Chapter Text
The office where everyone else rested was filled with minor idle chatter. Uzi still felt warm, unzipping her parka by an inch or two. She hoped Ron would be kind enough to spare some oil for her.
“Uzi! Keep your jacket zipped!” Khan scolded.
His daughter startled, whipping around to him. Her brows furrowed in agitation as she rolled her optics and huffed.
“It’s freaking hot in here! And it’s only like, two inches!” She argued.
“Doesn’t matter. You know the rules!” Khan told her.
“Can’t I just zip it up after drinking some oil?” Uzi asked.
“No. Now zip it up!” Her father denied.
Uzi growled but obliged. She stomped off towards the barrels full of oil. Khan sighed and stared after her, watching his daughter ask Ron for a drink.
“Do you really have to be that strict? We’re by ourselves in this territory.” Someone questioned. “I think she’d be alright. Doesn’t the Apex Drone already know she’s a girl?”
“I don’t care. I’d rather her be safe than sorry, even if we are the ‘only ones here.’” Khan retorted as he crossed his arms.
“I think she’d be alright until we got outside at least.” The same man said. “By the way, when are we going back out? We can’t stay here forever.” He then asked.
“We’re going back outside in about two days. Which means we should start packing up and see if we can’t sneak away with anything.” The colony leader replied.
“I don’t think there’s much for us to take.” The man shrugged.
“There’s more than you think.” Khan said back.
“Khan! Khan!” One of the younger boys, Braiden, came running up to him. “There’s- Uhm- Ugh-” He puffed on his knees.
“What is it?” Khan asked with a quirked brow.
“Uh- R-Rebecca- Her manufacturing is done- Oh my Robo-God, it was so gross…” The young man said as he shivered in disgust.
Khan and the other colony member’s eye lights went void. The former clicked his tongue and started making his quick way towards the break room.
“Have any of the other women finished?” Khan inquired, getting a mechanic to follow.
“Not that I know of.” Braiden answered.
“Okay. I need you to make sure that Apex Drone doesn’t come into the room- Or anyone else for that matter!” Khan told him, giving him a glance.
“Will do!” Braiden nodded.
“And tell Ron he’s in charge for a few hours!” Khan added, reaching the break room.
As soon as he opened the door, a scream came from the other side. Khan closed it quickly, the others in the office snapping their heads up. Khan waited for the scream to die down before he knocked and entered.
‘Guess Rebecca’s baby is finally coming off the production line.’ Uzi thought as she sipped her drink.
“Looks like we’ll have to congratulate Rebecca and Darren on their kid soon.” Ron smiled, although there was a sweat drop on his visor.
“I’m not even gonna bother.” Uzi huffed. “Besides, I’m not looking forward to being kept up all night because their baby couldn’t stop screaming.” She added, her brows furrowing.
“Uzi! Be at least a little nice! Rebecca is going through a very painful moment right now! The least you can do is support her.” Ron scolded with a disapproving look.
‘She wouldn’t support me.’ The disguised worker thought bitterly.
But she sighed and nodded instead.
Uzi went over to some random chair, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. Her temperature had gone down some as soon as she left Ron’s side. Thankfully it was just her needing some oil.
‘Maybe I should start asking for bigger portions.’ Uzi thought, trying to tune out another shriek. ‘If I keep overheating like this, my circuits are gonna fry or something.’
A yelp and a thump startled Uzi into sitting back up. She saw Thad picking himself up from the floor, N walking over to her with a skip in his step.
“I found him!” He told her cheerily.
“I can see that.” Uzi replied. “You okay, Thad?” She asked the other guy.
“‘M alright…” He vented back.
“Do you know what’s with all the screaming coming from the break room? I could hear it even in the vents.” N inquired, sitting on the desk next to the worker.
“Rebecca’s having her kid. It’ll be a few hours.” Uzi answered.
“She is?” N growled, his wings twitching and his tail swishing.
Uzi gave him a wary and confused look, a brow quirked. N reset his voice box and lowered his limbs.
“Sorry. I meant to say that’s so great!” He smiled again.
Uzi didn’t look all that convinced. But luckily for N, she didn’t question it, either.
