, Dad, i think we're gonna head out. I'm running late. Love you guys!"

"Love you, hun! Love you, Rebecca!"

"Love you two..!" Rebecca called back, turning and waving. 

Most of the way home was just her mom complaining about her father and how insufferable she thought he was. Rebecca threw in a comment here and there, but never anything more. She felt disconnected from everything now.

Her body didn't quite feel right, like it wasn't hers. Like what she was seeing wasn't with her eyes, what she thought weren't actually her thoughts. Almost like she was taking a backseat in her own body. Yet all at the same time, she knew the truth. She knew they were hers.

It was a long wait before getting home.

"Alright, sweetie, I gotta go run some errands, you have fun. I'm just gonna grab my purse..." Rebecca snapped herself back into reality and let out an 'mhm'  before slowly pushing herself to her room. Opening the door, she noticed something.

There, on her pillow, lay a piece of paper. A letter.

Rebecca hesitantly made her way forward, picking up the paper and reading it.

To Rebecca

Jus wanted to apologize and all for the whole... Camp fiasco where i kinda totally killed you and left you legless... like, permanently? Again, im sorry for all of that. I was kinda not able to control myself or something, i dont really know how the absolutesolver works tbh but none of that excuses what i did and also sorry for scaring the crap out of you at lunch that one time i was just trying to apologize to you and sit with you so you wouldnt be alone but i guess that doesnt really matter, id erase that but im writing in pen but like... 

If you wanted i could make a new pair of sick as hell legs, like, more functionality!! But only if u want.

From Uzi Doorman

She dropped the note, watching as it would gently sway to lay over her pillow just like it had before.

It was from Uzi Doorman.

Uzi.

Doorman.

Uzi Doorman knows where she lives.

And she knows EXACTLY where she sleeps.

And she can get in.

Oh God oh God oh God—

"MOM!"

Chapter Text

"Lizzy? Thad? What're you two doin' here? Yer s'posed ta be at home!"

Lizzy was silent as she sat on a couch for the first time in weeks. The first, questioning words echoing in her mind made her whole body ache with rage running hot and embarrassment running hotter.

She looked over at Thad who was turned away, arms wrapped around his knees, hugging his legs to his chest. Then she turned her attention the woman who had found them and was making a call: Shari.

"Ello? Hi, Damien, remember the Maccan kids? Yeah, I just found them hiding in the school's storage classroom this marnin'... yes, I'm taking the day off..."

Lizzy sniffled and rubbed one eye. She didn't know what was going to happen now and she hated it. Were they going to be sent back to their dad? What would happen in that case? Hell, she didn't know what would happen after what happened next!

Lizzy furrowed her eyebrows more than she already had, remembering her near-screaming match with Thad.

"Hey, Liz." Her brother walked through the door, his voice exasperated. She had been fiddling with a pencil, poking the sharp tip against her synthetic, rubber skin that surrounded her abdomen. "What are you doing?"

Lizzy scoffed, tossing the pencil to the side, "Nothing. Now where have you been? Its almost 8 PM!"

"I went out to buy us some more batteries. We were running low, remember?" Thad had answered her honestly, as always. But Thad was always a bad liar and something about that tone of voice seemed... wrong. 

"And?" She sat up, raising and eyebrow.

"What do you mean 'and?', it's food!" Thad frowned, misinterpreting what she said.

"And... what else? What are you hiding? What else did you spend your money on? You know i already hate that you're spending it at all..." she crossed her arms, glaring.

Thad furrowed his eyebrows, "Liz, what are you talking about? I didn't buy anything else!"

Lizzy huffed, "Yes, you did! You're a horrible liar, Thad. You really think I can't tell when you're not being honest?"

"Lizzy, I'm serious! All I got was some batteries. I promise!" Thad walked past her and set his bag down gently, but not without Lizzy noticing the gentle clink coming from it.

"Then what was that?"

"Nothing."

"Thad."

"Its nothing!"

"Are those bottles i heard?"

"Yeah, empty bottles for.. a project."

"Oh yeah? What class?"

"... art."

Lizzy glared, gritting her teeth as she squeezed out the words that she hadn't known would cause the petty argument to devolve into name-calling, shouting, and shoving:

"You don't even have art."

Lizzy scoffed at her hypocrisy. She's so fucking stupid sometimes, it's hilarious. Since getting her and Thad kicked out, her stupid moments have only become more frequent.

She must've pushed her brother to... fuck, is it considered alcoholism or should it be called gasolism? Gasism? Seriously, what should it-

"Okay, you two. Wanna tell me aboot whats going on with you or no?" Shari walked and stood in front of them, crossing her arms.

Neither twin spoke.

The silenced extracted a sigh from the woman, "Well, Damien's on his way. If you don't wanna talk right now, at least let me offer some food and drink. You two want anything? We have coolant, tea, and some engine oil."

