Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sound of footsteps echoed through the dark building, the wind whistling through the crumbling walls. A short, auburn-haired worker drone hummed softly to himself as he made his way down the corridor, flicking the lightbulb that hung from the stick attached to his helmet every so often. A taller Disassembly drone dressed in a black trenchcoat and sunglasses silently followed behind, studying the worker up and down.

“Can ya quit starin’ ya ijit. Makin’ me feel uncomfortable.”

Johnny growled, causing X to jump before trying to strike an uninterested pose.

“I’m not staring… just… studying my prey is all.”

X replied, looking away with disinterest while looking at Johnny out of the corner of his eye.

“Yeah yeah yeah, whatever. Can you’s make yourself useful and carry this at least?”

Johnny huffed, tossing his messenger bag over his back before continuing down the hallway.

X fumbled to catch the bag for a few seconds before finally snagging it firmly in his hands. Looking up, X’s smile quickly turned to fear as he saw Johnny’s headlight slowly growing more distant. 

Jogging to catch up with the worker drone, X awkwardly held the bag in his hand. He trained his eyes on the worker when he thought Johnny wasn’t looking, quickly snapping to the wall or the ceiling when Johnny turned to him.

Oh, I can’t wait till I learn to be cool. Z will let me come back and I’ll be the bestest hunter in our squad. I wonder if the worker drones will know my name… maybe even other squads! Eeee I’m so excited!

Caught up in his daydreams, X didn’t register Johnny come to a stop until he slammed into the smaller drone, almost flipping him in the process.

“Watch where yer goin’,”

Johnny growled, steadying himself before whirling around to look at X, his hand pinching at the bridge of his nose,

“X, bud, I appreciate ya findin’ me cool and all, but bein’ “cool” isn’t something you teach… waste o’ time if you ask me. Who cares if yer cool, more’ta life than that.”

“No, there’s not. Z always said what I did was ‘Uncool’ whenever something would break or a hunt would go bad. That means if I become cool nothing bad will happen.”

X replied confidently, a stoic look on his face.

“Is that so? Well, mama always said some eggs is just born cracked. Come on, found about everythin’ I’d wanna keep.”

Johnny chuckled, turning around and walking down the way they came.

“Go? Go where?”

“Home idjit, I’m sure they’d let you’s stay if you ask nicely.”

Johnny replied, the two continuing in silence until they stepped out into the cold night air of Copper-9.

Johnny began to walk, only to pause at the sound of wings shooting open behind him. Turning around, Johnny shook his head as he saw X squatting down, his wings outstretched. Without a word, the worker crawled onto the other drone's back, X jumping before taking to the sky. Flying was a strange experience for Johnny, his hands instinctually grabbed onto the Disassembly drone's shoulders as they rocketed through the sky. Feeling Johnny’s arms on his shoulders, X smiled smugly before doing a few aerial tricks, at one point accidentally dropping Johnny before catching him.

“Y-you rustin’ piece o’ scrap! I’s should kill ya for that!”
Johnny yelled, his voice barely heard over the wind.

“What? It was totally intentional.”

X yelled back, biting the inside of his mouth as they flew over the industrial district.

“Here! Set us down here!”

Johnny yelled, burying his face into X’s back as they dove through a hole in the ground.

X ducked and dove through tight corridors at high speeds, his wings pressing into Johnny’s sides at one point as they zoomed down an elevator shaft. Johnny let out a high-pitched scream as they shot through an opening and out into a large cave. X’s jaw dropped as he looked out over the large city sprawled beneath them, worker drones going about their business while others used the Solver to lift construction materials. 

“W-wow.”

“Yer tellin’ me.”

Johnny replied, his mouth similarly agape,

“Never seen it from up here before… well, besides the burnin’”

“The what?”

“Don’t worry about it, just set us down by the church, Ma and Merc are probably still workin’ so I’ll get ya acquainted with the town.”

Johnny said, his eyes still marveling at the solver colony below. 

The pair glided around the colony for a few minutes before X came in for a landing, his wings kicking up dust as his feet touched the ground. Johnny slid off the Disassembler's back, his legs shaking before he collapsed to the ground. 

“This place is kinda cool,”

X marveled, staring up at the church before continuing in a shaky voice,

“B-but not as cool as me, obviously.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

A shrill, snobby voice called from behind the two. 

Pulling his face up from the ground, Johnny looked over his shoulder to find a short female disassembly drone wearing a blue button-up shirt, red tie, and dress pants approaching. Behind the short woman was a taller one, a yellow raincoat wrapped around her body and gloomy eyes. 

“Can we not do thi-”

The taller drone started in a soft voice, only to be silenced by the shorter drone.

“Shut up Y, now you-”

The shorter female growled, pointing an accusatory finger at a terrified X,

“What are you doing here?”

“I-i was just-”

“No, no ‘Oh Z, I was just out patrolling, Oh Z, I didn’t know you were following this one back to find its colony, Oh Z, I didn’t-’ You’re god damn right you didn’t because you never think.”

Z hissed, her body shaking with rage.

Seeing X freeze up at the short-haired woman’s words, Johnny pushed himself up before speaking,

“Z? Thought yer name would be triple S, Short height, Short hair, Short temper.”

“I’m sorry, but who are you?”

Z hissed, stalking over to the worker drone. 

“Johnny Pazza, a pleasure to meet me I’m sure.”

Johnny replied, a smug grin on his face as he offered out his hand for Z to take. 

“Well, Johnny , this is my squad mate so I’d recommend you leave this be.”

“Na, last I heard you’s exiled him, don’t sound like he’s part of yer squad if ya ask me.”

“[Annoyed sigh], I was hoping, we would not have any, altercations.”

A robotic voice said from the church entryway, causing X, Y, and Z to freeze.

“S-sorry Miss Cyn, it won’t happen again.”

Z mumbled, her hands crossed in front of herself as she looked down to the ground.

The short worker drone let out a soft hum before slowly hobbling forward, her maid dress fluttering as she stumbled, only to catch herself,

“I should hope, not. You are, X, yes?”

“Y-yes ma’am.”

X replied sheepishly before looking up at her through his shades with an attempt at a smug smile,

“A-a P-pleasure to meet m-me I’m sure.”

“[Laughter], delightful, come. The others wait for us, in, the church.”

Cyn replied, turning around and slowly hobbling towards the church entrance, the solver symbol appearing at her fingers as the door flew open. 

X gave Johnny a small wave as he followed Y and Z into the church, the door shutting behind them with a bang. X barely had time to look around the place before he felt eyes on him, looking around the room made his visor instantly sweat. Fourteen Disassembly drones sat in the pews all looking back at him, some smiling and some snickering. X hastily took his seat next to Y, mumbling a soft apology before scooting over.

“[Loud voice], Welcome, I am, pleased, you are all, here. Due to recent, events, you have been called to, watch, this city. A small, hanging, building is being built on the cave roof where you, will be staying. [Authoritative], each, of you will be assigned a, local, to show you, around. Any, incidents, will result in swift, termination.”

Cyn said, her visor switching to an X as black, oozing tentacles slithered up from the cracks in the floor tiles and causing some to jump, before quickly retreating. 

“[Jovial], enjoy your, stay. You will start, tomorrow.”

Finishing her announcement, Cyn hobbled off the raised platform before disappearing into one of the alcoves. The wooden doors flew open as the Disassembly drones slowly filed out, some staying behind to greet their new squadmates while a majority headed for the large wooden box hung over in one of the corners of the cave. X’s eyes scanned the surrounding area, eager to return to his ‘mentor’ and begin his cool ‘training’. 

“Hi hi!”

A friendly female voice called from behind, causing X to jump before turning around.

As X turned around, his jaw fell open for a second time that day as he came face to stomach with a much taller female Disassembly drone. She wore a large white hoodie with long white hair reaching down past her hips and a large sack slung over her shoulder. Looking up at her face, the giant chuckled awkwardly before sticking her hand out.

“Hello, my name’s SD-G, but most just call me G. Oh I’m so excited to be here working with you! Oh, it’ll be so much fun, do you think everyone else will be nice? What about the locals we’re paired with? Oh where are my manners, C always did say I was a bit of an airhead, what's your name?”

G asked, her tail wagging behind her.

“U-uh, X? X. P-pleasure to meet me, I’m sure,”

X replied, trying to shoot finger guns, only to catch his thumbs in his pockets and tear one slightly.

“Ooooooo, are you ok? You need to be more careful, you could hurt yourself. Now, I heard that squads will be sharing rooms in our new home away from home and EEEEEEEE, I’m so excited! Oh, C’s calling me back, HI C!”

G yelled, waving her hand at another Disassembly drone who only shook her head with a chuckle, 

“Anyway, see ya around, I look forward to working with you.”

“Y-yeah.”

X replied, yet the giant was already gone.

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“[Is this really the same place? It looks so… clean]”

“You’re telling me, can’t believe we’d be back here after so long.”

“[mmm, can we go now? These small legs are no good for speed and I would like to confront the Solver as soon as possible.]”

“Yeah yeah yeah, let's get going miss grouchy pants.”

Chapter Text

“No, absolutely not, you’re not sleeping here.”

Z hissed, her fists clenched at her side as she stared up at X.

“Well we don’t really-”

“Shut up Y.”

Z growled, turning to face the taller drone who quickly averted her eyes.

“You’re not staying here and that’s final.”

“Y-you can’t just kick me out! I-i promise I’m trying to get better. I swear.”
X pleaded, clasping his hands together to beg before stopping and sticking them in his pockets,

“But, like… if you don’t want me that’s cool. I can go it alone.”

“You… you think you’re better than me?!”
Z growled, grabbing onto X’s trenchcoat and pulling him into their living quarters. 

“Fine, if you think you’re too good for us, you sleep here.”

X stumbled forward, tripping on his coattails and falling into Y’s arms, the two mumbling a soft apology to each other as she helped X stand. Finally getting a good look at the room, X found that it wasn’t as luxurious as he thought it would be, the only things of note being the storage chests, the glassless window, and a large metal bar attached at multiple points to the ceiling. 

“Hmph and I thought the pod was bad. At least Y didn’t put this one through a building.”

