Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Let me in

Let me in

Let me in

Let me in

Let me in

Let me in

Let me in

Let me in

Let me in

Let me in

Let me in

Let me in

Let me in

Let me in

Let me in

Let me in

LET ME IN

Once again, the first thing N did after getting out of sleep, was scream, shouting at the top of his lungs, pleading "No!" Only to realize that he had another dream, another bad dream, another nightmare.

It had passed two months since The Absolute Solver defeat's, and in the first two weeks everything was perfect, even with Cyn on Uzi's tail which ended up bringing memories from everything that had happened down there, they had some fun, Uzi and N had a good time together, watching animes and sometimes, horror movies, and V when she came was fun too, sadly V was still, well... V, and didn't came often, but it was fun when she came. He and Uzi did all kinds of things together, like reading books and comics, playing games, listening to music (Mostly Nightcore due to it being Uzi's favorite.), etc. But after the two weeks, N started having nightmares about The Night. It started with Tessa, N, V, J, and Cyn playing, and it ended up with Cyn being possessed and doing The Gala Massacre, while she ripped Tessa's skin off and used it while she killed everyone, in the end, N was the last target, and those words haunted his dream Cyn scratching his stomach until it went from scratching to ripping it open with her bare hands while she demanded to N 'Let her in' while the expression of the yellow-eyed robot, a smile that went from one ear to another, which haunted N's mind.

After N woke up, gasping for air, he saw Uzi on his side, somehow still asleep even after N's scream, her eyes closed much to N's relief; It wouldn't be good if she saw him like this. N decided he had no need of sleep for now, he didn't want to have another nightmare, he might wake up Uzi if he keeps screaming.

Later that day, Uzi was in her bedroom, but not alone, she was never alone... Never! She was always with the ghost that took the form of Doll, and Cyn that simply became her tail.

Privacy? Inexistent, she couldn't even get peace in her own fricking bathroom, because those two NEEDED to always be on her side, even in her fucking dreams they were there.

The fact that she never had dreams was even worse, it was always nightmares, nightmares, and more nightmares... Always about how the only ones who cared about her died, and then she was an even bigger outcast than she was before. The worst part was that it was always by her own hands, first, the solver once again possessed her, and then, she went to hunt, her first prey was normally her father, then her mother, then Thad and Lizzy, and sometimes even J didn't escaped it, nor did V, and the last one was always N. Every. Single. One of them.

She had that dream every day.

Everyday

Every single day

If you could handle a nightmare where you killed everyone you loved, along with having the ghost of someone you knew, and the host of the thing that made you live in hell without taking magnets, every day and all day. Congratulations, because Uzi wasn't one of them.

"[Are you really going to do this every day?]" Asked Doll in her usual Russian language, and Uzi's code translated what Doll said to her instantly, Uzi had the feeling she even saw the hint of worry in Doll's tone.

"Bite me." Was Uzi's response, while she ignored the "Worried Expression" that came from Cyn.

They always said that V was the psychopath between the three disassembly drones that are known as N, V, and (The Traitor) J... If they knew her better, would they still say the same thing, or at least understand her?

V was the one who always remembered everything that happened That Night, and she knew pretty well that The Solver didn't give her the murder tendencies, just the weapons to do so, it didn't matter how many times she told herself that she was doing so for N, for the boy she once loved, it would be a lie... She treated N like trash before Uzi came into the picture, and that's why N is better with Uzi than with V, Uzi cared about N and would treat him better than she ever could, and why would N even choose her over Uzi? Uzi was pretty, sometimes funny, and fun to be with, meanwhile, V was just... V, she would choose to be with Uzi over herself any day.

V didn't know when the line that made her worker drone and the disassembly drone self the same drone, became so blurry, when that shy, small drone that used glasses, became that traumatized psychopath that it was now V.

Her nightmares were proof of how much she had changed, she might have felt nothing when she ripped drones apart with her bare hands, but that was the point, she was supposed to feel remorse, and she didn't... She wasn't Vanessa anymore, she was Serial Designation V.

It was with the magnet in her hands that V would answer it:

If they knew me better, would they still say the same thing... or at the very least care about me? Yes, they would say the same thing, and No, they wouldn't give a shit. Why? Because I think like that myself, so why would the others think differently?

J, after The Solver's defeat what was there left for her? Nothing, she thought The Solver would be the winning team and because of it joined her, and as a bonus, she could fool herself into pretending that she was with Tessa... Tessa, Tessa, Tessa... What would you say if you saw how I am without you?... Would you say that you're disappointed... sad... or maybe angry? J hoped that it wouldn't be the last, she never saw Tessa angry and was relieved about that...

But Tessa would have reasons to be angry with her, after all, she sided with The Solver, and not with N, V, and Uzi like she should have, the team Tessa would want her to be in... No matter if they would win or lose.

And she had nightmares... Nightmares about Tessa being killed by J's own hands, the way J kills her? When Tessa trusts J the most, J uses her sword to stab Tessa in the back... Yeah, the irony, a backstab... She backstabbed Tessa, at the very moment when Tessa trusted her the most...

When V finally came to watch movies with N and Uzi, Jurassic World was chosen, and even though they had already watched The Park Trilogy (with the third movie being Uzi's favorite, N had liked the second one more, and V had enjoyed the first one more) it had The World Trilogy yet to be watched by the three, along with that 'Camp Cretaceous' and 'Chaos Theory' series to be watched.

After having a little discussion about which movie was the best until now ("Oh c'mon, that Trex vs Spino fight made it clear which movie was the best!" Uzi tried to argue, "Well, nothing beats the original, that Trex escape scene proves it!" Countered V "Both movies are good, but the baby Trex and baby Stegosaurus make it clear the second is the best!" N said, only to get groins from his friends.) They had started the movie, and nothing was said until the raptors scene started playing, where N immediately complained about the poor pig being chased, and V ended up following the complaint but aiming at the fact the raptors were 'tamed' instead.

"Oh c'mon, they are making the raptors pets now?!" She complained aloud, just to Uzi snickers in response.

"That ironic coming from you," Teased Uzi "Haven't you done the same?" She said, remembering the sentinel.

"Oh, shut up," said V, a smile threatening to appear on her face. "Or else I'm gonna end up taming you."

"Oh, bite me, will ya?" Uzi said in response.

"If you want to someone bite you so much, I will bite your arm off, how does that sound?" V teased.

A "Eye Roll." Had heard, said by Cyn of course.

"[You two disgust me.]" Came from Doll, an actual disgust in her tone. Uzi ignored both of them.

After the movie ended, they received a call from Thad.

"Hey Uzi!" Thad said when Uzi picked up the call

"Hey Thad!" Uzi said. Thad was one of the few who didn't treat her like an outcast. Even before she met N, she had a crush on him, but she ended up getting over it pretty quickly.

"Sooo... Lizzy will throw a party, and she invited you and the others to go, what did you all say?" He asked

Uzi and N eagerly accepted it, but V quickly dropped the "No." N and Uzi's heads snapped to her,

"Why?" Asked N, "It will be fun!" he said

"I dislike parties, you know this, N," she said. And she wasn't lying; she disliked places full of drones, interacting, dancing, and being overall happy; Things she wasn't capable of doing in the first place. After a few moments of N trying to convince her that it would "be good for her," he ended up giving up.

Days later, the nightmares didn't stop, so N ended up getting less and less sleep, it would make Uzi happier if he didn't wake her up by screaming at the top of his lungs because of a nightmare he had.

Uzi got out of their bedroom after waking up, still sleepy, N was unaware she had nightmares herself.

"Good morning Uzi!" N announced his presence

"Morning, N." She said, and she was quick to notice that N had lines under his eyes in his visor. "N, did you get any sleep?" She demanded.

N's eyes were hollowed as he stuttered, "W-What? Of c-course I did... Hehe..." Uzi narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but she said nothing about this.

Even after two months, V hadn't picked everything she had nor needed from the spaceship, so she needed to go back eventually, but why she didn't do it earlier? She knew The Traitor was there... And she didn't wanted to see her face ever again in her life, but guess what? Destiny's a bitch and needed a way to send her there once again.

Luckily, J wasn't there when she arrived, but of course, she would be when V was exiting, when V had hopes she actually didn't needed to see her again...

"V?" J asked, with a confused stare, "Why are you here?" she said, staring at V's backpack

V scoffed, and she still dared to speak to her. "None of your business, I am already over here anyways." She said, walking past J

"Geez, okay... Rude." J spit

"That's rich, coming from you," V said.

"What do you mean by that," J demanded

"N." V simply answered, J rolled her eyes.

"You never treated him any better anyways, plus, you never defended him when I called him usele-" Before J could finish, V activated her swords and rushed in J's direction, ready to strike which caused J to activate her own swords and block the swipe. J stumbled backward when their swords clashed, V attempted to do swipe her swords again,

"At least, I didn't want to kill him," She said when their swords clashed again, this J didn't stumble but was pushed backward. "Nor did I attempt to!" V shouted, pushing J backward. J may have ended up becoming the winner if those two fought fair and square, but physically, V was stronger than J, so J couldn't overpower her. V placed her feet on J's stomach and pushed it, kicking her former leader on the stomach and sending her flying some feet back while J fell on the ground rolling.

"I am not here to see you, I am here to bring my stuff back," V said, while deactivating her sword, this surprised J, V never stopped fighting until she either killed the opponent or she was the one getting killed. "I don't want to see you, nor do I need to, ignore me and I will ignore you next time, got it?" She spit. She turned to walk away but kept her eyes locked on J. "You are lucky Tessa isn't here to see what you have become." She said, but it was the next words that struck J "Because she would be fucking disgusted, Jessica... I don't think you even deserve to be called like this."

V walked away, and J was too stunned to deactivate her swords...

It took some good seconds for j to recover from her shock, as she entered the spaceship, reflecting on V's words that had haunted her ever since they were spoken. 'She would be fucking disgusted, Jessica.' The way V spat her name hurt J deeply. J often thought about how T would feel if she saw her, but disgust was never one of the emotions she imagined... Just the thought of it hurt J so much...

J saw a bunch of things that went missing that were from V, but the main thing was a photo from all three disassembly drones side by side, that was quick to be noticed because of a single detail... V ripped J's off the photo, there was only her, and only N was by her side... It doesn't have the need of a genius to understand the message

"[Are you seriously doing this, again?]" Asked Doll, seeing Uzi put the magnet on her head once more...

"Are you seriously bothering me, again?" Uzi shot back, she was getting tired of Doll speaking every time she put a magnet.

"[Yes, I am,]" Said Doll, annoyed.

"She is right. You should not be doing those things. It may give you an overdose" Said Cyn, in her usual robotic tone.

"And why do you two care?" Snapped Uzi

"[Probably because if you get high, we will too?]" Said Doll, hiding the fact she was actually worried about Uzi by pretending she only cared about the fact she will also get high.

"And what are you expecting me to do?" Uzi said weakly, her weak tone showed the magnets were already affecting her. "My privacy went to hell, I have you and Cyn literally stuck with me 24/7 if I go to my class, you guys will be there, if I try to watch a movie, you guys will be there, if I go to sleep, you guys will be there, if I go to the bathroom, you guys will be there, if I get a moment with my boyfriend, you guys will be there... If I have a fucking dream, you guys will be there too... You two are always with me..." She said, her voice getting weaker and weaker before she finally added. "You know what? Never mind, I don't want to discuss right now..."...

"Nor does I," Cyn said, none of the three wanted to discuss it... They are too high for that...

Weeks later, rumors were going hard. About a green-eyed worker drone, limping, glitching... Killing other worker drones, and pulling their corpses for the darkness, the oddest thing about the drone was their rusty, old-looking, appearance, and their missing arm.

And that was (at least) what Thad told Uzi, asking if she pretended to check it out since the WDF wasn't able to do a lot. In the end, N, Uzi, and V ended up going to investigate it.

When they were at the last crime scene, which was close to what In N's opinion, was an 'extremely creepy' morgue, they ended up being stopped by a WDF member. "I'm sorry ma'am, but it is better if you stay distant." All of the three, Uzi, V, and even N expected to be stopped... What they didn't expect, whoever, was what happened next... "Unless... Are you three here to investigate the missing drones, as you all did with that eldritch thing?" He asked

"Uh... Yeah?" Said Uzi, confused.

"Oh... In that case, come in!" He said, allowing them to pass.

N, V, and Uzi traded looks. "Hey guys, I'm not complaining, but isn't it supposed to be way harder to pass or something?" Uzi whispered.

They ended up ignoring it and passed the WDF line anyway. Even though Uzi wasn't a genius detective, she had thought of a few things about the Green-eyed drone. His missing arm might have something to do with his reasoning for killing worker drones. Since no one matched his description in Copper-9, the drone they were looking for wasn't from there. Maybe a Copper-9 drone had a vendetta against that specific drone. Pushing it even further, the Green-eyed drone might have lost his arm because of a Copper-9 drone, which made him thirst for revenge and blame all Copper-9 drones for it? Due to the lack of information, Uzi would be sticking to that for now.

