Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Copper-9 used to be inhabited by humans. But then they made a fatal error when mining too close to the core. The planet retaliated by teaching them a harsh lesson, the core collapsing and blowing a hole right in the side of the planet.

With it, all humans were killed. Radiation filled the area and ash, silicone, and snow settled upon their abandoned cities. The ozone was destroyed and the sun made the planet inhospitable. It was left to rot, abandoned like the crumbling buildings all around.

But the other thing that the humans left behind were their creations: The Worker Drones. Autonomous robots meant for labor and mining. They were just slaves to the humans, mere tools like the pickaxes, drills, flashlights, rails, and other things they used to mine ores from the planet’s flesh.

With humanity having died out from the blast, the Worker Drones were left to pick right up where their organic overlords left off. They used the lingering buildings and machines to create new lives for themselves. They even repurposed the production lines to create pill babies to create families!

Except…

The planet’s resources have become limited.

The core’s collapse and the resulting blast did harsh damage to the machines left behind. While it was easy enough for the Worker Drones to fix it, they didn’t realize the materials they mined from the planet weren’t as plentiful as they used to be.

And they only realized this when it was too late. After decades of use and use and use, the various machines used to make life comfortable fell into disrepair. Most supplies were already used up fixing them before, and now there was little left to salvage.

It made the colonies that had formed go into a panic. It was only made worse when the Apex Drones had emerged from their buried sarcophaguses.

The Apex Drones… Fierce, deadly, calculating, intelligent, swift, animalistic, and utterly terrifying robots that the humans had been working on. They were meant for war, but with no war to fight, they resorted to wanton violence and oil shed.

Like their name suggests, they quickly flew to the top of the food chain and became apex predators. They killed all Worker Drones without mercy, baby, child, adult, it didn’t matter. They only saw them as weak prey, something to quench their thirst for oil.

The Apex Drones, combined with the need for more materials and resources, caused the colonies to turn nomadic. They packed up, loaded cars, collected family and friends, and headed out of their apartment buildings or towns.

Of course, this led to many Worker Drones being plucked off by the Apex Drones. But that wasn’t the only danger, either. The outside at night became freezing. Your wires and circuits could turn into ice chunks if one stayed out too long.

Not to mention that fuel was always at an all-time low, too. There never seemed to be enough for everybody. Many workers died from starvation, left as food for their predators.

And because of the dwindling numbers of the Worker Drones, the fear of falling to the same fate the humans did, they had modified themselves to adapt to the new situation.

They followed their creators, installing machine fabricators in the women and code dispensers in the men.

‘And of course, there weren’t enough women, either.’ Uzi thought to herself with a sigh.

She huddled up further into the blanket her father gave her, keeping warm in the pick-up truck’s covered bed. The night winds blew against the dark fabric keeping Uzi and some of her colonymates sheltered.

‘I wonder how long it’ll be until we reach that facility dad was talking about.’ The young woman wondered in her head. ‘He said that there might be something valuable there. Maybe batteries? Or oil?’

Whatever it was, Uzi doubts it’ll be something to help her get some good sleep. She only does it best when she’s got her dad next to her, able to keep her warm and safe from anyone who’d dare to touch her.

The thought of that happening makes a shiver run down Uzi’s spinal ridge. She can feel the silicone adaptation between her legs, clothed by thick snow pants and woolen underwear. Her father refuses to let her wear anything “too feminine” for fear she may be abducted.

Uzi will never protest such a thing. She knows how “important” women are these days, and how much of a price they fetch to whoever’s the highest bidder. Not only that, but men’s clothes are just warmer and comfier.

Uzi shakes her head to swipe her CPU of the thoughts. She should be getting some sleep right now. Yet here she is, unable to and instead overthinking again.

A soft sigh blows from Uzi’s vents as she sets her chin on her knees. She pulls the blanket tighter around her frame, trying to suck every ounce of warmth out of it. All she achieves is confining herself further.

There’s some soft thumping and the moving of the truck bed that draws Uzi’s attention. She turns to the bed’s entrance, spotting the current lookout team switching groups.