Lizzy looked away, muttering, "I'm fine."

Thad hesitated before saying, "Um... I-..." he backtracked, "I'm... I don't need anything either..."

Shari frowned, "I'm not oblivious, I can tell when yer in rough shape."

"I'm fine. Really..." Lizzy mumbled a little louder now, focused on her hand as she moved her finger. The tip still didn't work since she got water in the joint and she could feel it was still in there, frozen and waiting to be warm again so it can screw up more of her circuits.

"Okay... but you two aren't leavin' unless you eat somethin!" Shari huffed, "You two can watch somethin on the tele 'till Damien gets here since yer father doesn't wanna pick up the phone..." she grabbed the remote and set it on the coffee table in front of them.

She went back to the phone and started to make another call.

Lizzy and Thad sat in silence. Honestly, Lizzy struggled to remember what happened for most of the argument. The last thing she remembers is her waking up at probably two in the morning to see Thad gone and crying, texting and trying to call the first contact she saw.

And now she was sat her with her brother who probably hates her. He should hate her. Everything bad that happened to them recently was her fault, but with the way everything is going by so fast, she's truthfully not surprised he hasn't screamed at her and left her to die or something. He probably just hasn't had time to process everything.

Well, now he'll have all the time he needs.

After a long, tense silence, Lizzy could feel his gaze burning into the back of her head now.

"Liz..?"

She looked over at him slowly, bracing herself for something that would make her cry, "Yeah..?"

"I'm sorry..."

She perked up, confused, "What..? No, why- Why are you apologizing..?"

"Why wouldn't I?" He looked down, shame worming it's way into his posture, "I was the one who screamed at dad and... said..." he sighed, his tears clear through his voice as he spoke again, "I basically told him I would have been happier if he was dead, Liz..!"

Lizzy's eyes widened, "No- No! I ruined the game night, I was the one who got everyone worked up and upset! It's my f-"

The front door opened, catching the attention of the twins. A black-haired worker drone entered. It wasn't hard to deduce this man was Shari's husband whether you noticed the ring on his finger or not. The first thing he noticed upon entry was the two blondes, disheveled and on the verge of tears.

He seemed shocked but ultimately hurried over, "Oh, she wasn't kidding... Are you two okay? What happened? Why did Shari say you two had makeshift beds in the school?"

Neither spoke.

He frowned, "Sorry. You don't have to tell me anything. I understand. Are either of you hungry?"

Shari walked in, "I already asked. Twice now, actually. Once when I found em and just a bit ago too."

Damien nodded, "Well, if you two get hungry, there's plenty of food in the kitchen."

"Mhm." Shari smiled at the two, "Make yerselves at home."

Lizzy kept listening, even after the couple turned and started having a deeper discussion.

"Where's their dad?"

"He hasn't picked up his phone for more than a second! Keeps saying I must have the wrong number..."

As they walked off to discuss it elsewhere, Lizzy could no longer hear them, and a deafening silence consumed the room once more.

"... it's not your fault, Thad. It's mine." Lizzy uttered out before going quiet again and closing her eyes, leaning against the arm of the couch.

"Lizzy..."

"I already know, Thad. I'm a bad older sister." She was scolding herself again. It was all her fault. Thad could be happy and safe, all his basic necessities met without issue, having fun playing football and going to practice, but no. She had to go and ruin it for him.

Suddenly, she was yanked into a tight, squeezing hug. She could feel Thad shaking, all the words he wanted to say being conveyed through the embrace alone. Even so, he still said them aloud: 

"No, you're not."

Lizzy couldn't bring herself to speak or even change her expression. She lost that feeling of guilt that had enveloped her. Now she felt numb, like her body wasn't hers, she wasn't in control, she was just spectating, whatever else could be said.

It was surreal. Nothing was right. This sure wasn't. What was even happening for every movement to feel indicative of this body she was so used to being in control of truthfully not feeling that way?

She 'snapped' out of it eventually, but she had failed to notice when Thad let go or when he said her name, left the room, came back, and however much time passed.

She looked over at Thad, "Where's miss Shari..?"

"I think she's still talking to her husband..." Thad mumbled.

"Okay."

And silence arrived for the third time that day, though it's visit was cut short with the opening of a door and two drones walking to stand in front of the twins.

"We talked aboot it, an..." Shari inhaled, "If you two would like ta stay with us until we can sort the situation with yer father, then we'll be more 'an happy ta have ya." She clasped her hands together in front of her as Damien wrapped his arm around her.

"We unfortunately only have one spare bedroom, so you'd have to either share a bed or one of you would have to sleep on the couch." Damien amitted embarrassingly. Shari chimed in.

"Yes, 'n' we'll make sure it's as cozy 'n' comfortable as a slacker in snow!" She chirped smiling. Thad raised his hand hesitantly.