Z scoffed, looking around the area with disdain before jumping to wrap her tail around the bar, her wings curling around her as she quickly went into sleep mode.

“It was an accident.”

Y mumbled, lazily walking towards the square cut in the wall, gazing out over the colony.

X stood awkwardly rubbing his arm before slowly approaching the raincoat-clad drone, his gaze following her’s out to the buildings,

“It’s strange seeing so much life huh.”

“Yeah… seeing them all just… walking around, living their lives. Makes you wonder what all those years hunting and killing was for.”

Y mumbled, her tail lashing softly behind her as she leaned on the window.

The movement caught X’s attention, his eyes scanning over the wirelike appendage only to frown at the stripped-away rubber and random wires sticking out. Taking a moment to look over his squadmate fully, X’s frown grew deeper and deeper with each bit of damage she found, his processor shivering as he wondered what damage was hiding under the tall drone’s raincoat. 

Catching X staring Y rolled up her sleeve slightly, exposing row after row of tally cut deep into her metal,

“Z’s been much less forgiving since you got kicked out, she left a tally for every day you didn’t come back begging to be forgiven…”

“You should have come with me.”
X mumbled, tearing his eyes away from the marks to look back out over the city.

“We should have gotten a better squad leader.”

Y replied softly, her eyes looking slightly more tired than usual,

“It’s good to see you didn’t starve, I was worried.”

“Y-you did? I- You should have worried more about yourself.”

X mumbled, looking away as a blush spread across his monitor.

“No point. Why worry about something you know will be broken tomorrow?”

Y chuckled softly, her laugh hollow and devoid of any emotion.

“I’m going to rest, I’d recommend you do the same.”

“Yeah, we’ve just gotta look on the bright side. Z probably won’t be as… Z-y as she normally is.”

“Or she’ll get better at hiding it.”

Y grumbled, jumping up and wrapping her tail around the bar, her wings curling around herself.

X let out a long sigh before turning to face the window again, his eyes lingering on the workers below before turning around and heading to bed.

Johnny let out a content sigh as he lay with his head on F’s bare chest, the soft thumping of the disassembler’s core filling his ears. The soft purr accompanied by the feeling of F’s fingers running through his hair was enough to lull him into a sense of security he hadn’t felt in a while.

“I don’t want this moment ever to end.”

Johnny mumbled, a soft chuckle rising from the drone below him.

“Oh, I know bud, but you’ve gotta get up soon.”
F replied, Johnny’s eyes squinting closed as he raised his head.

“What?”

“Johnny! Get out here!”

Alice’s voice called through the dark, causing the boy to jolt awake with his arms wrapped tightly around a pillow. 

With an annoyed grumble, Johnny pushed himself out of bed before lazily walking towards his bedroom door. Pulling the door open he found his mother and a sleepy Mercury both still in their sleepwear, a Dissasembly drone in black awkwardly standing in the doorway. Rubbing his eyes, Johnny trudged towards Alice while casting the occasional glance towards X.

“Yeah?”

“This one’s been askin’ for ya. Ijit’s been bangin’ on the door fer the past twenty minutes.”
Alice hissed, pointing a thumb over her shoulder to the drone.

“Alice can we not yell this early in the morning?”

Mercury groaned, stumbling towards the kitchen and haphazardly beginning to prepare breakfast.

“Yeah yeah, after we get this-”

“X, a pleasure to meet me I’m sure.”

X replied, shooting finger guns while looking over his shades.

“... this one got some broken wires?”

Alice asked, turning to Johnny who was groggily scratching his stomach.

“Alice!”

“Just get yerself ready and do whatever ya need to do. We need to get ready for work.”

Alice huffed, ignoring Mercury’s yell from the kitchen as she shuffled back into their bedroom. 

Johnny grumbled under his breath before grabbing his bag off the hanger by the door and pulling X out into the hallway. The pair walked in silence for a few minutes before X finally spoke up, his voice shaky slightly,

“Did I mess up?”

“Mmmm, why are you’s here.”

Johnny grumbled, his lightbulb swaying in front of him as he walked, his hands gripping the straps of his backpack tightly. 

“Uhh, the solver told us we’d be paired with a worker drone to show us around town.”

“And you got paired with me… great. Don’t call Cyn the solver, get’s her pretty pissed.”
Johnny yawned, pushing the main door of the apartment open and stepping out onto the street.

“Alright, let's go.”

X nodded softly as he followed after the worker drone, his eyes flickering around at the unfamiliar environment as he took in the sights. The roads were paved in stone, and many of the buildings were made of red brick. The streets were mostly empty in the early morning. As the pair made their way down the street, the residential buildings slowly gave way to large tents, a handful of worker drones hard at work setting out jugs of oil.

“This here we’s call the cafe, it’s where all’o’the oil we drink is made, the building’s back there house the synthetic processors, big ol’ machines that turn electricity into oil.”

Johnny lectured, pointing to a large brick building in the back, scaffolding scattered loosely around the building.

“Wow… and we get to drink from here too?”

“Yup, at least I’d think so. Doubt Cyn would just let you’s starve.”

“Oh, well that’s nice to know.”

X mumbled, his eyes locked on the rapidly growing pile of oil tanks. 

Noting X’s gaze Johnny let out a sigh before fishing around inside his backpack and pulling out a can, which he promptly tossed to the Dissasembly drone,

“Guessin’ you haven’t eaten in a while?”

“Yeah, not much to eat out in the wastes.”

X replied, fumbling to catch the can before turning away with a scoff,

“But a cool dude like me made it work.”

“I’m sure you did bud,”

Johnny chuckled, guiding the two past the cafe and toward the church,

“Tell me about it.”

“The wastes? Well… it’s’ mostly just large snow flats, the odd house, or industrial building. There are not many places to hide when it does become day… not like there were many places to get out of the sun in our old territory.”

X rambled, his hands idly fiddling with the can as they passed the church. 

“Yeah? And where was yer old territory?”

Johnny quizzed, looking over his shoulder to watch X bite into the can, the pungent smell of oil filling the air.

“Airport up north, I was so cool I stayed up in the control tower. I had to move occasionally when trying to sleep but sleep is for losers, right?”

“Mmmm, ain't like you-”

Johnny began, only to be cut off by a stark hiss.

“You've got to be kidding me!”

Turning towards the sound of the voice, the pair found Z standing next to a girl in a red trench coat with purple hair. X froze for a minute before clearing his throat and speaking, his voice shaky.

“Y-yo triple S didn't think to see you here.”

“Likewise, good to see your owner has you on a tight leash.”

Z hissed, only to yelp as a rock dinked off her visor,

“Hey!”

“[Less talking, more moving. I need to pick Nikita up in a few hours and I would prefer that be our last stop.]”

The girl growled, and the solver symbol appeared on her fingers and around Z’s wrist, pulling the complaining drone away.

“She seemed cool.”

X marveled as he watched the girl drag Z away, stars in his eyes.

“Mmm, come on, I'll show ya the industrial, then the school district, we’s finishin’ at the hospital. Should be all the places you's need to patrol.”

“Of course, obviously I'll be needed everywhere.”

X replied, flicking his shades back up onto his visor.

Johnny hummed softly in acknowledgment, his hands gripping his backpack as they made their way through the winding streets of the colony. The roads slowly came to life as the drones began their day. Interspaced between the block number signs at intersections were signs pointing to all the spots of interest around the colony.

“You’s head that way and you’ll run into the industrial district, everythin’ from copper wire to machines is made there, next to it is the mine. Keep goin’ straight here and you’ll hit the school districts, only time you's probably need to go there is if somethin’ big is happening. This left up here is the-”

“Hospital. The airport we were at had a place with a sign just like that.”

X said, following Johnny as they approached a large white brick building. 

X barely made it three steps through the door before he heard a loud gasp and an overly happy voice call out, catching the attention of almost everyone in the main lobby,

“X! Oh X over here!”

The sound of heavy footsteps rapidly approaching caused the two to turn and almost fall as a gust of wind threatened to knock them over. Cleaning his sunglasses, X looked up in shock at the tall female Disassembly drone standing before him, her size and smile unmistakable.

“G be careful, you could scare people!”

An equally as friendly voice called out, a short worker drone with long bubble-gum-like hair running up to the giant’s side.

“Sorry about her, she’s excited to- oh, another DD, nice to meet you, my name’s Melody. Are you here for the tour too? Oh, you’ll love it here, It is the best place for repairs and checkups, and eeeeeeee, my husband and I had our little Io here a few days ago.”

“Gasp, you didn’t tell me you had a baby!”

G gasped, bending and placing her hands on her knees as she looked down at the worker drone.

“OH! How could I forget, hold on.”

Melody giddily replied, fishing around in her pockets before pulling out a wallet and flipping it open.

The two girls were too busy gushing over the image of the pill baby to notice X and Johnny slip away, heading up the stairs to the second floor. Walking the large hallways, the drone in black couldn’t help but marvel at how grand the building was on the inside. Drones of all ages sat in waiting rooms sectioned off by small walls, decorative plants sat atop each knee wall, the odd cough and name being called sounding out through the low chatter. 

“Hello, name an appointment please?”

“Hey, here for the Disassembler tour. Uhh, Alice in?”

Johnny asked, the receptionist nodding as he pushed a button and the door to their right swung open. 

“She should be in here office, third take a right then a left, fifth door on the left.”

“Thank ya.”

Johnny mumbled, waving his hand as he and X walked through the door and into the back rooms of the hospital. 

Walking through the maze of hallways, X’s audio sensors picked up the faint sound of Johnny repeating the receptionist’s instructions over and over again. Finally coming to the door, Johnny delivered three sharp knocks before promptly pushing the door open. The inside was sparsely decorated, the only things of interest being a desk with a small computer and framed picture displaying Johnny, Alice, Mercury, and Beau. 

“Welp looks like Ma ain’t here, guess-”

“The hell is you doin’ in my office?”

Alice’s angry voice called out, her demeanor changing as the horned woman rounded the corner,

“Ah, it’s you two. Here for the tour or did your Pa send ya?”

“Hadder’s dead Ma, and yes we’s here for the tour. But I think we’s seen enough, brought you a snack.”