After gathering information from all WDF members, and checking the crime scene, her idea of the drone didn't had many changes. She ended up telling V and N(And consequently Cyn and Doll) her theory of why the drone was doing it, and for the same reason that Uzi stuck with the theory, they had agreed on it, after all, there wasn't much information to counter anything, but also doesn't have much base for it too...

It ended up that they were searching for so many hours, that the WDF members had already left... Not like they stay hours on the crime scenes for the start of the conversation, they just stay 1-2 hours and leave and then return the next day to see if they missed something...

And guess what? They did, Uzi felt really dumb for not releasing it, but there was a small (Barely visible) trail of oil, it looked like someone tried to cover their tracks and managed to do 98% of the job, but there was still that 2% that showed that a drone was dragged.

"Hey guys, come take a look at this" Uzi called

"Did you find something?" Asked V, believed or not, not even she wanted to go home after staying so much time gathering little to no information about the drone she still managed to stay until the end without complaining.

"Yeah, look at this," Uzi said, pointing to the faint oil trail that was barely visible on the ground. "It's hard to see, but there's an oil trail here as if someone was dragged and the killer tried to clean up their tracks." The two of them examined the trail closely. It stretched out in a specific direction, with small drips of oil spaced about four to five feet apart, sometimes extending up to six feet. It was clear that someone had been moving steadily, leaving a telltale sign of their path. The intermittent drops created an almost rhythmic pattern, hinting at a struggle or hurried movement. They followed the trail, their eyes scanning the ground for more clues...

The oil trail ended up leading them to a house that was decently distant from the crime scene, the house was from an abandoned area from Copper-9, which explains why the killer managed to drag the drone so many meters without being seen or at least heard, and who would suspect that the killer stayed on an abandoned house? If that oil trail was only slightly more well hidden, then they wouldn't find it because the oil drips were really small and their distance from each other made it difficult to follow.

They stopped at the house's door, locked... the oil drip went onto the house interior, so after the three gave each other a look and a nod before...

Slam

V knocked the door open with a kick right on its lock, as the latch of the door flew across the room... Uzi and N were the first to burst into the house while sprinting, V was right behind them. V and N with their weapons ready, Uzi with her railgun.

"Alright, if there's anyone here show yourself, you don't want to make this harder for yourself!" Uzi shouted, making sure that her message was heard all across the house... No one came out

They kept searching for anything, for the first room and they found nothing... N was ordered to do not let anyone escape from the house, or at least try to make sure that they were detected in case their opponent was too strong for N.

Uzi and V ended up going to the second floor of the house, which had two rooms

They split to make sure the things were faster, V went into one of the bedrooms, and Uzi went into the other. Both kicked the doors open, the slam was loud enough for N to hear it from the first floor.

In Uzi's room, the bedroom was a mess, tables were flipped, no bed, and a shiny new-looking wrench, a- wait what, a wrench that was too new-looking for this house as a whole? Yes... Suspicion, but maybe it didn't actually meant something, the wrench was only half-visible because it was behind a flipped table... It never hurt to be cautious, so she aimed her railgun at the flipped table.

Uzi slowly walked across the room, step-by-step, trying her best to not make loud sounds with her steps, was she nervous? No, at this point she was just too tired to be scared of whoever did those murders, and after Cyn what could traumatize her even more? Speaking of which, both Cyn and Doll were both silent, not making a noise like if they were nervous, but Uzi was just hoping they could finish this at once so they could say those rumors about it being another kind of eldritch horror and send the bastard who did it to jail.

In the other room, V was checking a way better-looking room (not that it meant that this was the fanciest and cleanest room V had ever see...) than Uzi was, checking for the cabinets, beds, everything that could give her a cl-

Before V could finish her thoughts, a loud frightened shriek came from the other room, the room Uzi was in!
With no time to think, she abandoned her room and sprinted to reach the other room the fastest she could, N was quick to come too.

Both burst into the room just to see two drones. The one who shrieked wasn't Uzi, was the green-eyed drone.

Now they could give the drone a good look, the one who was taking all those lives in Cooper-9, the rumors didn't lied.

The drone had green-colored eyes, with the lack of a left arm, and the metal was old-looking and rusty, the drone wore a black dress, black shoes, and a black bow (black seemed to be the drone's main color), they had black hair, and their visor was cracked, the drone wasn't a guy, it was a young girl.

She clutched the wrench like a lifeline, her knuckles white with the strain as she desperately tried to crawl away from Uzi. Cyn's mouth bit the girl's ankle, dragging her closer to the very thing she was trying to escape. "N-No w-wait, please!" she begged, her voice trembling with fear. Her stutter made it painfully clear: she was terrified beyond measure. Her pleas struck a chord, and with a grim determination, V switched to her most lethal weapon. N followed suit, their expressions hardening in unison.

"How dare you..." The girl turned her head to V when she said, her eyes hollowing even more when spotted her. "How dare you use her voice!" V snapped, the will of murder was present in her voice

"W-What?" The girl seemed confused, but then she seemed to realize what V and N were thinking. "N-No, no, no, no- is it what you all- not what you all are thinking!" She said stumbling through her words. Uzi was getting slightly scared by the fact even Cyn showed to be having murder intent against the girl.

"Where had you got the voice that voice box?!" Demanded V

"I-I made it." The girl said

"Oh, you made it?!" Snapped N. V was approaching of the girl, switching from her most lethal weapon to her most painful one, that girl was about to meet a word of pain, she would wish hell would just take her at once.

"That's it, you are officially dead." Uzi's eyes hollowed, they were actually going to kill the girl?

"No wait- V!" before she could do anything, N had held her in a grip she couldn't escape from, and even though Cyn could have helped her, Cyn was too busy staring at the scene seemingly enjoying as much as N did... Why was N enjoying it? The thought scared Uzi, N the goofy ball, the golden retriever, her kind and sweet boyfriend, was staring at the scene with clear pleasure in his eyes.

"[Cyn what are you doing?!]" Demanded Doll, Cyn just ignored her, still refusing to take her off the scene.

V's weapon, a hot hunting knife, was risen on the air, ready to slash, the girl while still crawling away, she put her remaining arm in front of her, trying to protect her head from the knife... V was one second away from stabbing the girl, and she wouldn't stop until the girl's visor had a 'Fatal Error' labeled on it, but before she could did it.

Oh little drone, do not be scared...

Mommy's here, no need to worry...

V stopped dead in her tracks, the song seemed to hypnotize her, N's grip weakened, and Uzi was able to get away from him, but confused, all the murder intents leaving everyone.

I writing this song, to show you are loved

No monster is near, they left in a hurry...

You are in a safe zone

The danger is gone

You will never be thrown

And when you grown

I hope it will be known...

The young girl's voice was pretty, sure... But still, Uzi couldn't understand the reason of the sudden freeze of the until-now murderous V, N, and Cyn. Just like her voice, the song was also pretty, and Uzi wouldn't admit it but she actually liked it. The addition of V, N, and Cyn's voices to the last line of the song confused Uzi even more

That mommy will never leave you alone...

"Oh robo-god, it is really you..." came the faint voice from N, "...Tessa?" Uzi's eyes hollowed, she now recognized the voice and understood the reason for the drones' aggressiveness... The Green-eyed girl was Tessa, not The Absolute Solver pretending, it was actually Tessa...

Tessa lowered her arm, revealing tear-filled eyes on her cracked visor. "Y-Yeah?" she said, unsure and clearly nervous, some sobs being heard. V started shaking, and so did N, and Uzi felt Cyn was shaking, too.

A faint "How?" came from V.

"I-I..." Tessa struggled to speak. "I made... A drone version of myself before..." Tessa didn't say when was 'before' but they had a guess... "Well... I managed to put all my m-memories on it..."

V, who was still shaking, ended up advancing towards, almost tackling Tessa to the ground, V hugged her. "I'm-I'm-I'm..." V sobbed "So sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Tessa's only hand went to V's hair

"I-... It's alright..." Her hand ran through V's hair, and not too long after, N ended up not resisting, he also hugged Tessa too... Cyn wanted to at least get closer to her, but after everything, would Tessa accept her? Cyn had her doubts...

It turned out Tessa wasn't killing anyone, she was stealing already dead corpses from morgues and using their parts to repair herself. N and V ended up staying all day and night with her talking and talking, those twos were looking like kids to be honest, right at this moment, Tessa was sleeping on the couch, her visor fixed no longer cracked, and she had now both arms, but the limping, and old-looking rusty metal was still there.

At this moment, Uzi just needed a break from this week... Which meant more magnets. Doll once again, "[Are you actually willing this much to get an overdose, Doorman.]"

"Bite me," Uzi retorted. This time, however, she noticed Cyn's silence, no complaints, no support for Doll this time, just an unsettling silence.

Unbeknownst to Uzi, her bedroom door wasn't locked like she thought it was, this time, the door had opened, revealing V on the other side of it.

"Hey Uzi, have you seen my excuse to come in the room- Oh..." She stopped speaking when she saw the magnets stuck on Uzi's head. Uzi, while high, needed some good seconds to realize she was being seen with the magnets.

"Oh, hey V!" Uzi said with her tired tone due to the magnet effect, she didn't even realize she forgot to at least attempt to hide the magnet, but it was already too late anyway, she was already seen.

V's eyes were hallowed, as she closed the door behind her... "You too?" her voice carrying the same shock of the expression on her visor.

"Me too what?" Uzi asked, with a genuine curiosity in her voice, if V had any doubts before, then she now didn't have any, Uzi seemed to barely be in the same world as her.

"Use magnets..." Uzi had confusion written over all her visor

"Wait, wait, wait... You also use magnets?" V hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"Soooooooooooooooo.... Do you want one?" Uzi said while exaggeratedly stretching the 'so', while offering her one magnet, her personality had already started to change, showing that the magnets were already affecting her. V once again hesitated for a brief moment, but she simply locked the door behind her before answering...

"Yes..."

It didn't take too long for V to get high too, and V and Uzi, who normally jumped into reasons to have a discussion with each other, were now laughing together like they were like the best, of the best friends!

"Yeaaaah, you weren't lying when this magnet was strong!" V said, with another type of magnet stuck on head.

"See? Call me 'The Magnet professional'!." Uzi mocked, "Not gonna lie, is it good to share those with someone that isn't Doll nor Cyn... Not that they can actually use it they just get high with me."

"Yeah, using them alone wasn't as fun too!" V said, "Also 'The magnet professional' sounds kinda bad" V laughed.

"Yeah, kinda sounded better on my head," Uzi admitted. "But I'm not lying when I say that I know those." She said, before starting to explain

"Sooooooooooo.... Where did you gain this knowledge miss 'Magnet Professional'?" V asked, her visor bloodshot due to the magnets' use.

"On my high school time." Uzi answered, "Life was kinda shitty before I meet N, not gonna lie, no one really liked me at the school, nor at home, nor at anywhere I went, at school especially, not that this really changed but you had got my point, and well I quite suffered bully from the students, which normally mocked my hair color, my height, clothing style, the fact my mom was dead, suck that by the way she isn't, and I was just an overall loner nerd to them, and since my parent quite neglected me, I went to magnets... Until my dad discovered after two or three weeks..." Uzi explained, and since she was high, the tone didn't matched the story at all, her smile and unworried expression on her face showed that Uzi was not acting like herself anymore.

"Cool," was the simple response V gave her, too high herself to actually properly react to Uzi's past.

"Yeah, I know right?"

"Well I have a shitty past myself, do you want to hear it?" V asked

"Why not?" Uzi said

"Okay then, let's go." V put another magnet on her head before starting "So... It allllll started when I was just a little, young, small disassembly drone and worker drones killer" V said in a dramatic tone and pose, "Well, let's start with the fact that I quite stopped using glasses because no one thought I was scary with them, and I ended putting my scary factor above what made me... Well, me. So my vision is like, all blurry now, haha, yeah my vision kinda crappy, main reason why was I thrown out and Tessa picked me up, haha... Where I was?- Oh yeah, I remember, after stopping using glasses, I tried to stop being kind and shy- No wait that was before I became a disassembly drone, you know what? Fuck it, I will continue it anyways! Well, I started to pretend that I was all tough, psychopathic who enjoyed murdering the drones at the worst way possible, oh I also forgot to mention that I remember my time at the mansion too! Which means that I remember the Gala massacre!" V explained, just to see Uzi's tired and lost expression, "Are you still being able to keep it up?" V asked,

"Being pretty honest? Nope!"

"It's alright, I am not being able to keep it up myself!" Both burst out laughing, "So can we finish telling each other our sad storys other day? I quite sleepy..."