“I guess since we’re stuck here, is there anything you guys wanna do?” Thad asked, leaning against the cubicle wall.
“Like what? We’ve exhausted all of our games, and I don’t feel like running around again.” Uzi returned and leaned back in her chair again.
As she did so, Uzi felt her temperature start rising again. It seemed to be more intense with both guys around. The phenomenon was confusing and starting to aggravate her.
“Yeah. And I doubt anyone would let us stray too far again with Rebecca having her kid.” Thad nodded.
“I’m not sure how much control anyone would have over you exploring my territory.” N pointed out.
“Still probably not a good idea.” Uzi said. “Dad likes to keep track of everyone when there’s a delivery. Plus, they might need help, and we might be unlucky enough to be roped into it.” She explained.
“There are more than enough Worker Drones to help out besides you.” N scoffed with a wave of his tail.
“Tell that to my dad.” Uzi returned, putting an arm over her visor.
“Hey, are you doing alright? You’re looking a little sick.” Thad pointed out, leaning off the wall.
“I’m just- Overheating a little.” Uzi vented out. “I think I’ll just have to sit any other games out today. I’m going to lie down.” She then said, getting up.
“O-Okay. If you need anything, just ask!” The athletic boy called after her.
Uzi nodded and gave him a half-hearted wave. N and Thad watched Uzi go over to where she’d set up her “bed” to get some rest.
“I hope she’ll be alright…” Thad muttered in concern.
“Does this usually happen?” N inquired, his turquoise optics glued on Uzi’s form.
“Uhm… Not really?” The other boy shrugged. “She doesn’t get as big an oil portion as the rest of us since she’s smaller. I’m thinking of asking Ron to up her portions, though.” He told the Apex Drone.
Said robot stayed silent as his hip wings made a small flap.
Uzi pulled out her blanket to sleep on, getting comfy on her side. Her temperature went back down again, but she still felt a little too warm. Just enough to make it uncomfortable. Uzi didn’t care what her dad said about dumb “rules,” he was busy with Rebecca.
Unzipping her jacket a little helped the Worker Drone to cool down a little. The chilly air of the abandoned office felt nice on her plating. Though, it still didn’t help the inside of Uzi.
‘Dammit… What the hell is wrong with me…?’ She wondered as she grit her teeth.
Adjusting her spot, Uzi closed her optics and tried to get some sleep. Even if she’s getting warm all of a sudden, she’s still tired from all that running around-
Another loud scream from Rebecca had Uzi flinching. She tried putting her hands over her audials to block it out more. It was hard to get any sleep when she was screaming like a banshee!
Uzi huffed and pulled her hood over her head to try and help block out the sound. Of course, it did basically nothing, but it was worth a try.
‘I will be so damn happy when she’s finally squeezed that damn thing out.’ Uzi thought as another high-pitched bellow rang throughout the office.
N held his hands over his head wings that were over his audials, muffling as much of the loud sounds out as he could. The ‘Rebecca’ girl was getting on his damn nerves with her howling.
'𝕀𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕖𝕣, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨.' A shadow snake pointed out, a shadow tendril trying to cover its ears.
“I cannot just kill her.” N growled back, his tail slapping against the floor.
'𝔾𝕒𝕒𝕙𝕙! 𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕒 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕜-𝕦𝕡 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕟 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕣𝕤!' Another dark snake exclaimed. '𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞! 𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞!!' It whined.
“Then how would I be able to be Uzi’s friend?! She’d hate me for sure!” N argued, relishing in the quietness after a scream.
'𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨! 𝕂𝕚𝕕𝕟𝕒𝕡 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕣 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘?!' The shaded being replied.
N’s expression grew unimpressed.
'𝕄𝕒𝕪𝕓𝕖 𝕨𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕖𝕝𝕤𝕖. 𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕗𝕒𝕣 𝕥𝕠𝕠 𝕟𝕠𝕚𝕤𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖.' N’s shadow huffed, becoming agitated by all the bellowing himself.
“For once that’s not a half-bad idea…” N muttered.
He stood up and quickly made his way out of the room. He went down the halls and to the main lobby where the trucks were sitting. N spread his wings and flapped out of the building into the woods. It wouldn’t be bad to check his markings while he has the time.