Johnny grumbled, fishing a can of oil out of his backpack and tossing it at his mother, already walking out of the room without bothering to see if she caught it,

“Come on X, we’ve got better things to do.”

“Johnny? Johnny. Johnny get back here.”

Alice called, fumbling with the can before following after the boy, finding him and the Dissasembly drone already halfway down the hallway, her knife tail lashing in annoyance,

“Johnny! Get back here you- gah.”

X and Johnny walked in silence, the taller drone fidgeting slightly with his hands as Johnny held his fists at his side. Exiting the building the pair continued on, X finally finding the courage to speak.

“A-are you sure we should have just left? She sounded pretty upset.”

“I don’t care. She can date whoever she’s want, it makes ‘er happy I’s leave it. But I ain’t calling ‘im Pa.”

Johnny growled, his body tense as he aimlessly wandered, his head down.

“I uh… how about we go get some oil, that sounds nice right?”

X asked, awkwardly taking hold of the Worker’s wrist and beginning to lead him back the way they came, Johnny barely resisting in the process. 

Chapter Text

L let out a few grunts as she swung the hammer one final time. Wiggling the two pieces of wood, she nodded before pushing herself off the ground, a tired yawn escaping her. Shaking the sleep from her processor L got to work lifting the shelf onto its feet.

There we go, shelf one complete… only two more to go. Man, this room is small.

“H-hello? Who’s there?”

J’s tired voice called from the living room, the sound of her footsteps following slowly after.

“Over here.”

“And where is over here, you company lawsuit.”
J hissed, awkwardly bumbling through the empty apartment before hooking a right into L’s room.

“Well look at you, you actually made it around without tripping over everything.”

L snorted, already laying out the supplies for her next cabinet, her back turned to the blind squad leader.

“I don’t have time for your jokes L, why didn’t you wake me when you got back.”
J huffed, crossing her arms and pouting before making her way towards the sound of L’s voice.

“Well, not hearing your voice for five minutes was a plus, and you looked cu-”

A loud crash accompanied by the sound of J screaming cut her off, whipping around she snickered as she saw the pigtailed drone fallen flat on her face, the shelf she had worked on laying in shambles. L’s snicker quickly turned to worry as she listened to J whimper while clutching the bandages over her head bulbs. Rushing over, she gently reached out a hand, bitting her cheek as she felt J tense under her touch.

“Ow ow ow ow.”

J whimpered, her feet kicking wildly like a child.

“Stop struggling you- stop struggling.”
L commanded, giving the blind drone a few minutes to calm down before helping her to the bed.

“You didn’t warn me about something in the walkway!”

J yelled, her hand quickly flying to her head once again as she let out a soft whimper.

“I was going to move it, I also expected you to sleep longer.”

L muttered, looking J over before moving to her head, her hands hovering,

“Mind letting me take a look?”

J only grumbled in return, her hands slowly leaving her head as L leaned in to look over the damage. The bandages covering all six of J’s bulbs were ruffled and slightly out of place, a thick whitish-yellow liquid dripping down the wounded girl’s forehead. Gently, L took hold of J’s head and began to move it around slowly, checking for any new dents or bumps. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, L gingerly began to untangle J’s bandages eliciting a hiss from the other girl.

“Oh quit it, your bandages are loose and some of your old wounds opened up. If you let me seal them-”

“I’m not letting you anywhere near face with a blowtorch, especially not when you would be so close.”
J grumbled, her grayed-out eyes looking away as a small blush formed on her visor. 

“Fine fine, I’m just tired of having to change these because your crippled ass can’t keep standing.”

“I can keep standing if I’m warned about any obstructions beforehand.”
J hissed, shivering as she felt the cool air hit her exposed sensors. 

“Well, you broke my shelf so I'd say we’re even.”
L scoffed, slowly beginning to wrap the cloth over J’s bulbs, chuckling internally as she wrapped a few over J’s visor.

“Can you not.”

J growled, pushing the bandages over her visor up to her head,

“Just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I can’t feel things, unpaid intern.”

“Never could have fun, could you J?”

“Someone has to pick up your slack.”
J retorted, a snicker rising from her voicebox.

“Starting to regret being your ‘Designated caretaker’ more and more each day.”
L huffed, the pair going silent as the taller drone continued to tend to the shorter’s wounds.

“[Main office, daycare right next to it, classes are in a hall in the back, left to right is pre-k to seniors. Sports area over there.]”
Doll grumbled, keeping her hands in her trenchcoat pockets as she led the snarky Disassembly drone around the school district.

“Pff, why even have school? Why not just program all your drones with all the knowledge they need?”
Z huffed, her arms crossed and eyes glancing around wildly.

“[Why aren’t you taller, why not just give yourself longer legs?]”

Doll retorted, shaking her head as she saw her partner’s processor go to work.

“Well that’s simple, I don’t have the resources nor would my nanites allow for such a major modification.”

“[Not the point]”

The two walked in silence for a few moments, the eerie quiet quickly interrupted by the piercing sound of the school bell. Before long a stream of younger drones rushed past the two, hooting and hollering as they quickly made their way home, a few of the younger dronelings looking up at Doll and Z with stars in their eyes.

“[Big sister!]”

Nikita’s bubbly voice called out, the small drone girl clad in overalls rocketing into the taller Russian who promptly swung her around in her arms.

“[There you are you little gargoyle, how was school?]”

“[Fun! It was scary at first but after that, we had the day to get to know our classmates! Oh I’m going to have so many friends!]”

Nikita squealed, nuzzling into Doll’s chest before pulling to look at Z.

“[Who is this?]”

“No one, since this is the end of the tour I’m leaving.”

Z growled, jumping into the air before zooming off towards the church. 

“[Good ridence. Come on, papa is waiting for us at home.]”
Doll cooed, hoisting Nikita up to sit on her shoulders, the smaller drone’s hands in Doll’s as they began to walk.

“[Sis?]”

Nikita mumbled, her hands gripping onto the rim of Doll’s hard hat as they walked,

“[Do you think Papa is going to… find someone else and leave us?]”

“[What makes you ask that?]”
Doll asked, her red eyes moving to look up at Nikita’s hands as her footsteps echoed off the buildings around them.

“[Well… all my friends were talking about their parents and how… Papas need Mamas to be happy and-]”

“[Well that is just not true… when I was young, my Mama would regularly spend time out of the house or locked in her bedroom. I was scared, confused… I would always ask my Papa “Does Mama hate us? Does she want to leave us?” and my Papa would always tell me the same thing. “Sweetberry, Mama would never leave us, every family does things differently.”]”

Doll lectured, her mind slipping back into her youth as she talked.

“[So… so Papa won’t leave us… a-and just because Papa does not have Mama doesn’t mean he will leave?]”
Nikita whimpered, leaning further over Doll’s head to look down into her adoptive sister’s eyes.

“[Yes, I am sure Papa is just as happy with you here as he was with Mama.]”

“[Thank you Dolly.]”
Nikita giggled, wrapping her arms around the sides of Doll’s head as the two made their way towards their apartment building.

Helping Nikita off her shoulders, Doll took the girl's hand before slowly pushing open the apartment door, both girls bursting out into giggles at the sight of Nikolai asleep on the couch. Nikolai had his arm draped over the back of the couch with his leg hanging off the side, on top of his usual attire he wore a dirtied apron. 

“[Papa cleaned.]”

Nikita giggled, holding her hands over her mouth the keep herself quiet.

“[Mhmm, and he is all tuckered out. How about we make him some soup as repayment?]”
Doll asked, chuckling softly as she watched the child run off towards the kitchen, Doll not far behind.

Cyn hummed a soft tune as she shuffled through the underground cavern of the cathedral, her arms clutched to her chest and hands flopped limply. The soft sound of water droplets dropping from the ceiling accompanied Cyn’s soft footsteps, her hum only adding to the soft symphony. Reaching a large opening she used as her bed-chamber, Cyn was unsurprised to find the place in disarray.

“[Giggle], you could have, waited, for me, before destroying my, home.”

Cyn called out, the solver symbol flickering at her fingertips.

Slowly turning around, Cyn’s smile grew into a wolfish grin as she saw the look on the two core-crab’s faces, a pickaxe hovering inches from her face. With a flick of the wrist, the weapon was sent flying into the wall, the metal head embedded deep in the rock.

“Nori,”

Cyn said, offering a nod at the purple-eyed core before nodding to the red-eyed core,

“Yeva.”

“Don’t be so casual about us trying to kill you.”

Nori growled, her voice distorted as she skittered about on her thring sharp feet, moving towards the pickaxe.

“You think that just because you built a city everything’s fine between us now?”

Before she could reach the pickaxe, a yellow solver symbol appeared around the handle, and pulled it free from the wall. The weapon was twirled in the air before being crushed and liquified, molten metal leaking onto the cave floor.

“[Sad sigh], no, of course not. However, I feel, I have suffered, enough at the hands of, your bloodline.”

“[What do you mean?]”

Yeva asked, hurling a rock at the small drone only to roll her eye as it pinked off her.

“[Annoyance], one of your daughters, burned my-”

“It was Uzi.”

“[Definently Uzi]”

Cyn hummed softly in agreement, the two core crabs chuckling as they sprang around the cave, Cyn following their movements and sitting crisscross on her bed,

“[Sincere] I know, it means nothing, but… I am, sorry.”

“[You are right it means nothing, now what have you done with my daughter, I know she is here.]”

Yeva growled, crawling up beside Cyn as Nori jumped onto her head, delivering an onslaught of slaps with her points that did very little.

“[Thinking], Hmmm… If I remember correctly, she, lives here now.”

Cyn replied, her head slumped to the side before she pushed it back into place with the back of her hand.

“[You are kidding, do not lie to me witch.]”

Yeva hissed, stabbing one of her legs into Cyn’s thigh, to little reaction.

“No, [Smile], I could, take you in the morning, if you, like.”

“Don’t trust her Yevs.”

Nori cautioned, continuing to beat at Cyn’s head to no avail.

“[Annoyed sigh], [reaching], I wish to keep the, past, in the, past.”

Cyn replied, her hand reaching up to hold Nori’s core with an iron grip.