"Me too!" Uzi said, while taking the last magnet of the week off her head, "Wait, let's see if I can hit the trash with mine!"

"Yeah, go!" V rooted, Uzi aimed at the trash can, and threw it with her best aim, hitting the wall instead.

"YEAH, I DID IT!" Uzi said, despite missing it

"Yeah, my turn! My Turn! YES, I HAD HIT IT TOO!"

The next day, V woke on the ground of the house and took herself a good minutes to remember what had happened last night, Uzi had fell asleep on the same bed of N, which was normal as She did it every day, those two were a couple after all, N was always the first to awake though. Just like V, Uzi needed some second to remember last night.

After a few hours, Tessa and N failed to realize that the tension between V and Uzi was extremely awkward due to the events of the previous night. Tessa was an energetic girl, it didn't take long for Uzi to release it. She ended up effortlessly convincing N and even V to play video games, and N convinced Uzi.

Even though Tessa was in dire need of updates in every conceivable way, making the young girl seem like a 100-year-old as she struggled to understand the new games, she eventually caught on and played a fighting game with Uzi. To Uzi's surprise, she lost. Much to her dismay and embarrassment, and much to Tessa's happiness (it was a surprise V didn't mock her, but then again, things were quite awkward after the events of the previous night).

They ended up moving on to another game, this time it was a racing game, which had up to 12 players, since there were only four players, the rest were bots, which stood no chance against them, and they didn't stand a chance against Tessa, who somehow won once again. "There's no way she's this good when some hours ago she didn't even knew how to jump in Mortal Kombat!" Uzi complained.

After losing to Tessa in video games all day, she asked if they wanted to watch an anime, much to Uzi's surprise. N accepted, and to Uzi's disbelief, V didn't even complain, she simply accepted. Uzi looked at V as if her closest friend had betrayed her because V normally complained about this and that before agreeing to watch anime (and spent all the episodes complaining too).

"And what about you?" Tessa asked Uzi, and before Uzi could accept, N answered for her

N laughed and said, "Uzi is like, the one drone who likes anime nowadays, and she was the one who got me into it, and you're asking if SHE wants to watch an anime?" Cyn looked like she wanted to say something but remained silent.

Tessa's mouth dropped to the ground in surprise. "A fellow anime fan!"

"So... Someone in this outpost finally knows how to have fun, huh?" Uzi said with a smirk "Perhaps, you're not so bad at all, human."

In the end, Pokemon was chosen (It was Tessa's favorite, and Uzi didn't have a problem with it, she likes all animes... Except the more 'adult' ones.), and after some episodes, it was time to sleep.

Except Uzi didn't, and neither did V. In the end, they ended up getting high together again. After playing around with some magnets, Uzi couldn't sleep and eventually came down from her high.

Doll, who was always opposite to magnets, had taken an even higher dislike due to V's presence. Doll didn't let her grudge against her go away, and of course she needed explanations of why Uzi was letting that bitch stay around them. "[Can I ask why?]" Came from Doll, Uzi turned to her

"Why, what?" Uzi asked.

"[Why are you with her, now]" Asked Doll

"If by her, you mean V, then, Bite Me, it is not your problem." Uzi said, "Besides, you are making it look like we are a couple."

"[If you mean that needing to see someone getting high every day wasn't enough, now they are getting high with your parents' killer isn't my problem, maybe it isn't, but for me it, it seems so.]" Doll said, and the grudge was hearable in her voice. Uzi scoffed.

"You know, if you aren't so annoying maybe I wouldn't use magnets at all." Uzi said, "At least Cyn isn't being half as annoying as you are, she doesn't keep talking and talking like you do."
Doll looked offended. "[Annoying? Not wanting to get high every day is annoying? Not wanting to stay in the same room with the one who killed my parents is annoying?]"

"It is me being 24/7 with you two not enough?" Uzi shot back

"[Wha-]"

"I asked if hearing you two every single second of every single day of every single week isn't enough. Could you handle it? Handle Cyn as your tail and my English-speaking ass in your Russian-hearing ass 24/7?" By this point, Uzi was no longer lying on her bed but standing in front of Doll. "Is my life not perfect enough for your 'I am a cheerleader and also the crush and girlfriend of the cheerleader's boss' life? Is this the actual problem here?" Uzi spat. "Is me getting bullied by you and that bitch you call a girlfriend not enough too?" Poison laced Uzi's voice. Doll took a step back. "If I knew you would be with me 24/7, maybe I would think before eating the null, or maybe I still wouldn't. I would just give it back and let The Solver destroy everything instead. It would be better than staying in the same room as you," Uzi said, her voice growing angrier. "And when I find someone who can somewhat understand me, who hears me when I speak, you want to complain? Oh, go fuck yourself."

Doll didn't had words to keep up with the discussion, her eyes were hollowed following Uzi's monologue.

The next day was tough, because school... Tessa ended up forcedly willingly going to them because she's a minor, just like V and N were. And everyone was surprised when a human on a drone's body started attending, just like the two disassembly drones. Due to her origin, plus friendship with the disassembly drones made her quickly rise in terms of popularity in school, but even with Tessa's popularity, she still stuck to her first friend group

But at least Tessa met Thad and Lizzy, and the three got along, and the next time they would be playing at Uzi's house, the two were invited.

After the hell school was finished, and they went home, before Thad and Lizzy arrived, Tessa had something on her mind, something that needed to be cleared as fast as possible: Where was J? Along with that, there was another few, such as: If Uzi's a worker drone, why does she got wings, and that weird tail who seems to be hiding behind Uzi all the time? Why does V changed so much, she seems to be less shy now, that's good, but she doesn't use glasses anymore and isn't as sweet as she used to be, why is that? What happened beetween all the time she was out?

It was 10:00 PM, and she had until 11:00 PM to Thad and Lizzy arrive, one hour is enough to get all info she needs, right? Since everyone was on the same room, she only needed to ask them.

"Hey guys?" Every head turned to her, it made her slightly nervous, but she continued. "What happened when I was out?" She asked,

"What?"

"What happened when I was out? Where's J?"

They weren't expecting Tessa to ask it so soon, of course, they had expected her question, but never that it would be that soon, they stared at each other for some seconds, same thing on their mind, 'what do we do now?' but none arrived to a conclusion, N decided that he would need to do the decision.

"Look, Tessa... It's a long story, and it's hard to know where to begin. We're don't think we're ready to share it with you yet, and we don't think you're ready to hear it, especially when we haven't even come to terms with it ourselves." Tessa looked disappointed but simply nodded. V and Uzi felt a sense of relief.

"Okay then," she said, her tone made N's heart collapse.

"S-Sorry... Maybe when you're o-" before N could finish it, Tessa cut him off.

"OI! I can understand if you guys aren't ready to tell me, but DON'T YOU DARE PULL THE 'MaYbE wHeN yOu'Re OlDeR' on me, I am older than you, N!"

Another field trip? Uzi, N nor V couldn't shake the feeling of Deja Vu, when Uzi had became her Solver Form and made a massacre, killing all her classmates (temporarily, as they were rebuilt.), nor what happened after, when N and V tried to teach her how to fly and Uzi became her Solver Form again, which made V attempt to kill her, but ended up not being able to finish the job.

But they knew that this time, they couldn't be attacked by anyone, The Solver died. But why did the teacher decided to return to Camp 98.7 was unknown for Uzi and her classmates... Did he want to trigger PTSD in Uzi?

Tessa seemed to be pretty excited though, her former school never had any field trip. Uzi didn't wanted to go but N and Tessa convinced her.

When the classmates saw the camp, the ones that were on the previous, all of them clearly recognized it and remembered the last events, some glared at Uzi, while some gave her a look of fear.

Uzi could remember every single detail of the camp like if the whole event happened a second ago, even though it had already passed like, what? 8 Months? one more, or one less... And even if Uzi could remember everything that happened on that one hour that she passed killing her former classmates on extremely brutal form, and she could remember every single detail of those murders, on how she ambushed Darren and Rebecca on the Cabin Fever, when Darren tried to play the tough dude only to be easily overpowered and having his body sliced in half, and how she split Rebecca in half and decided to watch until where she could go with only her upper body, and when she revealed herself to the other, she used the solver to blew Braidon's head and chased Sam, the school's stoner, not that Uzi had a right to complain, until she disembowled when they were right to a tree, and she then took advantage of the fact Emily was nearby and paralyzed her, using her as a puppet to attract while she ripped her head in front of Lizzy, who she pretended to do something as horrendous but was attacked by V before she could start.

Some had different reactions to Uzi while she was in class, Sam was uncomfortable but was not an asshole like some, and Emily was scared and always maintained a distance from Uzi, but Uzi could understand why and didn't blame any of the two for wanting to maintain distance from her, but the other three, Darren, Rebecca, and Braidon, were the actual assholes, but they always were the assholes to Uzi, so she didn't care a lot about what the three though, but Rebecca... It was like the bitch seemingly had the need of going out of her way to remind Uzi of it, what she called Uzi behind her back... A murder, freak, killer, monster, abomination, demon... Uzi just pretended that she didn't care, but Rebecca sometimes crossed the line, and she paid the price for it all the times, a crack on her visor, some damage on her arm, or ending up out cold, were some of the ways she paid by it, only when it was by Uzi's hands because V and N sometimes did it before Uzi snapped, N always wasn't aggressive, and gives a warning which was enough for Rebecca to back off, but V on the other hand... V was always proud on doing things that were even worse than Uzi's, there was a time Rebecca had her arm ripped off from V, and V had a one-week suspicion, which was the same punishment Uzi always got. When V came back, she was at the top of her popularity in school. 

In school, Uzi was never popular, but she had her own friend group, which according to the school was:

• N; The cool, cute, nerdy disassembly drone.
• V; The hot, badass, and still scary disassembly drone who's friends with Lizzy.
• Thad; The chill, friendly, and gentlemanly jock.
• Lizzy; The biggest gossip in the school, and is the biggest bully on school. The teacher's daughter, Thad's younger sister, and The cheerleader squad's leader, who does a party every day at her house when her father is busy at his job.
• And now: Tessa; The drone-human who's friends with N and V, and is also pretty friendly.
• Uzi Do... What was her name again?; That scary, weird, emo girl who dates N, is friends with V, and Thad, you may know her as 'the girl who had made a massacre some time ago in a monster form.'

Tessa was eager about where she should go, what she was supposed to do, how she wa supposed to do what... Yep, Tessa was a drone with a lot of energy. This time whoever, instead of N and V being the scoutmasters, the students were just on their own this time.

They didn't do much different from last time, starting with an archery range. Unlike in video games, Tessa had a lot of problems with it; she even accidentally shot Uzi's hand. Tessa apologized profusely, but Uzi brushed it off, she had already endured worse. After what seemed like her thirtieth attempt, (and N's thirtieth attempt to comfort her.) Uzi, giggling, stepped in to help her.

"Okay Human-bot, let me help you, or else you'll end up landing a shot at the next outpost citizen," she said, still giggling at the frustrated Tessa.

"No, I got this!" Tessa's frustration was evident. After three more attempts, she gave up. "Okay, okay, okay, keep laughing! I didn't see you doing any better," Tessa challenged, causing most students, including V and Lizzy, to unite in an "oooh."

"Oh, really? Pass me this," Uzi said, snatching the bow from Tessa's hands. "You know, Human-bot, you may be better in a video game," she said, drawing the string and aiming. "But this isn't a video game, is it?." Bang, Uzi's arrow landed perfectly in the center.

"So, do you still want my help or not?" Uzi asked, a hint of smugness in her tone. She enjoyed seeing the shocked expressions of her classmates.

Tessa swallowed her pride and muttered, "Yes."

"Couldn't quite hear that," Uzi teased.

"I SAID YES, ARE YOU SATISFIED NOW?!" Tessa snapped.

Uzi was surprisingly good at teaching Tessa how to properly land at least one shot at the indoors, instead of the ground, trees, Uzi's hand, clouds, birds, metallic cockroaches, or whatever those are called... Okay, I guess you have got it.

"Thanks" Tessa thanked, even though still embarrassed, at least she would manage to hit the indoors next time...

"Nope." Uzi brushed it off. Tessa kept training until they had reached their next game, The Canoe Ride... The lake was frozen, yes... And? They still could have fun!... Right?

Uzi, V, N, Thad, Lizzy, and Tessa were on the same boat, while the others were in the other boat.

And while they pretended to be rowing while on top of the ice (Hey! It can be more fun than you guys might think, okay?!!!!), Uzi had a weird feeling, not only this place was the same of the last time that she and V had a 'discussion' in the building aside, where V ordered Uzi to keep searching for Doll's hints and stopped creepily stalking them through the window. 

But this wasn't just a feeling, it was some sort of... déjà vu. Uzi felt that something was different this time. Last time, she had been distracted by a noise and looked out the window to see N playing with the others on the canoe. This time, she felt like she was on the wrong end, not the end where she saw N and the others through the window. This time, Uzi felt like she was the one being stared at.