“I wonder if I should make new ones or not though…” He thought aloud. “It would keep any other Apexes away, but I’m not sticking around for much longer…” N’s gaze narrowed on some marks as he perched on a tree branch.
“If I’m just gonna leave, then I might as well not. It’d be a wasted effort, since I highly doubt I’m coming back here.” He spoke to himself.
N then turned to the night sky. The dark blue was starting to brighten, signaling the coming of day. His serpentine tail waved at the realization so much time had passed.
“I’m not even sure I got any sleep.” N huffed. “But I don’t wanna go back there to get some rest if that girl is still screaming.” He whined and hung his head.
'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥-' A shadow snake tried to say.
But N smacked him away with his tail.
There was not a single drone that was able to get any damn sleep. Rebecca’s screeching had kept them up all night long, and well into the day. It was safe to say that everyone was grumpy from the lack of sleep.
Thankfully, by the time midday rolled around, the pained howls and screams had come to a stop. Everyone let out relieved sighs as their baited vents were released.
“Finally! We can get some sleep!” Someone cried in desperate cheer.
The colony members all cheered in return, whooping and high-fiving. A few Worker Drones went about getting comfy in chairs or against walls, maybe on the floor, to get some much-needed rest.
But when the break room door was opened up, the whole room was filled with the sounds of a crying child. Everyone groaned loudly at realizing they’re now going to have to deal with that for a long while.
“Stop complaining!” Khan scolded his colony, closing the door. “Is everyone here? No one’s outside or anything?” He then questioned as he walked into the room.
There was a grumbling and weak round of yeses and confirmations. Khan sighed at their sudden drop in mood.
“I know you all haven’t gotten any rest, but please keep all the complaints and groans inside your CPU.” He said whilst pinching his visor.
His colony begrudgingly agreed. Khan huffed and rolled his optics at them.
“Anyways,” He pressed, catching everyone’s attention. “We have a new member of the colony. Which means that we’ll have to split up rations even more.” Khan started.
No one was happy about that. Even if they were glad a new baby was made, there were still certain things no one liked that still came with it.
“We’ll have to be on the lookout for oil more than ever before. We still have a few other ladies that are manufacturing- And I’m sure they’ll be soon to deliver.” The colony leader went on.
“You say that, but where are we even supposed to look? We’ve got no maps and no clues to go off of!” Someone exclaimed.
“And even this place didn’t have anything! It just has a damn Apex Drone!” Another cried.
“I know! That’s why we need to ask around some more.” Khan argued.
“The last time we ‘asked around,’ we were led right into an Apex’s territory! We can’t trust others!” A random drone countered.
“I understand, but we have no other methods or information to go off of!” Khan yelled back. “And I knew that this place could be dangerous, which is why I went with a search party to check it out.” He added.
“Not to mention that the Apex Drone wasn’t even inside this place to begin with.” Uzi spoke up.
Everyone turned to her, spotting her sitting up and leaning over her knees. Her coat was off and used as a pillow, and there were exhaustion lines curving from her eye lights.
“Uzi, what have I told you about taking off your jacket?!” Khan scolded with his hands on his hips.
“I just needed something to lie my head on! Chill out!” His daughter retorted. “Anyways, N was in the forest when that search party went out. For all dad knew, this place could’ve been completely safe until he returned to the cars and saw N.” She went on.
The colony went quiet. There was still uncertainty.
“If you’re trying to argue and convince me to let N join us, it’s not going to happen.” Khan said sternly.
Uzi growled at him before clicking her tongue and turning her head away.
“Still, N is the only Apex Drone here. The drones who told us about this place could’ve thought it was safe themselves and told us without knowing about the Apex residing here.” Uzi told everyone.
More silence. This time, Khan couldn’t argue with her explanation.
“Let’s just leave this conversation here and focus on getting some rest.” He sighed, rubbing his facial screen.
No one argued with that. Everyone sat or lied back down and got comfy. Things went quiet as Worker Drones quickly fell into Sleep Mode one by one.
Uzi laid back down on her coat, curling up and closing her optics. Hopefully now she can finally get some damn sleep.