“You, have my, word.”

“Bite me! What about my daughter? And my hunk of a husband?!”

Nori yelled, flailing around in Cyn’s hand before scrambling away as she was set down.

“[Confident], if my predictions are correct, and they usually, are. Uzi, will return in, three, days. Until then, I wish to, make amends.”

“[And what make’s you think we’ll accept.]”
Yeva questioned, grunting as Nori wrapped one of her claws around her.

“[Hopeful], Hope. I know, I can not make up for, what I have done. But, I will try.”
Cyn replied, looking away with a genuine look of sadness,

“My own, friend. My first, creation. He… tolerates me. I do not like, that. I would rather, die, than let anything happen, to this city again.”

A silence fell over the room as Cyn continued to stare at the ground, the whispers of Nori and Yeva barely audible, even less so when Cyn turned down her audio sensors to give the two privacy. At long last it was Nori who broke the silence,

“Fine. We’ll humor you, but don’t think this means we’re ok with… whatever this is you’re doing down here.”

“[Soft smile], I’ll take it.”

Chapter Text

Mercury tapped his foot softly as he prepared that day's dinner. Glancing down at his watch, Mercury sighed at the time before looking up at the door.

Did she have to work late? She would have called if she did, right? Johnny’s not home either… No, he’s a responsible adult, he can take care of himself, there’s nothing to worry about… then again, he’s Alice’s son.

Before he could dwell on his thoughts any longer, the apartment's front door slowly swung open, an emotionally drained-looking Alice trudging through. Closing the door behind her, Alice shrugged off her white coat before walking like a zombie towards Mercury. Reaching the male drone she sank to her knees, her arms wrapped tightly around him as she buried her face into his midsection. Caught off guard, Mercury froze for a second before shaking his head, lifting Alice’s antlered helmet from her head before combing his fingers through her auburn hair. 

“Tough day?”
Mercury asked, setting Alice’s helmet to the side.

Alice only groaned in reply, tightening her hold on the back of his sweatshirt before she looked up at him, tears at the corners of her eyes,

“I-i think Johnny hates me.”

“What makes you say that?”

“H-he… he brought that X by my office for the tour and… I-i said something that made him mad,”

Alice mumbled, looking away with a downcast expression.

Letting out a sigh Mercury gently cupped Alice’s cheek, his thumb running over the metal as he leaned down to press a soft kiss to her visor,

“Can you tell me what you said?”

“I… I asked ‘im if he was there for the tour or you sent him…”
Alice muttered, taking a few seconds to look up into Mercury’s eyes before continuing,

“And I… I referred to you as “Pa”.”

“Ah, I see. He said something about Hadder being dead, didn’t he?”
Mercury asked, letting out a soft sigh as he saw Alice nod,

“Not that uncommon, children dealing with a divorce or deceased parent usually don’t do well with their parent finding a new partner, the idea of calling me Dad for him would be akin to just forgetting about Hadder altogether.”

“I’s just… you said it yerself, this here city is our place to rebuild. To not have to worry about what came before all this.”
Alice replied, her voice cracking as she buried her face into Mercury’s chest.

“Admittedly, not my brightest moment,”

Mercury chuckled as his fingers continued to run through her hair. 

“Let me rephrase, you can move on without forgetting. Besides, Johnny is too old to be calling me dad, I am almost thirty after all.”

“You say that like that’s old.”

“You’re right miss almost-forty.”

Mercury chuckled, shielding himself as Alice swatted at him with her tail, the knife burying itself in his hand.

“Crap didn’t mean to stab ya that time.”

Alice hissed, quickly pulling her tail from Mercury’s hand before licking at the wound.

“Na, it’s fine. It doesn’t hurt as much as it used to.”

Mercury chuckled, cringing slightly as Alice’s tongue began lapping at his wound.

“Would have thought a doctor would know to care better for a wound like that.”

“Shut up ya ijit… what’s for dinner?”

Alice asked, glancing over to the stove as Mercury laughed.

“Well, I’m glad you asked.”


“About seven hundred drones by my guess. Maybe more, they’re building new apartments every day.”

V reported, laying on the ground of Uzi’s bedroom with her legs crossed.

“Seven hundred!? I didn’t know there were that many Worker drones on this planet let alone still alive! No no no no no, I-i can’t go down there!”

Uzi panicked, her hands on her head as N tried to calm her.

“What about the squads we detected coming in? What does Cyn have them doing?”

N asked, gently petting Uzi’s head while looking at V.

“Don't know, I saw a few of them coming out of some wooden box on the roof of the cave. If I had to guess, they're probably some police force, a few of them were patrolling.”

V replied, changing his hand to a claw and picking at her teeth, pulling an antenna from her mouth before flicking it away. 

“No doubt because of us…”

N mumbled, pulling Uzi into his lap and holding her close.

“I can't do it, I-i can't go down there. Hundreds of eyes all staring at me, I can't! What if they try to hurt us? What if they succeed? I can't… I'm not…”

“Breath Uzi, deep breaths.”

N soothed, letting out a sigh of relief as he watched Uzi begin to follow his instructions.

“Yeah, don't worry about it. Anyone tries to start anything and bang,”

V cackled, her clawed hand shifting to a gun,

“We'll fight our way out.”

“V, stop it. We've done enough, no violence.”

N replied sternly, looking up to the drone while clutching a still anxious Uzi to his chest.

“Fine, jeez, I was just saying-”

“And I'm telling you to stop.”

N growled, his tone catching the usually stoic psycho off guard,

“We've done enough already, we're going down, we're going to apologize, and then we leave. That's the best course of action.”

“Robo-Jesus, fine N. But-”

A knock at the door cut V off, the two Disassemblers' eyes snapping to look at the door. Slowly, the door slid open with Khan and a pink-eyed, blond drone in the doorway.

“Well, there you go. I'm going back to working on dinner.”

Khan called, his voice as boisterous as ever.

“Sup losers.”

Lizzy said, her hip cocked as she walked into the bedroom before plopping down next to V, her eyes looking over the decor.

“About what I expected.”

Seeing Lizzy, Uzi quickly wiped the tears from her visor before trying to adopt her edgy teen attitude once again,

“Why are you here?”

“V invited me, due. After she told me she saw Doll down in that weird murder colony I knew I had to go see how my bestie was doing.”

Lizzy giggled, her fingers flying across her phone keyboard before she snapped a picture.

“Before you get upset, I'll keep her in line.”

V said, crossing her arms and shaking her head at Lizzy’s nonchalance.

“I… fine, but she leaves when we do, or she walks home.”

Uzi grumbled, burying herself into N’s chest again, the male drone's arms latched around hers.

S“[I am suddenly having second thoughts on this.]”

Yeva murmured, looking around at the buildings around them from her perch on Cyn’s head.

“[Giggle], Well, sadly that is not an, option.”

Cyn laughed, shuffling slowly down the street while waving to the few out on the street.

“[What if she has already moved on? Why would she not? What if-]”

“You are rambling Yeva.”

“[I… I am just scared she will be angry that I did not come back.]”
Yeva replied, her demeanor deflating as Cyn carried her into one of the many apartment complexes.

Cyn smiled at one of the drones descending the stairway, the drone nodding in return. Slowly ascending the stairs, the boards creaked below them as they went level by level. Stopping in front of a door on the fifth floor, Cyn’s hands moved up to grab Yeva, the core drone wiggling uncomfortably in her grasp. Tucking Yeva under her arm, Cyn raised her hand to deliver three sharp knocks to the door, a brown-eyed drone answering after a few minutes.

“[Yes? Oh, hello Miss Cyn, to what do I owe the pleasure?]”

Nikolai asked, his eyes flickering down to the wide-eyed core drone in her hand before back up at the shorter maid’s face.

“[Smile], Hello, Nikolai. This is, Yeva. Is Doll, here?”

“[No, why? Did she do something wrong?]”

“[Giggle], no. Well, I shall be, off.”

Cyn replied flatly, tossing Yeva to Nikolai before disappearing in a yellow flicker.

Nikolai fumbled with Yeva for a few seconds before finally catching her in his hands, a bewildered look in his voice and on his face,

“[Wait this…]”

“[Hello.]”

Yeva mumbled sheepishly before hopping out of Nikolai’s arms and scampering towards the couch, her sharp feet clacking against the wood floor.

“[Uhh… hi. What was that all about?]”

Nikolai asked, heading back to the kitchen and continuing to prepare dinner.

“[I will explain when Doll is here. Speaking of…]”

“[Ah, she went with Nikita to fetch oil for tonight's soup. Will you be staying?]”

Nikolai asked, slowly stirring a pot with his back to the core drone.

“[Yes… Do you… how do you know Doll?]”

“[Through my daughter mostly, she was tugging on the poor girl's coattails when I found her. Nikita thought she was pretty and, well… It was good for her to talk to another Russian speaker.]”

Nikolai chuckled, his laughter devoid of happiness.

“[ah… and you see her as?]”

Yeva asked, her claw raised and solver active as she watched the unaware drone.

Before Nikolai could respond, Yeva felt something slam into her, a warm liquid covering her body. A pail was quickly placed over her, trapping her against the couch as a loud clang sounded through the pail.

“[PAPA!]”
Doll’s unmistakable voice called out, the word sending a jolt of nostalgia through Yeva’s body.

“[What are you doing!?]”

Nikolai yelled, his voice filled with confusion and slight fear.

“[The creepy flesh thing was going to attack you Papa.]”

A young feminine voice replied, sounding like she was sitting on the pail.

“[Flesh- no, no no no, she was looking for you Doll.]”

“[Me? What would she want with-.]”

“[Russian Doll, get me out of here this instant.]”

Yeva commanded, the room outside going quiet as she heard Doll let out a squeak.

The sound of footsteps grew louder as Nikita climbed off the pail, the darkness slowly lifting as Doll’s red eyes peered down into Yeva’s, a wide red blush on the younger girl’s face,

“[M-Mama?]”

All Yeva could only nod, her processor too preoccupied with looking over her daughter. Despite how much she had grown, Yeva could still see the little pill baby she brought home, her singular eye tearing up.