She looked at the window of the building and quickly realized she was right. Just like last time, there was a drone at the window, observing the drones on the canoe. However, this time Uzi wasn't the one at the window, she was the one being watched. Yet, Uzi didn't feel scared seeing the drone. Instead, she felt a sense of relief, even happiness. It wasn't just any drone, at least not 100%, but the purple, caring eyes that the core revealed who it was. It was Uzi's mother, Nori Doorman.

Nori waved to Uzi, and Uzi shyly waved back, smiling. No one else saw the brief interaction between the two.

Uzi managed to sneak out to have a brief conversation with her mother, the feeling of déjà vu quite didn't left her yet, maybe because V did the same.

"Hello, Mother," Uzi said, a hint of a smile on her face, her tone softer than the usual.

"Hello, my daughter," Nori said, the two shared a hug, Uzi putting a low amount of strength on it, her mother had strength, Uzi had discovered that while The Solver was possessing her, because her slaps really hurt, it was a surprise it didn't leave a mark, but a core wasn't durable, and could easily be destroyed by crushing it.

Even though the hug was brief, Uzi felt an overwhelming sense of safety. Having missed her mother’s presence for so long, this fleeting moment made it look like that the things were finally better for her.

Obviously the hug sadly came to an end, Uzi spoke, "It makes some time since we saw each other the last time, huh?" She said,

"You're right," Nori said, Uzi detected a hint of guilt or even sadness in her mother's voice, "sooooo, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"School Trip," Uzi said simply, Nori frowned.

"School Trip? Why would a school have a trip to this place?" She asked

"Long story, but let's just say the last time it really didn't went well, don't know why we are back here..." Said Uzi, "but also, why are you here?" Uzi asked

"Uhhh..." Nori started, awkwardly "Weeeeellllll, I really would like to bring good news but I can't...." Uzi had a bad feeling about what she was going to say "Long story, but short version: We have a few small fragments of The Solver that are still alive, but they are weakened." Uzi had needed a few moments to understand, and to accept what was her mother's words,

"What?" She demanded, with her eyes hallowed. Nori sighed,

"Yeah, I'm here to investigate it..." She said, "It looks like those centipede-like things that appear after you kill a Sky Demon or a Disassembly Drone...." Nori said, "Speaking of which, you do seem to be really close to them now," Nori said, a clear change of subject,

"Well, this isn't important right now,"

"Judging by how you and that stupid one 'hang out a lot' I would say it looks like it is pretty important to you,"

"Wait, no- I mean- UGH..." Uzi groaned, "It is important, but I am not wanting to change the subject right now," Nori sighed again,

"Look, Uzi..." she began softly, "you don't need to involve yourself this time. You're free. You don't have to watch The Solver doing bad things anymore. You can move on now—spend time with your friends or your father, play video games, listen to nightcore music... not hunt it like I do. Honestly, I don't want to spend all my time talking about it with you. Even if it's about that ridiculous Sky Demon... what was his name again? N, was it? Yeah. I'd rather talk about your poor choice of a boyfriend—" "Oi!" "...than spend time talking about The Solver with you." Uzi's expression softened, she decided to ignore the comment of N and hugged her mother again.

Chapter Text

After Uzi sneaked back to her friends and classmates trip, she still couldn't keep the focus after her mother told her about the fact that The Solver was alive, weakened, but still alive. Uzi lack of focus wouldn't be noticed, if she didn't had new friends.

"Hey Uzi?" Uzi head snapped to the direction of where the voice came from, "Are you alright?" N asked, with his gentle tone always present on his voice.

Uzi nodded, "Yes...." She answered in a whisper.

"If you are saying so...." He said hesitantly.

After N hesitated to answer, Uzi felt he wasn't even slightly convinced that everything was alright. She glanced at him and noticed the clear worry in his expression. She saw that Tessa, Thad, Lizzy, and even V had similar looks of concern on their faces.

Their other classmates couldn't care less if there was something worrying Uzi, but Uzi didn't expected them to, they also didn't knew shit of what she's been through, none of them, except maybe Thad and Lizzy, but not even them knew much of what happened down there.

Uzi had many memories from when she thought The Solver was dead.... However, now that she knew it wasn't, she couldn't shake the feeling that things were about to get a lot worse than before. Call her crazy, but those foreboding thoughts were hard to ignore.

Tessa wasn't naive, and it was clear that she would quickly see through Uzi's empty 'yes' that she wasn't actually alright. Something began to bother her, but she didn't know what it was. Even though she wanted to ask Uzi what was wrong, unlike N and V, she wasn't very close with Uzi. Sometimes, Tessa felt that Uzi only cared about her because she was friends with N and V. Tessa didn't feel that they were close enough for Uzi to open up to her, or even be considered friends.

Tessa had quickly risen in popularity in school, and she heard a lot about N, V, Thad and Lizzy among the whispers, but she still didn't hear about Uzi, not in a good light, always about how she was weird, jealous comments about the fact she was with N, about how she was aggressive, and about how she was a monstrous freak. She had a feeling Uzi knew about what they called her, yet, didn't do anything. Tessa wouldn't have the patience to do the same, because Tessa would be lying if she said she didn't get into a few fights while at school... A few were an understatement, she got into a lot of fights with a lot of girls when she was a human, and why is that? Because she wasn't much different from what they call Uzi, weird, aggressive, lonely, comments about how she was her parents' disappointment, about how she spent much more time with robots than with humans, damn it people even picked up on her due to her like of animes, and they even called her emo simply because she dyed her blonde hair, black.... She's happy she is called the cool girl now, but it is worth it if someone N cared so much would be getting the same treatment?

Uzi wished she had snuck a few magnets into her bag, because she desperately needed them, even depended on them. Maybe V had some in her bag? Maybe...

Part of Uzi knew that using drugs wouldn't end well for her.... it would only make things worse. The others would find out, N would abandon her if he discovered it, and Lizzy would mock her. Everything would revert to how it was before... Uzi would be the loner, the weird, aggressive girl again, her father's biggest disappointment. But this time, she'd also be the killer and the stoner who sought friends and comfort from the robots that killed her mother. This time, when Doll mocked her, she wouldn't be able to punch her back.... This time, there would be more drones to hold her down when she pinned Lizzy to the ground.

While part of Uzi warned her that it wasn't a good idea, most of her mind told her it didn't matter. She never had anyone, and it was only a matter of time before she was alone again, so why delay? She felt like she would die if she didn't use the magnets as soon as possible. Lizzy and Doll had always bullied her, calling her names her whole life. She never forgot the day Lizzy mocked Uzi's 'dead' mother, but they didn't forget what Uzi did to her and everyone who got in her way. Uzi did feel sorry for backhanding Thad, but beating the living daylights out of Lizzy felt good. Really good. That's when she gained the 'aggressive' nickname, but at least they had learned to not enter into a physical fight with her, or to never badmouth her mother. Uzi was even called a 'nerd' because she scored the max grade on a test, and that nickname lasted for two... fucking... months. Simply because she got a good score. Uzi stopped aiming for good grades when that happened.

N was many things, but blind was not one of them. He could easily tell that Uzi was lying when she whispered a weak, empty 'yes.' The real question was: what was bothering Uzi? N began to wonder if the place, the memories, were affecting her. He resolved that he would stand by her side at the earliest opportunity and that he would always be there for her, no matter what. Even if the world were to end again, he would never leave her side. Never.

Uzi still was fucking sick, the trip was only going for one or two hours, and she felt that it was been days, she was going to ask V the soonest she could about the magnets. Not only did she have the need of having magnets, but she was also feeling weak, and useless.... But that was probably the need for more magnets. Damn it, she couldn't think about anything other than magnets, magnets, and magnets.... Well, better magnets than The Solver....

"[Are you going to tell anyone?]" Asked Doll, still awkward after their last argument.

"No," Uzi answered in a whisper, no one knew that she saw Doll as a ghost, nor about Cyn "I'm mocked enough without anyone knowing about my addictions." She said in a whisper once again, if they would call her many things about the simple fact she's taking magnets, imagine if they know about her little 'schizophrenia' as well. Doll's expression changed.

"[I'm.... not talking about addictions, Uzi.]" Doll answered meekly.

"Oh...." Uzi's eyes briefly hollowed at the realization. Doll was talking about The Solver, not about addictions. ".... Maybe after the trip...." She told Doll awkwardly.

"Where's Tessa?" Asked a student, everyone started to look around, searching for her.

"She was right here a minute ago!" "Yeah, where has she gone to?" "Is she trying to pull a prank on us?" The students began asking, making Uzi realize that Tessa was indeed missing. Uzi didn't like the looks on V and N's faces; worry was already etched all over their faces.

The students didn't lost one single second to start their searchs, even without adults (who even planned this trip?), they were able to deal with this by theirselves.

They had made groups of three drones, and of course, Uzi had chosen to stay with N and V, they might not actually be the ones to find her, but they were the quintet trio with the most chances of doing so. Uzi wasn't really close with Tessa, they did share the love of anime but only that, but N and V were extremely close to her, and it doesn't take a supergenius to realize they wouldn't endure losing her again. At least she wasn't searching for Lizzy, because V and Thad would probably force her to do so, and Doll would be an even bigger pain in the ass than she already is, she isn't close to Tessa, she doesn't think they can even be called friends, she doesn't like her, that word would be too strong, but she didn't hated her either, nor did she held any negative feelings against her.

"Hey. Uzi. What is that. Black spot?" When the question came from Cyn. Uzi couldn't ignore it and immediately went to check it. Her feeling of deja vu only increased when she saw what was that black spot, that was a liquid.

"Hey guys, Cyn found something." She announced, as N and V went towards her, Uzi turned to look at them in the face as she revealed "Cyn found oil."

"Tessa! Are you there?!" N shouted. Ever since Uzi had revealed the oil spot to N and V, they had been on edge, worried that Tessa might have gotten hurt.

Uzi hadn't found anything else, nor had Doll or Cyn. Uzi did, however, start to feel uncomfortable. It was as if she was being watched, followed... like something was stalking her. Call her paranoid, but after facing the world-ending threat that was The Solver, she always felt like this. But this time, it was worse. Why had she and the others agreed to come? They could be at home right now if they hadn't. They could be watching movies, anime, listening to music, and Uzi would probably be playing with magnets if given the chance. Anything would be better than being here. Uzi missed the nightmares.... Not because she wasn't having them, but because she knew she would wake up eventually, and the fact that she had killed everyone she loved wasn't real. But this... the feelings, the place, the oil spot... you know what?

This is just a nightmare, and it will end when she wakes up...

This is just a nightmare, and it will end when she wakes up...

This is just a nightmare, and it will end when she wakes up...

"Tessa, are you there?" One of the students asked, his voice filled with concern. His location getting more and more distant with each step from the camp, he was searching with two of his friends.

He was searching and searching, but never getting any closer to Tessa.

Snap

They had heard a sound, the sound of something getting snapped in half due to being stomped on, was it accidentally? Or on purpose?

It was sure that they wouldn't find out so soon.

"So.... Had anyone found Tessa?" Asked one of the students, after thirty minutes of searching the missing drone, nobody managed to find her.

"No," "No" "No..." "No!" Came from all the students except from Uzi, N, and V.

"So.... I assume you three didn't either?" The three shook their heads, denying.... Lying? Perhaps, the oil might mean nothing, but what if it was from Tessa? Uzi wondered just that, when another possibility came to her mind

"Is everyone that had left to search for her, here?" She asked, the drones started to look around searching for missing students, in the end, they shrugged.

"Ugh.... Is someone with the list of the number of students that we had before the search began?" N gave her the list, showing that there was a total of 30 students, except Tessa. "Let's start counting, one, two, three...." "....Twenty-two, Twenty-three, Twenty-four...." Uzi finished counting, and at the realization that there was not just one, not just two students missing, but two full groups of three missing disturbed her, and by N and V's hallowed eyes.... Their minds weren't at much different places.

Uzi swore that if Tessa was playing some kind of prank.... N and V were pretty much dying of worry, and didn't stop the search for one second, Uzi decided to stay with them.... Just in case they needed her help.... Of course, compared to the likes of N and V, she was pretty weak even though she's the physically strongest of her school, (yeah, she was stronger than the football player Thad, and the cheerleaders Doll and Lizzy.), but with her railgun? Not even the two of them were able to surpass her while she has it.

It was watching them, observing every single step as they searched for It. It could attack them now, but It preferred to see just how far they could go without realizing It was watching them.

It realized, the purple short one was the most carefull between them. Making sure they wouldn't be attacked, looking between the trees, and at the top of them, checking for danger, but It was stealthy and easily blended in with the dark. Purple one was careful, but It was even more....