"I'll take the couch... Lizzy can have the bedroom." He spoke only just loud enough to hear. The couple looked at Lizzy.

"Is that alright with you, sweetheart?" Shari asked softly, smiling. As much as Lizzy wanted to say no and cry about how she ruined everything, she realized the numbness never left as she uttered out a simple:

"Okay."

Chapter Text

Lizzy was sitting on her new bed. White, satin sheets with what seemed to be egyptian cotton pilllows. Its unbelievable how these luxury items even got to Copper-9. She still felt numb, like a spectator of her own life, yet she could still think about things.

Like Uzi.

And how just around a week ago at this point, Uzi had cornered her in the bathroom and... apologized.

For murder.

It didn't change anything. Lizzy still hated her roboguts. After all, it was still her fault all her friends had been turned into mere piles of oil and scrap metal. 

But it really made her think. If Uzi could apologize for actual MURDER, brutally slaughtering them, eating them alive, to a girl who had made her life hell, then... how come Lizzy couldn't apologize to her brother for fucking their lives up? Flipping their world upside down? 

The outcast could say sorry for essentially torturing multiple people and best Lizzy could is mope around and say she's horrible, complain about how she has yet to apologize, and then just not do it.

Robo-Jesus... the hypocrisy is insane.

Lizzy looked at her hand, watching the limp fingertip of her index finger flop around. It hadn't impacted her much since the water damage but it was still rather annoying. She definitely deserved it, though.

And then she looked down at the little hole in her knee. Oil had long since frozen over it and acted as a natural blockage to keep more from escaping her body. She remembers being in the Nurse's office with Rebecca.

...

Those posters...

It doesn't matter.

... Well, where could her thoughts go from here? More self-loathing? More bitter, unforgiving internal monologuing? Why was she like this? Robo-god, she's getting kinda annoying with this. And she was the doing the damn thing! Uzi apologized for RUINING Lizzy's LIFE before she made it even worse HERSELF!

So why can't she?

Apologize.

Why can't she just say sorry?

Why can't she stop the moping, self-pity, all this nonsense, and go to her brother and take responsibility for what she did?

She'd go right now if she could get herself to, but no, she couldn't...

Where's her lighter?

She needs to forget for the next few minutes.

Chapter Text

Dear, Reader,

Its come to my attention that im not exactly... active. On this fic, at least.

I've reread many of the chapters and I absolutely despise how I went about some things. For example -

1. This was meant to be primarily Uzi, N, and V centric. This was never meant to turn into a whole storyline about the Maccans (Lizzy, Thad, and the teacher) being a dysfunctional family, and yet it still turned that way. There's way too much focus on that storyline and not enough on the MAIN storyline. 

2. I had so much fun writing angst that I forgot all about the main point of this fic - to be slice of life. To be a comedy. To show how Uzi and Cyn clash with eachother even beyond the 2010s fueled final battle. The reason I ended up with 39 chapters of disappointment (i had 5 i had planned for the future) was because this was never MEANT to have a truly cohesive storyline. It was meant to be more so "Morning 1, day 1, lunch, day 1.5, evening 1, night 1, Morning 2..." etc.

3. I had planned to go into a serious topic, one I was not ready to take on in my writing. One I was so unworried about portraying poorly that I was going to make it happen when Lizzy was in Uzi's home, just so Uzi could SAVE THE DAY. I hate how little thought I put into it and I can't in good conscience continue this story in that direction. Same for Thad's alcoholism. I made Lizzy be so heavily, mentally affected that it affected her physically too, so I thought I absolutely HAD to do that with Thad as well, but in some other way. Thad was never going to do anything drastic, but regardless, I failed to form the story in a way I could include the aforementioned topic in a tasteful way, at least to me.

4. There were a lot of plotholes, some bigger than others. Many of which I didn't notice until someone in the comments pointed it out. I then would reply and attempt to come up with an explanation on the spot, but it really didn't matter how good the explanation was since the explanation wasn't present in the actual fic.

For all of the above, I'm sorry. This was so poorly done, much of it was slapped together last second with ridiculous amounts of glue to make it stick and copious numbers of glitter to make it look nice... and the only chapters im still proud of are the first 16 and the Girls Night ones.

My writing in this is.... meh. It could be better. I don't hate it, though.

Ultimately, if I continue this, we're starting over. I'm starting over. I cant see any way to improve this story if I don't start fresh. Sometimes you just have to throw out the pie and get the flour back out to make it worth eating.

Thank you for all the support. Thank you for the ideas. Thank you for the mini-theories.

I hope you'll stick around a while to see if you like anything else I made.

– FluffyStuffs

(P.s, I might make a final follow up chapter confirming some things. If you have questions, just ask in the comments.)