“[Oh, my little matryoshka, how much you’ve grown.]”

Yeva mumbled, her pointed leg reaching to caress Doll’s cheek gently.

“[I-i… you… this…]”

Doll mumbled, her legs giving out as she dropped to her knees, tears slowly rolling down her face.

“[We’ll give you two a moment.]”

Nikolai murmured, taking Nikita’s hand and leading the girl out of the apartment, the door closing softly behind them.

Mother and daughter sat silently for a while, the soft sound of Doll’s sniffling breaking up the quiet every so often. With shaky breath, Doll pushed herself back to her feet before slumping down on the couch, Yeva slowly climbing up her arm to perch on her shoulder.

“[Why did you not come back?]”

“[I… I could not face you after… your father dead, why was it fair for me to live? I just… I was selfish.]”

Yeva replied, her voice fraying as she leaned against Doll’s cheek.

“[You should have came back.]”

“[I know… Have you been doing well? Eating and sleeping enough?]”

Yeva asked her claw gently scrapping across the girl's cheek in an attempt at comfort.

“[Yes. No. Things have been hectic since… that day. Ever since then, I wanted revenge… to make the monster suffer the same way I had… I still do but… this is… this is nice. A place I feel normal, a place where I do not have to hide what I am. Pap- Nikolai is kind, as is Nikita. For once I feel at peace.]”

Doll lamented, her eyes blinking closed as she leaned back against the couch, the movement causing Yeva to shift.

“[The do seem kind. Nikita reminds me of you when you were younger. So full of life, so carefree, and you trust Nikolai enough to call him Papa… Alexi always told me you would do fine on your own.]”

“[Please don’t leave.]”

Doll begged, her voice filled with fear as she clutched at the core drone on her shoulder.

“[Shh, shhh. I am not going anywhere… You live with them, yes?]”

Yeva asked, chuckling softly as she saw the relief in Doll’s eyes, followed by a curt nod.

“[Good, if they should allow it, I wish to stay with you as well, catch up on lost time.]”

“[I… I would like that. I would like that very much.]”

Doll murmured, lifting her mother off her shoulder, she hugged her tight to her chest, a small smile fluttering onto her face.

Chapter Text

L leaned forward against the balcony railing, her eyes scanning over the courtyard below as her fellow Disassemblers trained below. A scoff from behind her caused L’s attention to shift to the blind J behind her.

“Why am I even here? I can feel people staring.”

J hissed, her hands clenching and rolling L’s tail.

“We’re fifty feet above the ground, J. You’re here because I don’t trust you and P alone.”
L replied, lightly smacking J’s hand with her tail, causing the pigtailed girl to yelp.

“Corporate liability.”

J pouted, causing L’s chuckling to grow.

“Oh don’t be like that, you keep up the name-calling I’ll send you down there to be one of their training dummies.”

“Y-you’d send someone who can’t fight back down to train?”

J asked, her voice shaky as she tightened her grip on L’s tail.

L rolled her eyes before pulling J towards the railing. The shorter drone yelled in response as her lifeline was ripped from her hands. Her outstretched appendages made contact with the railing, which she promptly grabbed onto.

“It’s not that kind of training idiot, it’s social training. Half of these drones have never talked to a Worker in their life, if they have it was to taunt them.”
L lectured, shaking her head at the confused look on the suited drone's face.

“They’re learning how to talk to others normally.”

“Excuse me!”

A tired voice called up to the two, cutting J off as she was about to ask.

Both drones turned to look at the new voice, J growling as she turned more out of habit. Below them, a tall female Disassembler stood clad in a yellow raincoat, her visor displaying lines under her eyes. Seeing the two looking at her, smiled before giving a soft wave.

“Sorry, I was just wondering if P was here?”

“Nope, she was going to be but had some disease going through her plants. She’ll be back for tomorrow's session if you need to talk to her.”

L replied, grabbing J back the back of her suit as the blind girl leaned further over the rail.

“Oh, well thank you very much, I’ll just wait till then.”

The drone replied, swiftly turning on her pegs and walking back towards the training area.

“Amature.”

J huffed, wrenching herself away from L’s grasp before crossing her arms over her chest with a pout,

“Can’t that blathering idiot see that neither of us looks anything like P?”

“You’re one to talk.”

L snickered, turning back to look out over the courtyard.

A long silence passed between the two, the soft sound of the Disassemblers conversing below them providing any real noise. As the minutes passed, L became increasingly more aware of J shifting awkwardly next to her, the shorter squad leader's hands wringing as her gray eyes glanced in L’s direction.

“What now?”

J jumped at the sound of L’s voice, a small blush growing across her visor as she realized she had been caught,

“Well, I uh… just… couldyoudescribewhatthetrainingyardlookslike.”

“Really? That was hard for you to say. Your ego never ceases to amaze me.”
L chucked, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the railing her tail slowly snaked up into J’s grasp, causing the other girl to relax noticeably,

“Well, they have about… oh, six tables set up, two chairs for each. There’s a worker drone at each chair and the fifteen disassemblers are cycling through, they get ten or so minutes alone with the worker-”

“What are they doing?”

J cut in, causing L to roll her eyes.

“If you had waited a minute, they have to keep a conversation going for at least eight minutes, if they can’t the worker will try and get them going again. They pass and fail based on how often they need the worker to keep the conversation going.”

“Oh, well that doesn’t sound so bad…”
J mumbled, her grip tightening on L’s tail slightly as she turned her head to look at the ground.

“I… thank you.”

Before L could reply the sound of shouting off in the direction of one of the elevators caught their attention. The Disassemblers down below began to move to investigate, only to stop as Cyn appeared in the middle of them, following after the shuffling Worker drone a few seconds later.

V growled as she brandished her claws, her eyes rapidly scanning over the hoards of worker drones on the edges of the street, each visor filled with hatred or fear for the group as they made their way toward the cathedral. Glancing over her shoulder, V’s expression lightened slightly at Uzi clinging to N, his coat open with Uzi snuggled tightly against him.

“Pff, ew.”

Lizzy scoffed, looking around unimpressed at the buildings and crowds around them, seeing V’s scowl she rolled her eyes,

“Ugh, not ew. God, you’re such a diva.”

“Would you shut. Up.”

V hissed, dropping back to stick closer to N and Uzi.

“Too many, I-i can’t do this N.”

Uzi mumbled, her arms wrapped tightly around N’s waist as she buried her face in his chest.

“Yes, you can, it’s just that little bug in your mind telling you you can’t. Just keep a hold of me.”

N soothed, gently combing his hand through the girl's short, purple hair. 

Lizzy scoffed at the display, her eyes flicking down to her phone as she began to type. Hitting send, the blond caught the unmistakable long purple hair and red eyes of her Russian friend. Lizzy’s head whipped up to the taller drone, Doll stood on one of the apartment entry stairways, and a smaller brown-eyed dronling sat on her shoulders. Seeing Lizzy, Doll’s mood instantly soured, the look of confused curiosity shifting to an annoyed scowl, the look causing Lizzy to pause her waving before looking away with a scoff.

“[Big sis?]”

Nikita asked, leaning over Doll’s helmet to look into the tall girl’s eyes,

“[Who’s that?]”

“[Just a snake, you don’t need to worry about her.]”

Doll growled, both her and Nikita’s eyes following the group as they made their way through the solver colony, a scowl on both their faces as V walked past them, their eye shifting to the solver in sync.

“I-i can’t do this.”
Uzi murmured, clinging to N tighter.

“Yes, you can, just deep breaths Uzi. Deep breathes.”

N soothed, rubbing gentle circles into Uzi’s back, his eyes glancing around nervously at the many faces.

The walk to the cathedral felt like hours. The streets the group walked lined up and down with workers taking time out of their day to stare at the three who had caused them unspeakable pain. Uzi took the townspeople's gaze especially poorly, her arms wrapped tightly around N as they moved, the cathedral growing with each step. The entrance was lined on either side with Disassemblers standing at attention with their eyes staring directly ahead of them, their bulbs clearly trained on the group as they approached. 

Growing ever bored of the situation, Lizzy broke off from the group to begin wandering the streets of the solver colony, leaving N, V, and Uzi alone to confront Cyn. The trio’s footsteps echoed through the empty hall as they approached the three figures standing behind the podium on stage, already mid-conversation.

“-Probably halfway across the planet by now curled up on some beach reading a book.”
L replied, her tail coiled around J’s leg as she conversed with Cyn.

“[Thoughtfu], hmm, as expected. They do deserve some rest, don’t they?”

Cyn hummed, her head turned to look up at the three approaching drones,

“[Cheerful], ah, just as expected. Hello, Uzi. Hi N!”

“Cut it out Cyn, if you had enough time to set up your little welcome party outside, you know why we’re here.”

V hissed, her hands raised defensively as her eyes flickered between the two, eventually landing on J.

“And of course, you’re here too.”

“I wouldn’t be if you leakers had actually tried to find me.”

J hissed, her nose turned up in a scowl as she looked away, her arms crossed over her chest,

“But here I actually feel valued for my intellect, unlike with you, interns.”

“J quit it.”
L hissed, causing the pig-tailed drone to quickly clench her jaw.

“Let's just get this over with.”

Uzi mumbled as she pulled away from N.

Uzi took a deep breath as she slowly walked towards the small form of Cyn, the shaking of her hands betraying her attempt at a calm and collected persona. Reaching the top step she looked down at the short maid, digital sweat forming at the edge of her monitor as she began to speak, only to be cut off by Cyn raising her hand.

“[Annoyed], I’m not the one you should, apologize to.”

Cyn said, her usual monotone voice having a distinct bite in it.

Cyn reached out to grab Uzi’s wrist and in an instant the two were teleported to the roof of the cathedral, overlooking a large group of workers who stood silently. Seeing the sheer number of people was enough to make Uzi want to puke, each pair of eyes boring into her skull as Cyn drew everyone’s attention. The purple worker barely registered any of the words Cyn said, her anxiety peeking for a moment as Cyn pulled her forward with the solver.