As Purple one, Tall Boy, and Tall Girl discovered what she had done with the last three drones she hunted, their eyes widened in shock. One had its head crushed and an arm eaten off. The second had been bitten to death. The third had all their limbs torn off, so It could eat.

And their reactions weren't different for the next three others, which It had torn apart, and devoured some of their parts, the third drone of the second group had the left of his chest devoured.

Uzi wasn't dumb; she knew who was the only one capable of such brutality.

Disassembly Drones and Zombie Drones, or how Uzi liked to call them: Solver Drones

One day ago, she would have said it was the disassembly drones. Even though N and V had changed, J was alive, and they were not the only disassembly drones on Copper-9. She believed that The Solver was dead, and to be honest, she preferred to believe that. Today, however, she knew that wasn't the case. She also knew that out of the seven students who went missing, only six bodies had been found. Could it mean...? No... Or at least Uzi hoped so; that news wouldn't be pleasant for N or V.

Tessa's school was hell. She had her reasons for only considering drones as friends.... People mocked her wherever she went.

"Look, it's the Elliot's failure!" they jeered. 

Tessa tried to brush it off. She really did. But they wouldn't stop. The words piled up like bricks on her chest until she snapped. She lashed out, fought back. The result? Suspension. Again. And the inevitable disappointment etched on her parents' faces. Again.

She was so tired. Tired of their relentless taunts. Tired of feeling like she couldn’t escape. She just wanted to be home, talking with J, V, and N, playing with them, laughing with them. With her friends, she felt alive.... Something school drained from her.

"M-Mom?..." Tessa's voice wavered as she cautiously sought her mother's attention. 

Her mother rolled her eyes. "What do you want?" The venom in her tone made Tessa's shoulders sink.

"I-I want to be..." she began, but her words faltered under her mother’s hardening glare, "...home-schooled."

"Home-schooled? You?" Her mother’s tone was icy, her words cutting. No warmth, no curiosity.... Nothing like the mothers on TV with their soft voices and gentle concern. Her mother’s voice always carried the weight of disdain, as though Tessa’s very existence was an inconvenience. That tone had been there for as long as Tessa could remember. Both her parents spoke to her like that.... cold, distant, unloving.

"And what did you do this time?" her mother demanded, making no effort to hide her irritation. 

In movies, mothers might have asked, "Why? Are you struggling? Do you want to change schools? Are the kids being mean to you again? Do you need help?" Tessa had often wondered if it was just her mother who was so cold, so unlike the fictional parents who seemed to care.

"I-I..." Tessa stammered, unprepared for the follow-up. She hadn't thought it through. Her parents would never agree to such a thing out of love; they didn’t love her. She had learned that when she was very young. 

"I thought maybe..." Tessa whispered, her voice heavy with resignation, "...you’d appreciate it if your failure wasn’t so visible. If I wasn’t around to embarrass you. To shame you."

Her mother raised an eyebrow, lips pursed. "Hmm. Maybe you’ve finally had a good idea," What?

"I’ll talk to your father about hiring someone for you," her mother added. "Though I doubt they’ll be able to put up with you."

Tessa could barely believe it. "O-Okay..." she managed, watching as her mother walked away without another word. 

It worked. She wouldn’t have to go to school anymore. She could stay home with her friends—J, V, and N. She could finally escape that dreadful place.

But even as relief crept in, her own words echoed back at her: failure... embarrassing... shame.

Her mother had agreed with her. She really was nothing but a disappointment to her parents. Just thinking about it brought tears to Tessa’s eyes, but she made sure her friends didn’t hear her cry herself to sleep that night.

It was getting late, only an hour remained before the bus would leave without them. The tension was palpable. Uzi was growing increasingly nervous; there was still no sign of Tessa, only the lifeless bodies of others.

"Hey, guys, I think we should head back to camp," Uzi suggested, her voice uneasy. "All we’ve found are the bodies of other students. If the killer got to the rest of them, I don’t think they stood much of a chance."

"It’s twenty-four against one, Uzi," V argued. "Do you really think they’d lose to just one person?"

"If it really is just one," Uzi countered sharply. "Three against one didn’t work out so well for them, did it? If the killer has a knife, the others are already as good as doomed. Worker Drones aren’t fighter Drones. The only one who might stand a chance is Thad, if he had a knife too... and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t." Her voice dropped to a mutter as she added, almost to herself, "And if it’s what I think it is... not even a shotgun would keep him safe." She made sure V and N couldn’t catch her last words.

V fell silent, knowing Uzi’s points were painfully valid. The quiet that followed was broken by N, who spoke with unexpected determination. "You’re right," he admitted. "But we are NOT leaving without Tessa."

"I wasn’t planning to," Uzi replied firmly.

When they had arrived, they saw that three groups had left to search for Tessa again, and did not return.

Uzi was considering to tell N and V about the fact The Solver's alive, but ended up deciding that not now.

It was watching all of their moves. It was still hidden, and It made sure to kill all the others who had left their little 'safe' zone. Of course, if It wanted, It could have ended with everyone before right there, but It didn't because It wanted to have fun.... But

It was getting hungry

It was getting hungry

It was getting hungry

Uzi readied her railgun, though she may or may not have also grabbed a bow and some arrows. With her railgun taking 30 minutes to recharge, she needed something else to fight with.

“[Do you really think the one behind this massacre is Tessa?]” Doll asked.

“No. It cannot. be her.” Cyn answered quickly, though it seemed like she was trying to convince herself more than actually believing it.

“[... You’re smarter than this, Cyn,]” Doll replied. Cyn didn’t say another word. It was Uzi who broke the silence.

“Well... I hope it’s not her, but I’m not sure,” she said, her worried gaze shifting to V and N. Both of them looked nervous and hadn’t eaten or drunk anything since Tessa went missing. “I’m certain they wouldn’t be able to handle it,” she muttered. But then, a student’s voice and question grabbed her attention.

“Tessa?” a student asked. “Isn’t that Tessa?” he said, pointing at a silhouette that seemed to be wearing a bow and dress, just like Tessa’s.

The silhouette walked toward them slowly, waving with one arm. It was strange—Tessa had been missing for hours, and now she was simply waving at them like nothing had happened? There were dead bodies everywhere, for crying out loud!

Uzi’s instincts screamed at her to get the hell out of there. Something was definitely wrong. Tessa was acting weird. For Uzi’s nightmares to come alive, an X appeared on Tessa’s visor—the same X that marked disassembly drones when they hunted, killing and ripping workers apart. The same X that had been on Uzi’s face when she herself had eaten and ripped workers apart.

Uzi didn’t even realize when she jumped in front of her classmates, shouting, “Stay back!” Neither N nor V seemed to grasp the danger they were in. For Uzi’s trauma to be complete, Tessa revealed wings and a tail, which slowly rose until every drone present could see them. And then, to bring Uzi’s nightmares fully to life, Tessa began to giggle—the same giggle disassembly drones made when they hunted. The same giggle Uzi herself had made when the urge to devour every drone in front of her had taken over, right after she’d ripped them apart.

“This isn’t Tessa. Not anymore...” she muttered.

N and V's faces were hollowed when they saw the wings and the tail that belonged to a Solver Drone and the X that belonged to a Disassembly Drone. Recognition was written over all of their faces.

Before Uzi could properly think, Tessa had sprinted. Running on their direction at an alarmingly high speed, as she aimed an attack towards one student, only leaving room to Uzi jump in front of the student as Tessa jumped and glided at high speeds.

Uzi was attacked and pinned to the ground, her arms restrained tightly by Tessa—not by the student. She found herself face-to-face with Tessa’s razor-sharp teeth and the unnerving, glowing "X" that marked her face. Uzi writhed, struggling to slide out from beneath Tessa. This wasn’t the drone she once knew—the one who had helped N and V so many times with her kindness. This was something else entirely: a ruthless, psychotic creature.

Her efforts to fight back were futile. Every attempt to push Tessa away ended with her arms forced harder against the ground. Tessa's grip didn’t falter as her hand reached for Uzi's throat. In an instant, Uzi was lifted and flung dozens of feet through the air. Her flight ended only when her body was slammed through the trunk of a tree, splintering the wood before she fell into the soft snow below. The snow cushioned the impact somewhat, but not enough to stave off the pain that tore through her body. She screamed, clutching herself as she lay sprawled in the freezing white.

Her vision swam and her thoughts spiraled into chaos. Was that screaming in the distance? Gunfire? Or both? She couldn’t be certain. Her disoriented mind wandered back to her time as a Solver Drone—a form far stronger than Worker Drones or even Disassembly Drones. She knew that she stood no chance against Tessa. Even though her previous transformations had granted her wings, a tail, and a significant physical boost, she was still nowhere near the strength of her original Solver form—or the monstrous Solver that Tessa had now become.

As her vision cleared, Uzi saw Tessa launching a relentless assault on the others. N and V fought valiantly, but their fear of The Solver—and their lingering reluctance to harm Tessa—kept them from fighting at full strength.

Determined, Uzi dragged herself up. She limped forward, step by step, her pace gradually increasing. She had no long-ranged weapons left—they’d been lost when Tessa first tackled her. But she pushed forward regardless. Limping turned into walking. Walking turned into a determined jog. And soon, she was running.

Even from a distance, Uzi could see Tessa slamming her fist against V's visor. The impact knocked V off her feet, sending her sprawling. N rushed in to help, but before he could, Tessa's tail—a weapon unlike any Uzi had seen before—blasted him back. It wasn’t the reptilian head attached to Uzi’s tail, nor the acid-filled syringe the Disassembly Drones wielded. Instead, Tessa’s tail bore a gun-like appendage, firing bullets that resembled those of a revolver.

It took Uzi a few agonizing seconds to reach the chaotic fight. By the time she arrived, Tessa had pinned N to the ground, preparing to bite his head off. Uzi acted instinctively, tackling Tessa and knocking her away from N. As they hit the ground, Uzi raised her fist, locking eyes with Tessa. For a brief moment, the two glared at each other, unflinching. Then Uzi swung. Tessa dodged effortlessly, tilting her head to the side, causing Uzi’s punch to bury itself in the snow instead.

Before Uzi could react, Tessa’s hand shot up, grabbing her by the neck. With terrifying ease, Tessa lifted her off the ground and, in one swift motion, bodyslammed her onto the snow with crushing force. Uzi hit the ground hard, gasping for breath, but Tessa wasn’t finished. In the blink of an eye, she was on top of Uzi again, her grip tightening around Uzi’s throat. Uzi struggled, clawing at Tessa’s hand, as the pressure increased—not to suffocate her, but to crush her neck entirely.

Then, suddenly, the grip vanished. Uzi felt a surge of relief as she gasped for air. Tessa had been yanked off her by Cyn, who had sunk her teeth into Tessa's leg and hurled her several feet away. Cyn may have been nothing more than a reptilian head, serving as a mere extension or tail to Uzi, with no limbs or body of her own, but she was anything but weak. Tessa landed gracefully on her feet, barely fazed.

Uzi dragged herself upright once more. She watched as Tessa tackled a fleeing student, only to be intercepted by N, who threw her toward V. V, with a bat replacing one of her hands, swung with precision. Her strike sent Tessa hurtling into the sky, disappearing above the clouds. The sight triggered a memory in Uzi—a flashback to when she, as a Solver Drone, had been thrown above the clouds by N.

The chaos among the students was palpable. They scattered in every direction, panicked. Thad stood trembling at the front, his attempts at bravery undermined by his obvious fear.

Tessa didn’t stay airborne for long. Using her wings, she returned swiftly, gliding at high speed before tackling N to the ground. With one arm, she lifted him effortlessly and threw him into V, sending them both crashing down. Before Uzi could intervene, she saw Tessa’s attention shift to the arrows left by an archery range. To Uzi's horror, Tessa used the Solver to transform one of the arrows into six gleaming spears.

Uzi's eyes widened as the spears hurtled toward her. Reacting just in time, she activated her own Solver, stopping the spears mid-air. Two can play this game, she thought, as she turned the spears back toward Tessa. Instead of aiming to pierce her, Uzi manipulated the spears to snap against Tessa’s head, one after another. Each strike staggered Tessa, the force of the blows splitting the spears in two upon impact.

V transformed her hand into a chainsaw as she watched Tessa use the solver to convert a broken spear into two, and then into a dozen spears hovering around her. Without hesitation, V sprinted toward Tessa, leaping high into the air. She sliced through most of the spears hurled at her, cutting them in half. As she descended, she attempted to land a strike, but Tessa smoothly dodged it. However, V, seemingly anticipating the move, slashed at Tessa's legs, severing them and sending her sprawling into the snow.

V's hollowed eyes locked onto Tessa. She glimpsed something unsettling with her visor—sharp teeth, more fearsome than a shark's, peering back at her. It was a stark reminder of how dangerous Tessa had become, and the painful realization that V might have to harm her friend to stop her.

Before V could process this, a regenerated leg collided with her face, launching her several feet backward. Tessa, now fully recovered, rose to her feet.

N charged at Tessa, wielding his swords, but she dodged his attacks with the same effortless grace she had shown against V. Before he could react further, Tessa's hand drove into his chest, her fist piercing through him. As N collapsed onto the snow, Tessa crouched and seized his arm. With a terrifying, inhuman grin that would haunt his nightmares, she bit into it, ripping the arm off. N's agonized screams echoed until his visor flickered and went black.

Uzi, determined to save N, grabbed one of the remaining spears Tessa had created. She moved as fast as she could, aiming to stab Tessa from behind. But as Uzi prepared to strike, Tessa stepped aside. A fist—intended for Tessa—slammed into Uzi's visor instead, sending her flying backward. She sprawled through the snow, her visor shattered, her vision blurred. Disoriented, Uzi realized the punch had come from V, whose target had shifted due to Tessa's sudden dodge.

Doll, unable to help directly, called out to Uzi, instructing her: "[Break the table and turn it into swords.]"

"How am I supposed to do that?!" Uzi snapped, frustration clear in her voice. Doll remembered that while Uzi's solver was more potent than hers, Uzi lacked the same finesse in wielding it.

Meanwhile, V relentlessly attacked Tessa with her swords, but Tessa evaded each swing with ease. Eventually, Tessa caught one of V's swords. Despite V's efforts to wrest it free, Tessa shattered the blade. Gripping V by the head, Tessa hurled her over her shoulder. V landed in the snow with a groan and tried to rise, but Tessa's tail, equipped with a gun far faster than any revolver, fired before she could react. V's screen shattered as she collapsed, her visor deactivated from the severe damage. Though both V and N were still regenerating, they were effectively neutralized.

Tessa turned her attention to the students, who screamed louder as the disassembly drones lay incapacitated. With her tail raised and her slow, menacing steps, Tessa closed in on her prey. Laughter echoed from her as she prepared to shoot. She stood just a foot away from the terrified Emily, her aim locked. Emily froze in panic as Tessa's laughter grew louder, a second away from pulling the metaphorical trigger.

Suddenly, Uzi intervened, wielding two wooden swords she had crafted. With a swift slash, she severed Tessa's tail. "Not so fast!" Uzi shouted, landing a punch squarely on Tessa's face, staggering her. Enraged, Tessa summoned a green-colored solver and called one of her spears to block Uzi's next strike. The spear clashed with Uzi's sword, but Uzi's blade forced the spear into the ground, pinning it. With one leg planted on the trapped spear, Uzi leapt forward, delivering a flawless kick to Tessa's face. The impact sent Tessa stumbling back.

Uzi charged forward, determined to rejoin the battle. Her swords slashed fiercely at Tessa, who dodged each strike with precision. Tessa countered with swift swings of her own, but Uzi evaded and retaliated. For minutes, they traded blows in a relentless dance of attacks and counters. Yet, Tessa's superior strength and speed began to tip the scales. With a single, devastating move, Tessa swung her spear against Uzi's swords, shattering both the blades and her own weapon.

Now unarmed, Uzi found herself at a disadvantage. Tessa dashed forward, grabbing Uzi's head with one arm and lifting her off her feet. With a powerful toss, Uzi was hurled into a tree, splitting it in half. The upper section collapsed, nearly crushing Tessa, but she used her Solver to obliterate it into fragments. Uzi's vision blurred, leaving her vulnerable as Tessa sprinted toward her with alarming speed.

Tessa reached the fallen, purple-haired drone and pinned her to the ground, restraining her. Her wings spread wide, ready to deliver the fatal blow. Uzi's hollow eyes reflected her life flashing before her. But before Tessa could strike, a small tree branch snapped against the back of her head. Startled, she abandoned Uzi and turned to face the source of the interruption—a cyan-eyed, glasses-wearing drone named Emily. Trembling, Emily dropped the branch, realizing it was futile against Tessa, who began to march toward her menacingly.

One of Tessa's wings lashed out, striking Emily with enough force to send her flying back to the other students. They scrambled to arm themselves with whatever they could find—broken branches, shattered spears, and the remnants of Uzi's swords. As Tessa advanced, a sword suddenly pierced her back. Uzi, seizing the moment of distraction, had crafted new blades from the tree branch Emily had used. Tessa was thrown aside but landed on her feet, ready to continue the fight. Uzi charged, delivering a dropkick to Tessa's face, sending her flying several feet away.

The battle reignited. Uzi dodged a punch from Tessa and tackled her to the ground, twisting her arm and pinning her down. But Tessa broke free, grabbing Uzi and slamming her into the ground. This time, Uzi's fist connected with Tessa's visor, causing her to stumble. Uzi followed up with a powerful kick to Tessa's stomach, sending her crashing into an old wooden structure, denting its wall.

Uzi glanced at the students, noting Emily's damaged visor and minor injuries. "Go!" she commanded. The students hesitated, Rebecca's panicked face visible from the bus. "But... what about you?" Rebecca asked. "I'll be fine. Now go!" Uzi insisted, turning back to Tessa, who was already on her feet.

As Uzi sprinted toward her foe, a voice called out, "Uzi, catch!" Thad tossed her a railgun. Uzi caught it mid-air, aimed, and fired. Tessa dodged, but the shot grazed her, destroying half her body. Unlike others, Tessa's body regenerated in seconds.

Dropping the railgun, Uzi tackled Tessa through the wooden wall, shattering it. She grabbed Tessa's head and slammed it into a metal door inside the structure. Tessa retaliated, overpowering Uzi and slamming her head against the same door repeatedly. By the fourth strike, the door was dented, and Uzi's visor was further shattered.

Cyn suddenly intervened, biting into Tessa's leg and ripping it off. Both combatants collapsed onto the metal floor. Tessa recovered first, dragging Uzi by her tail and throwing her through the hole in the wall, out into the snow. Uzi, battered but determined, crafted katanas from the shattered wood and limped toward Tessa.

Tessa charged, grabbing Uzi by the neck and slamming her into the snow. Her fist smashed into Uzi's shattered visor, but Uzi retaliated with a right hook, forcing Tessa back. Struggling to her feet, Uzi slashed with her katana, severing Tessa's left arm. She aimed for the right arm, but before the blade could connect, a spear crafted by Tessa struck Uzi's torso.

Tessa ripped the spear out and activated her Solver, using it to punch through Uzi's core. The Solver tore Uzi apart, leaving only her lower torso intact. Tessa held Uzi's core in her hand, triumphant. Cyn lunged at Tessa but was swiftly destroyed by her tail.

Uzi's core, defenseless and panicked, was tossed against a tree, splitting it in half. The core's oil splattered across the snow as its central eye glitched, displaying an ominous message: Error: High Damage. If not repaired within one hour, drone will be permanently deactivated.

Tessa approached the core, ready to consume it. But before she could, a voice rang out. "Uzi!!!" It was N, rushing to the scene as Tessa turned her attention to him.

However N was unfortunely too distant, while Tessa smiled widely, lifting the core as if to place it in her mouth. V activated her sub-machine gun but never got the chance to fire.

A pickaxe hurtled through the air, striking Tessa's metallic skull. The impact forced her to release Uzi's core from her grip.

Tessa's attention snapped toward the direction the pickaxe had come from. Her gaze briefly locked onto the core descending from above. Before she could react, a metallic claw, powered by the Solver, slammed into her visor with brutal force. The blow launched Tessa hundreds of feet away, crashing her through multiple trees, her visor shattered.

The core's focus shifted to the fallen core and Uzi's lifeless body, her legs rendered useless.

Then, the core turned its attention back to the silhouette hovering in front of the moon. The figure retreated, ripping the pickaxe from her head and discarding it mid-flight. The core maintained its visual lock until Tessa disappeared from sight.

Slowly, the core approached Uzi's core. But before it could make contact—

"STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!" V's sword slashed toward the core, but N intervened, grabbing V's arm. "Wait! She's an ally," he said.

"And how can you be so sure?!" V snapped.

"This is Uzi's mother, Nori," N replied.

"And in case you haven't noticed," Nori interjected, her tone sharp, "I was saving my daughter—something neither of you managed to do." Her words made N flinch, and V's eye dimmed, hollow with guilt.

"And now, after letting her reach a critical stage, you want to play the overprotective role?" Nori's remark cut deep, making V flinch again. She turned to her daughter, her gaze softening as she saw the warning in Uzi's glitched eyes.

"Is she... fine?" N asked hesitantly.

"And what do you think?" Nori snapped, her eye betraying the panic she felt. N and V both saw the warning in Uzi's flickering eye. N panicked, while V's gaze hollowed as she frantically searched for a way to save Uzi.

"Why isn't her body regenerating?" Nori demanded.

"I-I don't know! Our regeneration has been slower lately. We thought it was because the Solver was dead!" N stammered.

"I have an idea!" V exclaimed. "N, slice me in half!" she ordered.

"What?!" N panicked.

"How does dismantling yourself help her?!" Nori demanded.

"I'll regenerate. Uzi won't—at least not in time," V explained hurriedly. It was enough to make both Nori and N pause.

"A-are you sure?" N asked. V nodded firmly. N hesitated but readied his sword, slashing V's lower half from her upper body. Both halves collapsed to the ground, and V shouted in pain, "Shit!"

Nori quickly grabbed V's legs. "Alright, we'll need arms and a head," she said, turning to N. "Yours."

N's expression froze, but Nori continued, "The other one already gave her parts. And, well, I don't exactly have spare parts to offer."

She grabbed a wooden spear, transforming it into an axe. "Ready?" she asked.

"Not really, but just do it already!" N replied, bracing himself as the axe swung toward his neck

Chapter Text

Time Remaining: 10 Minutes...

Activating Core... Activation succeeded.

Waking up... Waking up...

Failed. Body lacks a torso. Critical State requires Instant Regeneration.

Instant Regeneration activated:

Drone Type Identification... Disassembly Drone. Torso regeneration estimated completion: 1.3 minutes...

1 minute...

50 seconds...

40 seconds...

20 seconds...

10 seconds...

5 seconds...

4 seconds...

3 seconds...

2 seconds...

1 second...

Regeneration Completed. Conducting error check... No errors found.

Waking up... Waking up...

Success.

"Disassembly Drone, Serial Designation [Name Missing]... Waking up."

Uzi’s pupils flickered to life. Her blurred vision first caught the silhouette of her own tail—Cyn, hovering with a sharp expression. Then came Doll, her mother, and finally N and V.

“Ugh…” Uzi groaned, her voice thick with grogginess. “My head... What happened?” she asked, her hand instinctively reaching for her temple, now throbbing like hell.

As she straightened up, an odd sensation washed over her. Something felt off. She was taller—much taller. Finally standing upright, she realized with a jolt that she was eye-level with N and V. Disassembly Drones. Beings far taller than Worker Drones. Taller even than she’d ever been.

“Well. It’s not exactly. your head.” Cyn quipped, her tail twitching playfully—until Nori delivered a light slap to it.

“Ouch.” Cyn muttered, glaring at Nori, who glared back.

“Does that tail of yours have no tact?” Nori retorted.

Uzi finally glanced down at herself—and froze. Her legs were disconcertingly similar to V's, sleek and metallic. Gone were her usual jacket and signature beanie. In their place was N's attire—his hat perched neatly on her head. Panicking, she pulled N closer for a better look, catching a glimpse of her reflection in his visor. Her eyes were no longer their usual color—they glowed yellow. Her body, her arms—everything about her screamed Disassembly Drone.

"What happened to me?" Uzi begged, her eyes filled with panic.

"When..." N began, "Tessa got possessed by the... S-Solver..." N struggled to say the name of the entity that had destroyed their lives, grappling even more with the horrifying realization that it was still alive. After all, how else could Tessa’s transformation be explained? "She attacked you and fatally injured you. We... we didn’t have much time to rebuild, so we used my and V’s parts. And when we connected your core to your head, you regenerated as a Disassembly Drone. We don’t know how, though..." 

Uzi took a moment to process everything N had said. 

"My system..." she muttered.

"What?" N asked, confused.

"My system identified me as a new Disassembly Drone," she said. "So my regeneration followed the structure of one."

Doll’s hand moved to her chin in a thoughtful pose. "[Wait, can you still control the Solver?]" she asked, making Uzi wonder the same.

"Worth a shot," Uzi replied, attempting to activate her Solver abilities. The Solver’s signature color, purple, was the only trait that hadn’t changed. "It’s working—I still have my Solver," she said.

"Aaaaand that’s important because?" V asked skeptically.

"Well, I thought I might’ve lost it since I’ve never seen either of you using it. But if I can still use it..." 

"That means we might be able to use it too," V finished, quickly grasping her point.

Uzi’s mind wandered to the uncertain path ahead. "What... what do we do now?" she asked.