Uzi stood in silence for a few seconds, her mind blank before she began to awkwardly speak,

“U-uhh… hello. I uh… my name’s Uzi doorman and I… uh… want to apologize? It uh… I… I burned down your city and I… I don’t want to… I didn’t… this is just… I-I was scared ok? The solver it… it took so much from me, hurt people I cared about and-”

“And you think that makes it ok to take away my son!?”

An older female drone yelled from the ground, her voice on the edge of breaking as all eyes turned to look at her,

“You think because you were scared you get to take him away from me!”

The crowd stood in silence for a few seconds before another voice called out,

“Yeah! What about us? Do you think we weren’t scared watching our neighbors get ripped to pieces?!”

“What about my Mom?!”

“You monsters killed my brother and you want to apologize?!”

“DISGUSTING!”

Each voice that rose against Uzi’s apology spurred more and more of the townspeople on, the few calls turning into a roar as the mob below began to belittle and insult her, their voices filled with anger and resentment. 

“If you wanted to apologize you should have never come here!”
A voice yelled out in a short silence, the drone’s words swiftly being taken up by the rest of the group as they began to yell up at the purple teen.

“Yeah!”

“Yeah, get out of here!”

“Leave us be!”

Each word made Uzi shrink back, the crowd’s yells only growing at the lack of response from the purple girl. Deciding enough was enough Cyn snapped her fingers as the Disassemblers below began to disperse the crowd, many continuing their insults as they walked away. 

“It seems the people have decided. [Giggle] Please leave.”
Cyn smiled, dusting off her maid uniform before teleporting the two back into the church.

“Johnny?”

“What do you’s want X?”

Johnny growled as he bit into the battery pack, the cafe was mostly empty save for a few employees still working.

“Do you want to talk about it? Your mom seemed-”

“The hell do you’s care what my mama seemed? Ain’t yer problem now is it?”

Johnny hissed, his free hand griped the table tightly as he looked up at the taken aback drone,

“My family ain’t none of yer concern.”

“I just wanted to help.”
X mumbled, awkwardly fiddling with his hands in his lap.

“You ain’t helped me since you’s got here.”
Johnny huffed, dropping the half-eaten battery pack on the table before looking away with a huff.

“Johnny I… what you did wasn’t very cool of you. I don’t know everything about what happened but from the sounds of it, you’re-”

“In the wrong? And idiot? Some stupid little droneling whining about somethin’ that's already done?”

Johnny cut in, his fists clenching tighter and tighter with each insult.

“Upset Johnny, I was going to say upset. I don’t… my parents were the assemblers and the factory I was built in. I never… I never had someone that cared about me like that, the same way your mom does. I just… I don’t know man, I just don’t want you to feel like you’re on your own.”
X replied, his eyes downcast as he spoke, his fingers pressed together.

“You… fine. I’ll think it over, ain’t like it’s gonna change a thing, I ain’t never gonna call him Pa.”

Johnny huffed, looking away with an annoyed scowl as the two sat in silence for a minute, a scoff rising from the worker as he looked at X’s smiling face.

“Get that smile off yer face, you’s look like an idiot.”

“A cool idiot.”

X replied, shooting finger guns at the grumpy drone, his smile growing tenfold as he saw Johnny smirk.

“Nope, just a regular idiot, come on, let me show you’s some of the cool places-”
Johnny started, only for both drones' heads to turn to the commotion outside, three drones clearing the way while two pulled a cart with a limp drone in the back.

“Shit, you’s should probably go help em, looks like they’re gonna need help getting to the hospital.”

“Ah, right, I’m sure they need a cool guy to clear the way. See you later?”

X asked, springing up from his seat he looked over his shoulder as he made his way towards the door.

“Ehh, sure why not.”

Chapter Text

When he came home, Johnny first noticed the distinct lack of his mother's voice. The apartment was quiet save for the sound of Mercury shuffling around in the kitchen. Realizing what was about to happen, Johnny began to creep towards his room as quietly as possible.

“Your mother’s going to be working late today, do you want dinner?”

Mercury asked, the sound causing Johnny to jump.

Wheeling around, the younger worker drone found Mercury standing over a pot, idly swirling a spoon around the black sludge of oil inside. Johnny released a deep breath before he went to the kitchen and sat at their table, his eyes looking everywhere but at the older drone.

“Ma probably told you’s about what happened.”

Johnny mumbled, his hands fiddling with the straps of his backpack.

“Mhmm.”

“And… you’s wanna talk to me about how I’s should start over again and-”

“What? No.”

Mercury replied, glancing over his shoulder to look at the confused drone,

“I understand completely.”

“Y-you do?”

Johnny asked, looking up at the older drone with wide eyes.

“Well yeah, I know it, you know it, Alice knows it. I’m not your father Hadder is. I do think it would be best for all of us to move on, but I also understand that you’ve spent the last however many years of your life knowing who your father was.”
Mercury lectured, a smile slowly spreading across his face as he turned back to stirring the pot,

“If you don’t mind me ranting, before the core collapsed my job was as a psychiatrist and therapist. I remember there was this one girl in the same situation, her mother died a few days after she was born and she had lived for six years before her dad decided to remarry.”

“She hated her new ma?”

Johnny cut in, the room silent for a moment before Mercury burst out laughing.

“Well, I hope it's not a carbon copy of her situation but yes, she did despise her step-mother. If you don’t mind me asking, how do you feel about me and your mother being together?”

“I… well… it's complicated and I-”

“Oh don’t worry about hurting my feelings, lay it on me.”

Mercury said, cutting Johnny off.

Seeing the kind look in Mercury’s eyes Johnny felt himself begin to relax, the tension in his body leaving him as he began to speak,

“I tell myself I don’t care… that Ma can do whatever she wants and all that, but… I… I’s feel betrayed. Like she’s just throwin’ Pa away and forgettin’ everything that happened… all the good times.”

“Like because she wants you to see me as your new father figure she’s telling you to forget all about Hadder, I see. Your mother told me a few things about your father, admittedly not much, would you be willing to tell me anything?”

Mercury asked, tapping the ladle on the pot's rim before turning off the stove.

“Where to begin? Pa was kinda like Ma; headstrong, protective, kind, carin’... I’s was young when he locked himself in that room. Ma didn’t touch the place, but I would spend hours talkin’ with Pa, telling him I wouldn’t hate him… Pa took me to see the sun a few days after I was born, took us to this tall building where we’s sat and watched that ball’o’fire risin’ above the clouds.”

Johnny lamented, his hands clasped together in his lap as he continued in a solemn tone,

“It just feels like… like admittin’ Pa is gone by calling you’s Pa.”

“Hmm, well I'm more than content with you just calling me Mercury. Your mother told me you enjoy writing, mind if I ask what about?”

Mercury asked, a smile spreading across his face as he watched Johnny’s face light up, the younger drone swiftly sat up and began to speak with a passion Mercury hadn’t seen in a while.

Doll sat silently in the sparsely decorated room, the soft ticking of the clock accompanying her thoughts. Doll idly drummed her fingers against the steel table, her eyes flickering to the door every so often as she awaited her interviewer. After what felt like hours, the door to the room slid open and a fairly average worker drone wearing a parka walked in, his eyes lighting up as he saw the Russian already seated.

“Ahh, nice to see you’re already situated. Marcus, but most people just call me Mark. You’re Doll, correct?”

Marcus asked, sticking out his hand which Doll swiftly accepted.

“[Yes, Doll. Can we get started?]”

“Ah, an eager beaver, alright. Basic interview stuff, questions, evaluation. Just between you and me, you’ve already got the job, there are not many people who trust the Death Angels to bring them their food.”
Marcus chuckled, before pulling out his chair and taking a seat, and clasping his hands together,

“First question, why is that?”

“[These Murder drones are kittens compared to what I’ve seen.]”

Doll replied dryly, her face emotionless as she stared across the table.

“Ooooook, moving on the job requires the creation of the oil as well as the distribution. Since we’ve already established you’re the only candidate, let me run you through that process.”
Marcus cheerfully chuckled before pushing himself out of the chair, Doll following suit.

Doll tuned out most of Marcus’s ramblings as the two made their way through the monotonous halls of the Cafe, her mind too preoccupied with the events of the past month.

Survive an attack by Uzi and her drones, help Niki deal with her powers activating, get used to a calm life living with Murder drones, and to top it all off Mom came back? Robo-Jesus, what is going to happen next?

“And here we are.”

Marcus chirped, the chipper drone's voice cutting through Doll’s thoughts as she found herself standing outside a room.

Marcus stepped forward and typed a short string of numbers into the door panel before it slid open with a mechanical whirr. The inside was industrial, a conveyor stood against the opposite wall with pipes lining the roof. In the middle of the room was a large console, buttons, and dials lining its surface, each labeled with tape. 

“The first thing you’re going to be doing each day is inspecting the machines inside and out. Inside figuratively of course.”

Marcus laughed, patting Doll on the back as he ushered her towards the main console,

“This is your workstation quote on quote, the oil we give to the Death Angels is a special mix so that’s what you’re going to be doing after your inspection, now-”

“[Hold on, should you not be showing me how to go through the inspection?]”

Doll asked, cutting Marcus off and causing the other drone to freeze for a few seconds.

“Ah, right, well inspect wouldn’t be the right word for it, it's more just are there any large holes in the pipes, are they leaking anything, can you hear a rumbling when the machine is turned on’ that kind of thing. But, if you really want to be helpful you can cycle the pipes.”

“[Cycle the pipes?]”

“Cycle the pipes, a short process of clearing them out of any built-up gunk. It’s not part of the job description but if you want to help out the maintenance guys, I’m sure they’ll be more than happy.”
Marcus replied, the two approaching the main console, each button on the desk had a piece of white tape below it, words written in Sharpie adorning each piece.

“[You said something about a ‘special mix’ yes? Why is it not made elsewhere?]”
Doll asked, her eyes scanning over the console as she listened to the older drone talk.

“Well, a lot of the machinery that processes these compounds that you're mixing don’t go well together. Heat is good for treating oil, but not so much for liquid propane. Now you’re going to want to follow this handy card taped to the top of the console, don’t follow that and we need to find new piping.”

As he walked Doll through the process, Marcus got to work demonstrating,

“This light tells you that the container is securely locked in place, these ten buttons are your ingredients, pull this green lever down to unlock the container start the conveyor, and wait a few seconds.”

The conveyor slowly began to trundle before a small barrel of oil came out, stopping at the end. Doll grunted as she picked up the container and followed Marcus out an adjacent door leading to the street. The two stood inside a small stand, a cloth tarp overhanging the enclosed area with a counter at the front.

“[Murder drones have to come collect?]”
Doll asked, heaving the container up onto the counter.

“Yup, each squad usually sends down one of their own to collect each day- ah, I see that look in your eye, to answer why they don’t just have one get for all of them, well, at the end of the day they’re still Disassemblers, territorial and distrustful of their own. It's for that same reason they come randomly throughout the day.”

“[So I stand around all day and wait?]”

Doll asked, her tone dripping with annoyance at the idea of the monotonous task.

“Well in its most simplified form, yeah. But you can bring a book or play a game or something, just as long as the DDs get their lunch. I already fed them today, so the first shift starts tomorrow… as long as there aren’t any issues that is?”

Marcus asked, raising his eyebrow as he looked Doll in the eye.

“[No, that should be perfect.]”

Y slowly shambled through the school district, her clawed hand roughly scratching at the scars on the underside of her forearm. She sighed softly before rolling down her raincoat sleeve, her hood flapping behind her with each step. The silence of her patrol was soon interrupted by the ringing of a school bell, and fifty or so dronelings running out of their classrooms, many looking to be around twelve. Y barely had time to react before one of the small drones slammed into her leg and fell flat on his back.

“Sorry, I wasn’t-”
The boy started, only to freeze as he looked up at the tall murder drone standing in front of him,

“I-i-i-i-i.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”
Y murmured, her voice doing little to quell the fear in the small drone's eyes.

A group gathered around the two, each pair of eyes locked on the tall drone. Many of the eyes were filled with fear or at the very least caution, a few of the older dronelings showed anger, and even less showed curiosity. Before the situation could get out of hand, the beating of wings slowly drew near. A shorter Disassembly drone in overalls landed between Y and the droneling, the taller Disassembler letting out a relieved sigh as her radar locked onto P’s signal.

“P!”

The boy cried, pushing himself off the ground he quickly scurried behind P, peeking out anxiously at Y,

“I-i didn’t meant to run into the scary drone, please don’t let her eat me!”

“Scary drone?”

P asked, glancing over her shoulder before looking up at a blushing Y,

“Who, Y? She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“B-but she’s s-so scary.”
The boy protested, his hands in a death grip on P’s overalls.

“Is she now?”

P chuckled, turning around to face the boy, she kneeled to be at his level before speaking again,

“She may look scary, but she’s here to keep you and your friends safe. If you think she’s scary that means she’s doing a good job right? Bad drones won’t want to come here if we have scary Y.”

“I-i… I guess that makes sense… Sorry.”
The boy sheepishly mumbled, his eyes now locked on the ground as he clasped his hands in front of him.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Y replied, her CPU instantly blanking as she felt P grab her hand, say something to the kids, and begin to lead her away.

She grabbed me, is she going to discipline me? No no, only squad leaders can do that. But is she the squad leader of her squad? Is she going to be like Z? Do I-

“Hey hey hey hey, Y stop that.”

P commanded, concern etched on her face and voice as she grabbed at Y’s arm.

Following P’s gaze, Y froze as she scratched at the old scars on her right forearm, small oil lines leaking from the reopened wounds. Y quickly pulled her arm away from P, tucking it under her other arm while smiling awkwardly.

“I-its nothing, just old uhh… habit is all.”

Y mumbled, her free hand moving up to pull the hood of her raincoat down.

“Y that’s a serious problem! What even causes a tick like that?”
P asked, her tone even more concerned than before.

“It’s nothing.”

Y answered, her voice more forceful than she meant it to be.

“It doesn’t look like nothing to me. Come on, I’m taking you to the hospital.”
P replied, her hand grabbing for Y’s injured arm before switching to her uninjured one.

“I don’t-”

“I wasn’t asking, Y.”

P hissed, her voice bubbling with authority as Y could do nothing but let the shorter drone drag her along.

Chapter Text

“Well, none of yer internal components seem to be fried, how’s about yer servos and memory? Anything feeling locked up or missing?”

“No ma’am, the last thing I remember was fiddling with a console while exploring and then getting zapped.”

Alice hummed softly as she stripped the rubber gloves from her hand and tossed them into the cleaning bin. The doctor’s processor was softly ticking away as she tried to decipher the problem.

No physical or system damage, simple electrocution? No, if it was enough to put him out of it for that long it would have fried at least a few smaller wires. It could have been just enough current to short his systems. No, he would have only been out for a few seconds, minutes at most, and even then we’d have to shock him awake…

“Well, nothing seems to be damaged, and if yer not feeling anything off I don’t see any reason to keep ya here. Though I would recommend havin’ yer buddies monitor ya in case they notice any strange happenin’s.”
Alice said, pulling a small notebook out of her pocket and jotting down a few things.

“You got it doc, sorry for troubling you.”

“Na, ain’t no trouble. Here’s yer not for the nurse up front, she’ll-”

Alice started, only to hiss as a small bolt of electricity shot from the drone's finger into hers, causing her to wave her hand around.

“I-is that normal?”

The other drone asked, his eyes hollow.

“Yeah, it’s just built-up static. Footpads ain’t letting it discharge into the ground is all. If you find you start shockin’ others consistently come back here quick.”

Alice replied, shaking her hand for a few more seconds before letting it fall back to her side.

The doctor waved off the other drone as they parted ways, him heading toward the front desk and Alice through the winding halls before arriving at her office. A desk occupied most of the space with a thin storage locker in the back corner. No sooner had she taken a seat than there was a sharp knock on her door, causing the woman to growl before angrily dragging herself to the door. Pulling the large piece of wood open Alice’s face barely changed as she saw two disassembly drones standing before her, one in a yellow raincoat, the other in all too familiar overalls.

“Hey Alice, just wanted to stop in so you could look at Y’s-”

“You do realize there’s a process to this right? Ain’t like you can just walk back here P.”
Alice huffed, leaving the door open as she made her way back towards her desk.

P stood frozen for a few seconds before shaking her head and stepping inside, Y had to stoop to make it through the doorway,

“Well… you owe me. Please, Alice, it will only be a few minutes at most.”

“Fine. What’s the issue.”

“Y, show her.”
P commanded, her hand resting on the taller disassembler's back as Y pulled up the sleeve of her raincoat, exposing three long gashes down the bottom of her forearm.

Alice barely glanced at the wound before she let out a soft hum and turned around, already rummaging through her desk,

“P, could ya leave?”

“What? But this-”

“Patient confidentiality.”
Alice replied, her tone stern as she cast a dangerous glance over to the short drone.

P opened her mouth to protest only to pause as she saw Y’s face. Biting her tongue P made her way out of the office, an annoyed murmur rising from the girl. Alone, Alice caught Y’s eyes wandering over her office, a chuckle rising from the worker as she turned around with a large piece of fabric.

“Not very decorated eh?”

“You’d think it would be more decorated. Being the head doctor and all.”

Y replied, a sigh leaving her as she sat cross-legged on the floor.

“So, wanna tell me what happened with this?”

Alice asked her hand gently wrapped around the larger drone's wrist as she looked at the oiled wound.

“Just a nervous tick. I get anxious in new situations.”

“Yeah? Lying ain’t seem like it's making ya anxious.”

Alice commented, the words barely registering in Y’s ears at how unenthusiastically Alice delivered them.

“Lying?”
Y asked, her head tilted slightly to the side as she tried, and failed, to act confused.

“Oh don’t give me that, might be able to pull one over on P, but I’s picked yer kind apart piece by piece. Every one of you Disassemblers I’ve checked on has the same claw structure, triangles about half a centimeter deep then it turns into real claws. Now most of yer wounds go from hand to elbow which is expect of self-infliction's like this’en,”

Alice lectured, her hands moving separately from her mouth as she wrapped the fabric around Y’s wounds,

“But if ya look at the older scars here, you see that it has the triangles at the bottom, and the cuts goin’ up to yer hand. Now from the look of the cut you’s tried to pull away so you can’t have done it with this hand, it would have to have been mirrored. You see what I’m getting at?”

“N-no?”

Alice sighed before shaking her head and finishing her wrapping,

“It means you ain’t the one who gave you the first scars, so who did?”

The widening of Y’s eyes all but proved Alice’s hypothesis true. The two sat silently for a few seconds, Y staring awkwardly at the ground while Alice looked down at her with an expectant gaze. Finally, Alice leaned forward and placed a hand on Y’s shoulder, causing the tall girl to jump,

“Ya don’t have to talk about it with me, I know I ain’t exactly the most approachable. There are plenty of therapist drones down here, I could talk to my hus-... Mercury for ya if that’ll help?”

“I don’t want to burden anyone.”

Y muttered, softly shifting her hand to claws as she began to scratch at herself again. She shivered as her claws came into contact with the wool on her arm.

“Well, at least it works.”

Alice murmured before shaking her head and continuing,

“Ya ain’t burdenin’ anyone with anything. You live down here with us now, like it or not we’re going to be looking out for ya. If ya ain’t comfortable with a therapist right now, at least talk to a friend, until you’re ready that is.”

“I just… don’t know if I’ll be ready.”

“HA, same thing I said before I had kids.”

Alice chuckled, her hand stuck out to Y,

“Now come on, ain’t fixin’ nothing sitting on the ground like this.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“About time, I shouldn’t have to wait twenty minutes for my squad's food.”

“[The container was leaking. You shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds you, yet here we are.]”

Doll growled, the small barrel of oil landing with a soft thump into the disassembler's arms.

“Whatever, just please be faster next time.”

The drone growled, his fingers locking around the barrel as he spread his wings and flew off.

Great, that's four of five. Should be in time to pick up Nikita as well.

Doll slumped access the counter in front of her, the street outside the booth beginning to slowly fill with drones making their way up and down the streets. With a sigh, the Russian slowly pushed herself up to begin lugging the next barrel out of the manufactury and into the stall. With a flick of her wrist, the solver manifested around the barrel, lifting it just above the ground as Doll pulled it through the door.