"Well... I think it’s better if you all go home," Nori suggested. Uzi’s eyes immediately hollowed at the thought—go home, like this?

"Go.... home?" she asked, her voice quiet. Nori instantly realized what was troubling her daughter.

"Hey..." Nori stepped closer. "It’ll be alright. I’m sure your... friends will help you with this. And if they aren’t enough... you know what to do. Just like I taught you, huh?" Nori smirked, prompting a small giggle from Uzi.

"Yeah... punch whoever bothers us right in the face," Uzi said. Nori pulled her into a tight hug.

"That’s right..." Nori whispered. As she released her daughter, she turned to the Disassembly Drones. "You can go now. Your friends will catch up—just give me a moment to talk to them," she said, glaring at N and V. Uzi, too preoccupied with her own worries, didn’t notice the glare or question her mother’s intentions.

"Okay," Uzi said, grabbing her backpack from the camp and heading home on foot. Once the bus was out of sight, Nori faced the Disassembly Drones.

"We will protect her," N said quickly.

"You’d better," Nori retorted. "And that includes staying away from that thing." 

"What?" V asked, confused.

"It wiped the floor with all three of you, and you think you can withstand it now? It nearly took my daughter away from me! For God’s sake..." Nori’s voice broke slightly. "I can’t lose her..."

"But that 'thing' is our friend!" N argued. "We can’t just leave her out there alone. She doesn’t even know what the Solver is! We can’t lose her too.... Not again...."

"Listen here, Sky Demon. I don’t know who that girl is or why she’s so important to you. If you care about her so much, then I’ll hunt her down myself and bring her back. But if I even dream that you let my daughter go near that thing..." Nori’s voice dropped, dangerously cold. "Neither of you will live another day. Got it?"

V and N flinched under her harsh gaze. 

"Just... please don’t hurt her..." V pleaded.

"I won’t. At least, not like she hurt my daughter," Nori replied. "Now go. My daughter will need you." 

N and V obeyed, hurrying after Uzi, who was already several steps ahead.

Uzi raised her hand to knock on her own door, hesitating as her thoughts swirled in chaos. Her hand trembled, refusing to make the simple movement. Slowly, she lowered it, consumed by dread. What would her father say? What would the school think? Could she ever live a normal life when she was no longer herself? The weight of these thoughts pressed her down, threatening to crush her completely—until a gentle hand grasped hers.

She turned to see N smiling softly at her.

"It's alright. I'm with you," he reassured, lifting his free hand to knock in her place.

The knock echoed louder in her mind than it did in reality, and although the door opened almost immediately—like someone had been waiting right behind it—it felt to Uzi like an eternity had passed, her feet glued to the spot.

Her father stood there, his hollow eyes scanning the scene. "N, V...?" he asked, voice tinged with confusion. "Who is this? And where’s Uzi?" His gaze settled on the unfamiliar disassembly drone before him, a mix of bewilderment and fading hope etched on his face, as if bracing for grief to strike again. "I... I heard a student went crazy three hours ago and—"

He trailed off, unable to recognize his own daughter. And truly, how could he? The figure before him looked like the estranged child of N and V rather than his own Uzi.

Before he could ask more, Uzi forced herself to speak. "I-I’m..." she stammered, her father’s hollow eyes narrowing as the familiar voice reached him.

"It’s..." she began, but the words faltered, caught in the whirlwind of emotions that choked her voice.

V stepped in, her tone steady, sparing Uzi the burden of finishing the sentence. "She’s... Uzi," she stated.

Uzi stared down at her own feet, avoiding her father’s gaze. V continued, her voice calm but heavy. "Our friend Tessa was controlled by the Solver. She shot me in the visor and turned N offline. Our regeneration processes are slower nowadays, so..." V hesitated, but N quickly picked up.

"We don't fully understand what happened afterward," N added. "But Tessa damaged Uzi so badly that she would've been permanently offline within an hour. We were low on resources, so..." His voice softened, "we used parts of ourselves."

Silence hung in the air. Uzi’s thoughts spun wildly, unsure whether to speak or to stay silent. What would her father say? How could she live this new, alien life? And yet, of all the reactions she had imagined, she never expected what came next.

Her father stepped forward and hugged her.

For a moment, Uzi didn’t know how to respond, standing stiffly in his arms. Then, slowly, she returned the embrace. It felt strange—wrong, even. Her father, who had always been taller than her, now barely reached her shoulder. She couldn't ignore how fragile he felt in her grasp. If she applied even a fraction of her strength, would she crush him like an empty soda can?

Was this how N always felt when he hugged her?

Uzi lay sprawled on her bed, staring at the ceiling as her thoughts spiraled into a void of uncertainty. Her quiet contemplation was abruptly interrupted by a voice.

"[You know you can't stay in bed forever, right?]" Doll remarked, breaking the silence.

"Why so sure? Have you tried it?" Uzi shot back with a sarcastic edge, earning an eye roll from Doll.

"[It’s Friday,]" Doll pointed out plainly, causing Uzi to arch a brow in mild confusion. "[You have the weekend to get ready.]"

"Get ready?" Uzi asked, her voice laced with skepticism.

"For school. Obviously. Silly," Cyn chimed in, the words rolling out in her distinctly coded, erratic style.

Uzi froze. Shit. She had almost forgotten. School. She would have to return like this, with everything that had happened—the Tessa ordeal still fresh in her mind. Just the thought of it made her core ache.

"Pretending to think. Hmm. I have. An idea. Excited tone," Cyn suddenly declared, breaking her train of thought. "Maybe we should. Redesign your look. In order to. Make you look like yourself? Questioning tone."

Uzi hesitated. She couldn’t deny the suggestion had merit, but knowing Cyn…

"Do you just want an excuse to mess with my hair or something?" Uzi asked, her tone dripping with suspicion.

"Blushing. Embarrassed tone. Maybe?" Cyn admitted. "Begging tone. Please? Puppy eyes."

Uzi groaned internally. No. Absolutely not. There was no way she was letting Cyn mess with her hair… was there?

"...Fine," she muttered begrudgingly, already regretting her decision.

"YIPPEEE!" Cyn’s voice practically exploded with excitement. Despite her stiff coding and lack of genuine emotions, her odd choice of words somehow captured the giddiness of a child promised an ice cream treat.

"Done. What did you. Think? Satisfied tone," Cyn said, stepping back to admire her handiwork. Needless to say, she had thoroughly enjoyed herself. Somehow, she managed to dye Uzi's hair purple and style it almost identically to the way it used to look. Against all odds, Cyn hadn’t made a mess of things, leaving Uzi with a surprisingly familiar appearance.

"Wow... I'm surprised," Uzi admitted, still processing the transformation. Doll seemed equally stunned, her expression mirroring Uzi’s sentiments.

"Is that a... good thing? Questioning tone," Cyn asked, tilting her head. Uzi simply nodded in response, and Cyn flashed what could only be described as a ‘happy expression.’

"Well. Why not. Dress yourself up? Questioning tone," Cyn suggested enthusiastically. Doll narrowed her eyes at her, suspicion coloring her tone as she asked, "[And why are you being so helpful, exactly?]"

"Because I like to. Dress. And fix. My hair," Cyn replied breezily before adding with a teasing smirk, "Also. It is good. To use my. Physical body. To be helpful. Mockery tone." Her comment earned a groan from Doll but drew a small giggle from Uzi.

Uzi turned toward her closet, rummaging through its contents in search of something better than the clothes she had on. No offense to N, but his clothes—let alone his hat—weren’t exactly her style.

Eventually, Uzi unearthed a black shirt and, to her relief, another one of her signature jackets. She adored that jacket too much to ever part with it. To top it off, she found a beanie almost identical to her old one, save for a small “X” stitched on the center.

Dressed in her revamped outfit, Uzi turned to face the others. "So... do you guys think this is enough to make me recognizable as, well, me? And not N and V’s long-lost daughter?" she asked, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

"Giggle. Giggle," Cyn responded, her uniquely coded words capturing her amusement with perfect clarity.

Uzi felt better now, having reclaimed a semblance of her old self. Her purple hair was back, her clothes identical to what she used to wear, and thanks to Cyn's help, her purple eyes had returned as well. Yet, as Uzi stared at the mirror, she couldn't see the worker drone she had once been. Instead, she saw the disassembly drone she had become. Even with the recent modifications that made her feel more like herself, the reflection still felt deeply wrong.

A knock at the door jolted her out of her thoughts. She recognized the voice that came from the other side.

"Hey, Uzi, can I come in?" N asked.

"Sure, come in," she replied.

The door opened, revealing N. His visor tilted slightly as he took in Uzi’s appearance, now sprawled across her bed in her “new” look.

"Wow, you look great!" N said with enthusiasm, giving her a thumbs up. Uzi blushed. N's catchphrase, "I love doing anything," seemed to apply to his reactions too, as he genuinely loved everything.

V appeared behind N, standing in the doorway. Her expression shifted to a mixture of curiosity and approval as she noticed Uzi’s restored colors and choice of attire—a welcome change from the borrowed clothing she’d been wearing.

"Well, you’re definitely looking better than before," V remarked.

"If looking like myself again and not like some weird lovechild of you and N counts as better, then yeah, I’ll take it," Uzi quipped, her tone playful yet pointed.

V blushed deeply at the remark, while N let out an embarrassed shout of, "Uzi!" His visor’s glow flared slightly, betraying a hint of his own flustered state.

The weekend flew by, fast as a lightning bolt streaking across the sky. Even after two days of locking herself in her room and spending time with N and V—both doing their best to lift her spirits (yes, even V, though she was far more subtle about it)—Monday arrived. But Uzi was too scared to face school in her current state. She asked for just one day at home, just one. Her father agreed, assuring her he was willing to give her all the time she needed to adjust.

And now, here she was, standing in front of the school. Nervous. Hands trembling. A familiar, comforting voice broke through her thoughts, bringing a small sense of ease.

"You know you can't avoid school forever, right?" N said gently. Of course, she knew. That was why she’d only asked for one day. But was it so wrong to be afraid? "You know I'll always be with you, right?" he added, taking her hand. Uzi nodded, unable to speak through her nerves.

"You’ve got this, Uzi," he reassured her. "You were brave enough to fight me, then J, and even withstand all The Solver’s attempts to defeat us. You stood strong until we won..." His voice faltered slightly, acknowledging that The Solver wasn’t truly defeated—it was back. "But my point is: You, Uzi Doorman, never needed me to have courage. Even as just a worker drone, you were—and still are—one of the most courageous people I’ve ever met."

Uzi could tell N meant every word, even if she couldn’t quite believe it herself.

"Oh, and just so you know," N continued, "Emily asked about you. She was worried when you didn’t show up. I told her you were fine, just taking time to adjust after a big change after... well, after Tessa’s incident. She remembers you saved her life, you know." He paused, then added with a soft smile, "And if you still need convincing, I hope this will help..."

Before Uzi could process what was happening, N leaned in. Her eyes widened in realization, her visor glowing purple as her blush deepened. Her grip on her backpack tightened a hundredfold. Then she felt it—his lips on hers.

For a moment, she froze, stunned by his boldness. But as the warmth of the kiss washed over her, she closed her eyes and leaned into it, returning the gesture. After a few seconds, they pulled apart.

N smiled at her. "See you inside, Uzi," he said. Then, with a playful grin, he added, "Or should I call you Serial Designation U? Or maybe Z? Your call!" His joke earned a small giggle from Uzi, confirming his success. With that, he turned and walked toward the school.

Behind her, Uzi heard a loud gasp. She turned to see Cyn, mouth agape, and Doll, her hollow eyes wide as she covered her mouth with her hand. Their expressions made Uzi want to snap back with her usual catchphrase—"Bite me"—but all that came out was an inaudible mutter, her embarrassment overwhelming her.

Then it hit her. After at least a month of dating—maybe two—they had never kissed. And now, after their first kiss, N was just... walking away?

'Oh, no. He is not walking away after that!' Uzi thought, rushing after him. She caught up, touching his shoulder to get his attention. N turned, smiling as Uzi grabbed his hand.

Together, they walked into the school, hand in hand. Uzi tried to ignore the voice in her head—and the fluttering in her chest—urging her to run and never look back.

When the new disassembly drone appeared—with purple hair and eyes, wearing Uzi's jacket and beanie, holding N's hand—Uzi only saw hollow eyes staring back at her. Then, the whispers began.

"Is that... Uzi?" "What happened to her?" "No, it can't be her—she's a worker drone, not a disassembly drone." "But N said she needed time to adapt to a big change after Tessa's... Do you think—?"

The students' voices echoed through the hallway, weaving their way to Uzi's ears. She listened to the murmurs, the speculation over whether the disassembly drone standing beside N was truly her. She said nothing, too consumed by nerves to respond. Uzi quickly realized N's explanation for her absence yesterday had spread like wildfire; by now, it seemed like the entire school knew.

Uzi wasn't the religious type—everyone knew that—but in that moment, she found herself praying to every god she could think of. She desperately hoped the bell would ring, ushering everyone to their classes, leaving her with just her classmates and not the prying eyes of the entire school—employees included.

A weak stutter pulled Uzi from her spiraling thoughts. "U-U-Uzi?"

Her head snapped toward the voice. It was Emily. The cyan-colored girl stared at her, eyes wide. "I-I-It is really you?" Emily stammered.

Uzi's anxiety surged. Her grip tightened around N's hand, seeking comfort. She nodded in response, and the hallway collectively gasped. Uzi could see the unspoken questions in their eyes—questions about how she had ended up like this.

Her mind raced, anxiety clawing at her with thoughts of what would happen now that everyone knew. Even those who didn’t yet would find out soon enough: Khan Doorman’s daughter was no longer just a worker drone—she was a disassembly drone.

Out of all the reactions Uzi had braced herself for, Emily's was not one of them. The girl stepped forward and hugged her. Uzi froze, her hollow eyes widening in disbelief.

"Thank you..." Emily murmured, her voice barely audible.

"What?" Uzi managed to croak, stunned.

"For saving me," Emily said softly.

Uzi hesitated, but her arms moved on their own, awkwardly returning the hug. She didn’t dare squeeze, afraid her new strength might hurt the smaller girl. Uzi had always been taller than Emily—who was the shortest girl in their class—but the difference now was striking. Where once Uzi was only slightly taller, she now towered over her by a head and waist.

"No problem," Uzi mumbled nervously.

Another voice broke the moment. "Hey... Uzi?"

It was Rebecca. Uzi turned, expecting another snide remark, but Rebecca surprised her.

"You didn’t just save Emily—you saved all of us that night," Rebecca said. Her tone was genuine, uncharacteristically soft. "I think we all owe you a thank you. And I’m... sorry."

The apology caught Uzi off guard. She barely had time to process it before the sound of clapping began. One by one, the students and even the staff joined in, their applause filling the hallway.

For years, Uzi had been the target of bullying—the name-calling, the mocking. Yet now, for the first time, they weren’t clapping to make fun of her. They were clapping because of something she’d done, something that had made them... like her.

The feeling was strange, but comforting. It was enough to tug a weak smirk onto Uzi's face.

"Hey there," Lizzy greeted Uzi, her voice sugary-sweet. The purple drone clenched her jaw, forcing herself not to scoff.

Uzi had forgiven Rebecca for her bullying. As awful as Rebecca’s antics were, they hadn’t scarred her as deeply as Lizzy and Doll had. Surviving Doll’s constant presence was a challenge enough. The only reason Uzi never called Lizzy out was V and Thad—they both somehow managed to get along with the blonde.

"I heard about what everyone’s been saying," Lizzy continued. "Honestly, I’m surprised. V didn’t tell me what happened to you."

"Thank her for that, on my behalf," Uzi replied flatly, ignoring Doll’s sharp glare beside her.

"Sure," Lizzy chirped, oblivious to the weight of Uzi's words—if Lizzy ever discovered the truth, entire universes would.

"I’ll be going now," Uzi muttered, turning away as Doll’s ghostly presence hovered close behind her.

"[I saw your intentions, Uzi,]" Doll hissed.

"Good," Uzi snapped, her voice icy. "That means you have a brain—unlike your girlfriend."

Doll’s eyes narrowed into a glare as sharp as glass.

'Oh no.'  Cyn thought. 'Here they go again. Fighting...'

Cyn was right. The moment they got home, Uzi's and Doll's voices erupted, filling the entire room.

"[You forgave Rebecca, but you won't forgive her?]" Doll shouted.

"Well, Rebecca wasn't nearly as much of a nightmare as Lizzy was," Uzi shot back.

"[Rebecca's name-calling was pretty hard to top,]" Doll argued.

"Of course it seemed that way—because you stopped being the target of the bullying once Lizzy developed her stupid crush on you," Uzi snapped.

"[And what does that have to do with anything?]" Doll demanded.

"Who do you think became the main target after that? If Lizzy hadn't had that crush on you, you'd still be relying on me to fend them off because you're too much of a coward to do it yourself!" Uzi shouted.

"[Oh, so you wanted me to keep getting bullied just so you wouldn't have to suffer as much?]" Doll countered.

And so it went. Uzi shouted, Doll defended herself, Uzi escalated, and Doll retaliated. Their voices clashed for what felt like an eternity, while Cyn stood silently, listening to every word but wisely choosing not to intervene.

After the day she and Doll had argued, the week passed quickly. Doll didn’t say a word to her during that time, which Uzi counted as a win.

Of course, Uzi was still adjusting to everything—her father, her classmates, and the changes around her.

Her classmates, who once relentlessly mocked her, laughed at her struggles, and even envied her relationship with N, now faced a reversal. They used to ridicule her inability to reach things they could easily grab, but now they watched as she crouched to retrieve items they struggled to access, like in a poetic twist of fate.

Her father, once consumed by grief and burying himself in work to avoid facing her, had started becoming more present in her life. Why he’d acted that way, Uzi didn’t fully know, though she had her suspicions. From day one, it was clear to her that she was the perfect clone of her mother.

Even so, despite her father's newfound involvement and her classmates' apparent kindness, Uzi couldn’t completely forget the things her father used to say about her behind her back. Words that cut deep and left scars.

“How to deal with the disappointment of a daughter,” he had once said. “Doors are my real daughter,” declared posters plastered all over her school for everyone to see. Even among those who didn’t know her name, most recognized her as Khan Doorman’s daughter.

And then there were her classmates’ taunts:

“Look, it’s Khan Doorman’s daughter—oh wait, oops, you’re not a door! Sorry!” “Hey, how’s your mother doing, Khan’s daughter?”

Their words and nicknames varied, but their meaning was always the same: You’re a disappointment to your father. Your mother is dead, and she’s never coming back. Neither of your parents care about you. It doesn’t matter how hard you try; no one will ever truly care about you. Everyone will abandon you, eventually.

For all of Doll’s sharp words and abrasive nature, maybe she had a point about one thing. Maybe Uzi forgave them too easily.

And with that doubt came another, darker one. Would N and V leave her too? She didn’t think she could bear losing someone so important again—whether through death or being left behind.

Even after becoming a disassembly drone, Uzi didn’t stop taking magnets along with V—much to Doll's dismay. Not that Uzi cared about what Doll thought, not anymore. For now, Uzi just needed a break from everything. Too much had happened in a single week, and the magnets, somehow, helped.

When Uzi woke up in her bed, the details of the previous night were hazy. Both she and V rarely remembered much after snapping out of their high states. This time, however, Uzi conveniently recalled one specific thing: V had only used one magnet, even after the effects had worn off.

Uzi, on the other hand, had lost count after the fourth. She wondered why. Maybe V just didn’t need them as much as she did in that moment, or maybe V had a far better grip on her addictions than Uzi did with hers. The truth? Uzi didn’t know. It might’ve helped if she could remember more of what had happened—but for now, the events of the previous night remained blurry at best.

N and V would both be lying if they claimed they never missed Tessa.

Even when N had severed the fake Tessa's head, he might—or might not—have fought back tears on his visor. But if he did, he hid them well, like he always did when faced with a problem. He buried his feelings deep, so he didn’t have to worry about himself and could focus on helping Uzi, V, and even J. That was his way long before the whole Solver ordeal. When N witnessed what Cyn the Solver did to the real Tessa—the human Tessa, not the drone version—he panicked. The sheer brutality left him shaking in fear, not just of Cyn but of the horror inflicted on his friend.

V, on the other hand, hadn’t trusted Tessa at first when she reunited with her after all those years. It wasn’t immediate disdain—it was the uncertainty. V felt that Tessa had changed. The Tessa she remembered, whether drone or human, was a kind, silly girl who truly cared for drones. Tessa had seen them for what they were: sentient beings, neither inferior nor superior to humans. They weren’t disposable, not mere objects to be discarded or destroyed at will. Drones felt pain, fear, and terror at the thought of dying.

When V saw this ‘new’ Tessa—cold, detached, casually destroying drones like garbage and ordering J around like a servant—she realized something important: this wasn’t the Tessa she once knew.

For both N and V, the real Tessa was someone they would have entrusted their lives to without hesitation. They would have willingly descended into the depths of hell to pull her out, even if it cost them their own lives. Tessa was the one who gave them their identities, their purpose. She turned the mansion into a place of joy, even when the elder Elliots made it unbearable for anyone who wasn’t human. Tessa cared for them when no one else did. And now, both N and V felt like failures—worthless for not being able to save her, for not being there when she needed them most.

But V had a nagging thought. Someone else needed to hear about this, someone who cared for Tessa as deeply as they did. Someone who had been there even before them. Someone who was the very first drone Tessa had ever rescued.

...And oh, how V hated herself for needing to rely on that thought.

As V stepped outside the outpost doors, regret already weighed heavily on her—this was a mistake, and she knew it. Her eyes landed on the pod ship, still lifeless and broken by the looks of it. J was perched on top, her wings, claws, and teeth visible even from a distance.

"What do you want?" J hissed, her voice sharp and venomous. The eyebag lines etched beneath the eyes of her visor.

"Don’t get the wrong idea," V warned, her tone steady. "I’m not here for you. But I think you deserve to know."

"And since when do you care?" J shot back, her words laced with suspicion.

"I don’t," V admitted with a frown. "I’m only here because this is about Tessa. She’d want you to know, no matter how much of a bitch you are." The insult hung in the air as J raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued.

‘This is about Tessa?’ J thought, her mind racing. ‘But what could V possibly have to tell me?’

"She’s alive," V said, the words escaping her lips with visible effort. J’s eyes widened, hollowing with disbelief. And yet, for the first time in what felt like forever, a flicker of hope stirred within her. But J wasn’t one to trust easily. Her left claw shifted into an SMG, the cold metal glinting in the light.

"Don’t... try... to prank me," J said, her voice icy and deliberate, each word punctuated with menace as she aimed the weapon at V.

"Do you really think I’d joke about Tessa?" V snapped, her anger flaring. Of all the things J could accuse her of, this was the most absurd. At least J’s expression suggested she was starting to think it through. "Put the gun down. We both know which one of us is faster," V added, raising her own SMG in response.

"Then prove it," J demanded, though deep down, she knew V wasn’t lying. That tiny spark of hope burned a little brighter. Both of them lowered their weapons, their hands returning to normal.

"I’d bring her here myself, but there are two problems," V began. "One: I don’t trust you around her." Her voice was cold, and J’s frown deepened. "Two: she’s possessed by The Solver."

‘...What?’ J’s mind screamed. After a moment of stunned silence, she finally voiced her disbelief. "...What?"

"You heard me," V muttered. "She managed to transfer her memories into a worker drone before—"

"You..." J interrupted, her voice trembling with fury. "Out of all the times.... you could’ve told me about her..." Her words dripped with venom as she stalked toward V, her movements deliberate and threatening.

"As if you wouldn’t backstab us at the first opportuni—" V’s retort was cut short as J’s fist collided with her visor, sending her stumbling back.

It took V a moment to recover from the shock. When she did, her voice erupted in a furious shout. "You bitch!"

Chapter Text

Hello, and if you had read the title, then you already know what this chapter is for, to give an end to this unfinished story.

I will try to be straightforward here....

I would like to give a short explanation of why, and that this end is not permanent!

Let's start with the why.

There are two reasons why this story is reaching an end:

Lack of planning is one of the reasons.

This story had a lack of planning that troubled the story itself, with no foreshadowing for things that the idea came to me too late, and I still wanted to add anyway. An idea came to me mid Chapter 3, so I thought; Hey, why not add it too? The whole of Tessa's transformation plot came to me too late, too.

The story would be a one-shot that would give the character a better ending for the series, fixing J's character, going deeper into the character's traumas, and how they will overcome them, having the Full Company/Juvin/Uzi x N x V x J shipping as end-game, which ended up discared and I decided the only pairing between those four characters was Nuzi/Uzi x N, but still with a teasing towards the former ship.

And then I had Tessa's transformation plot, which would only serve as a way of giving Tessa a way of knowing about the Solver, when she's defeated by N, V and Uzi, and then I thought of Nori making an appearance, and wanted this transformation to have a longer plot.

The other reason is the focus on other stories.

Pretty straightforward; I wanted to open doors for other stories before finishing this one, and also a few ideas that would not fit in this story without the story becoming a point of divergence, and not a sequel to the original MD.

But of course, with the importance of this story to me, I couldn't simply end it like this....

A remake/rewritten version of the story is coming soon!

With proper planning, better writing, a better title, even better characters, and of course... an actual ending.

Whoever, this isn't coming THAT soon, as there are still other stories in the way.