“[Well at least the next squad is full of nice Murder drones.]”

“Never thought I’d hear you say those words, Dolly.”

A smug voice called in a snarky tone, making Doll sigh in annoyance.

The purple-haired Russian didn’t have to look to know Lizzy was trotting up to her, the blond’s hair bouncing with each step. Glancing up, Doll snickered at seeing how correct her prediction was, the cheerleader practically skipping up to her. Setting her elbow down on the counter, a sly grin spread across Lizzy’s face as she waited for Doll's reaction.

“[What do you want, snake.]”

Doll hissed, her grip tightening on the wooden table as she glared daggers into the blonde.

“Oh don’t be like that Dolly, you should be nicer to your friends.”

“[We’re not friends. How did you even get down here in the first place?]”

“Well, the drones at the elevator didn’t turn me away.”

Lizzy replied, a smile on her face as she glanced over her fingers,

“Besides, I saw you when the freak was doing her whole walk of shame. You must not have seen me, oh that reminds me, congratulations, I didn’t know you would be in the market for having kids yet.”

“[You shut your mouth, Nikita is not my kid.]”

Doll growled, an anger mark appearing above her eye as her fists squeezed tight.

“Oh relax drama queen, god you can’t even take a joke from an old friend?”

“[We’re not friends.]”

Doll spat the words causing Lizzy to freeze mid-finger inspection.

Lizzy was silent for a few seconds before she slowly turned to look at Doll, a look of horror spread across her face. After another few seconds, she smiled awkwardly before letting out an equally awkward laugh.

“Haha, t-that’s a good one Doll. You really had me going there.”

“[I’m not joking Lizzy.]”

“C-come on Doll, the jokes are not funny anymore. I mean, we’ve been friends for years, right? I mean, I-i fixed your hair when you tried to cut it in a mirror.”

“[You also abandoned me at the one chance I had to avenge my family.]”

Doll grunted, her hands crossed in front of her chest as she watched the queen bee begin to slowly break in front of her.

“Oh come on, you don’t really think that-”

“[Means anything? So telling that monster to run when I had her right where I wanted her was just another joke to you? What about the burning? Was that also just something for you to laugh at?]”

The words were like ice water to Lizzy’s circuits, her hands shaking as she realized one of the few people she cared about was leaving her. The blond opened her mouth in a feeble attempt to salvage the situation, only to be cut off as a low growl rumbled from Doll’s chest.

“[Well? Was what she did just a joke? Murder my family, shoot me, try and kill the two people who managed to break down my walls… all of that was just a fucking joke to you?!]”

Doll yelled, the outburst attracting the attention of a few passersby as a crowd began to form.

“D-dolly it wasn’t-”

“[Don’t call me Dolly you stupid plastic.]”
Doll hissed, her red eyes sending a shiver down the blond's spine as she could only cower before the Russian.

“What’s going on here?”

A voice called, a smirk spreading across Doll’s face as she saw a male Disassembler walk out of the crowd.

“[This one here is being annoying. She’s also friends with the ones that burned the city, would you put her on a blacklist or something?]”

Doll sneered as she pointed a thumb at Lizzy, her expression shifting to a smile as she turned to the Dissasembly drone,

“[Sorry to ask you to do that, I’ll make sure to add an extra half container of oil for you.]”

“No problem at all. Come on blondy, make it easy for both of us.”

The disassembler commanded, his hand clasping Lizzy’s shoulder as he began to lead her out of the cafe plaza.

Regaining her cocky attitude, Lizzy pushed the male drone away from her with a scoff,

“I can walk myself, thank you very much. Not like I want to spend any more time in your garbage dump of a city anyway.”

Doll snickered as the crowd around the stall began to dissipate. She made sure to watch the Dissasembly drone walk Lizzy off towards the elevator before promptly turning on her heels and heading back into the building to fulfill her promise. A smile crept across her face as she worked, her day taking an upturn. 

“And, sit.”

L’s voice said through the dark, a low growl rising from J as she awkwardly squatted before making contact with the cushioned seat.

“This is humiliating.”
J groaned, waving her hands awkwardly in front of her as she searched for the table.

“Yes, well, it would be even more humiliating if you wandered through the yard tripping over everything, now wouldn’t it?”

L asked, the idea making J’s visor light up in a blush and cause her oil to boil.

“Shut up, just get away so I can do this stupid social training or whatever. Bankruptcy, the company didn’t make us do this.”

“The company also planned for us to work in small groups.”

L replied, the smug grin on her face audible to the blind squad leader.

J rolled her gray eyes as she waited for the soft sound of feet against the grass. A sigh of relief left her as she heard L leave. That relief quickly turned to shock as a male drone started talking, barely getting through three words before J yelped and fell out of her chair.

“Crap, sorry. Your file said you had… vision issues but I-”

“You can just say I’m blind you intern.”

J hissed as she pulled herself off the ground and took a seat again, her hands moving up to straighten her suit jacket,

“I know what’s wrong with me, you know what’s wrong with me. Anyone could know what’s wrong with me just by one look.”

“Well you’re just a bundle of fun, aren’t you? My name’s Finn and I’ll be your talking partner for today.”
The drone, Finn, replied, a short silence falling over the two before he spoke up again,

“I stuck my hand out for a handshake.”

“How kind.”

J scoffed before sticking her hand out as well, after a firm handshake she leaned back in her chair, her CPU whirring as she tried to figure out how to start a conversation,

“Soooo… how’s the colony been treating you?”

“Not too bad, me and my wife moved her after the big fire thing that supposedly happened. People were saying you had something to do with that?”

“Gah, don’t remind me. Should never have let that little purple freak drag me into it, cost me my eyes and my dignity.”

J huffed, her peg tapping against the ground as she conversed with the other drone,

“So you’re married?”

“Mhmm, though it's not technically official. Kinda hard to find a pastor after the whole core exploded, what about you? Do you have anyone you have a thing for?”

Finn asked, his fingers drumming against the table by the sound of it.

“I-”

J started, only to pause as she felt her face heat up.

What are you doing J? You don’t have someone you care about. Don’t think about her, you don’t care about her, you never did.

“I… guess I do. Though I would prefer if I didn’t.”

“I know the feeling.”

Finn chuckled, a sigh leaving him,

“I hated my wife when we first met, too bubbly and overly optimistic for my taste. After a while, it just… kinda happened, you know? The more you think about why you hate a person the more you realize what you like about them. If only my past self could see me now.”

“Yeah.”

J mumbled, her audio receptors tuning out Finn’s words as she found herself lost in thought.

If my past self could see me now… what would she even think? “Pitiful, can’t see, can’t hunt. No better than N. If you want to do right by the company you’d disassemble yourself.” Fat chance, I’m still plenty useful, you’re just being egotistica- … I hate L.

“You doing alright?”
Finn asked, the question snapping J back to reality.

“Huh? Yeah, what were you saying?”

“Well you spaced out so I asked one of the questions they gave me, what do you think about the solver colony?”

“It's a colony, what more is there to say? I don’t care all that much about what you worker drones do out here, not like I can see it anyway.”
J mumbled, a sigh leaving her as she crossed her legs,

“But if you want an expected answer, it's strange seeing the solver just happily coexisting with Workers, especially with what it did back on Earth.”

“You were on Earth?”

“A lifetime ago, details are a bit iffy. I do remember being a human girl's personal servant.”
J hummed, her fingers changing to claws as she began to pick her teeth.

“Did you like it?”

“Eh, at the end of the day, it was just part of the job. Making friends with her wasn’t exactly high on my list of priorities, but it was an extra buffer from being randomly sent to the scrap yard. She treated us like humans, patronizing more than anything.”

“Why do you say that?”

Finn asked the quizzical look on his face audible.

“All of us knew the humans didn’t see us as anything more than semi-sentient washing machines, just tools to be thrown away when we were broken. But Tessa treating us like people? It was like rubbing salt in the wounds, making us feel like humans only to have it stripped away whenever we talked to the masters or their guests. Thinking about it now, we were just tools for her too. Replacements for the friends she couldn’t have in the manor, just things for her to play dress up and throw tea parties with.”
J rambled, a small hiss rising from her voicebox as her claw nicked her synthetic gums.

“And you found that patronizing? Sounds like a wish come true to me.”

Finn replied, his chair creaking as he leaned back in it.

“Yeah well ignorance is bliss, isn’t it? It's all a dream come true until corporate comes calling and tells you to get back to work. It’s one of the reasons I despised my squad-mates.”

“Oh? Go on.”

J snickered at the worker's reply, a weight being lifted from her shoulders as she was finally able to complain,

“In the manor, if one of us was slacking, all of us got punished. Extra work hours, decreased charging time, if the gardeners didn’t finish on time we all had to go out to help. I made sure that didn’t happen, anyone slacking off got a good kick in the rear to get them moving. Sure, I was called every name under the sun after I started, but at least we all got to our charging stations when we needed to… a lot less were sent to the scrap yard as well.”

After J finished her rant the two fell silent for a while, both basking in the sound of the city around them. The quiet was soon interrupted by the sound of footsteps drawing near, a groan rising from J’s throat as she realized who it was. Turning in her seat, her suspicions were confirmed as she felt the familiar texture of L’s tail coil around her own.

“How’d she do?”

L asked, her hand resting on J’s shoulder.

“Not too bad, a few pauses but other than that it was pretty smooth.”

Finn replied, the sound of paper shuffling filling J’s audio receptors as she pushed herself to stand.

“Can we go now? I can feel people staring.”

“Yeah yeah yeah, just need to look over your results and turn them in to Cyn. Come on JJ.”

L cooed, a cackle rising from the taller disassembler at the scowl on J’s face.

“Don’t call me that.”

A humm was all J got in response. With her tail wrapped around L’s, the pair began to make their way through the cathedral courtyard, the sound of their soft footsteps on grass changing to clacking as they stepped onto one of the stone paths. 

“Something good happen?”

L asked, her words breaking the silence and startling the blind squad leader slightly.

“You’re smiling. Did you have a good talk?”

“Hmm? Oh, guess it was.”