Khan gets his replacement up and out of the truck before sitting next to his daughter. He pulls her into his side, to which Uzi immediately curls up and leans into him. There’s a beat of silence as the two sit there and warm up.

“You should be in Sleep Mode right now.” Khan comments.

“I can’t sleep.” Uzi returns.

“Have you tried?” Her dad asks, flicking his optics to her.

“Of course I have.” Uzi nods. “It’s just hard to sleep without you around.” She adds truthfully.

Khan makes a quiet chuckle and rubs Uzi’s side. She pulls the blanket off and drapes it over the both of them in return.

“Maybe I should take more watch shifts so you can learn to sleep on your own.” He muses.

Uzi replies with a soft, miffed growl. Her father laughs quietly again.

“You know I’m only joking, Uzi.” He whispers.

“I know, but you also take your “jokes” seriously sometimes.” Uzi argues with a pout.

“I do not!” Khan smiles at her.

“Do too!” Uzi counters.

Khan sighs fondly and lets the conversation peter out. He glances at the truck bed’s entrance, covered with cloth flaps to keep the cold and prying optics out. If he listened closely, he could hear some idle chatter from his colony members.

“Just get as much sleep as you can tonight, alright?” Khan says as he turns back to his daughter.

“I know, I’m trying.” Uzi sighs back at him.

She adjusts herself and gets comfy again. Khan keeps her under his arm and against his side. He doesn’t let himself fall into Sleep Mode until he sees the capital words on Uzi’s visor.

The morning is bright and chilly. The winds haven’t stopped but the colony’s trek must continue. There’s mild grumbling about it but no real complaints.

Uzi still feels exhausted. It took far too long for her to fall into Sleep Mode last night, and having meager scraps for breakfast wasn’t keeping her energized. She barely has the energy to hold her crossbow.

‘I wish we could find something to eat soon.’ The young woman thought, her boots trudging through snow. ‘I’d take anything at this point!’

Forgoing the hungry thoughts and emptiness in her tanks, Uzi concentrates on getting through the icy snow. The rumbling of the trucks besides the decently-sized group fills the silence when the wind decides to take a break.

“I wish I could’ve been able to stay on one of the trucks…” Uzi grumbles to herself, eyeing some of the carrying women. “Then again, I’d rather not be burdened with fabricating a child right now, either.” She then mumbles.

Deciding to count her blessings, Uzi turns her gaze back to the drones in front of her. They’re coming upon a large building, possibly a mall. There’s a rush of excitement that fills Uzi at the prospect of being able to scavenge inside it.

Wanting to chance it, the young woman dressed much like a boy trots up to her dad. He takes mild note of her, waiting until she said something first before shutting her down.

“Dad! Can I scavenge-?!”

“No.” Khan replies curtly and with a flat expression.

“You didn’t even let me finish!” Uzi argues.

“And I don’t need to. My answer is still no.” Khan returns, not even sparing her a glance.

Uzi makes a head-rolling groan in response.

“You don’t let me scavenge anywhere! Not even with you!” She argues.

“Because scavenging outings are dangerous, and I don’t want you getting hurt!” Khan argues.

“Dad, just being out here is dangerous! An Apex Drone can still come out of hiding whenever it wants to!” His daughter countered, tightening her hold on her weapon.

“It’s marginally less dangerous than whatever could lie inside abandoned buildings that once had lots of things to pillage.” Her dad continues to shut her down.

Uzi makes another frustrated growl, letting herself lag behind. Khan shakes his head with a minute sigh at her antics.

“I don’t know how you expect me to survive out here if you won’t let me get experience in doing things! Like scavenging buildings!” His daughter ran up to him again. “If I don’t learn what to and not to pick up, how am I gonna be of help to the colony?!”

Uzi knows she’s pulling out every trick from the book, playing every card possible, but she’s desperate to go on her first proper scavenging outing. Uzi really does want to help her colony, but her father always objects by saying “But it’s too dangerous!”

‘As if we aren’t living each day in danger!’ Uzi thinks bitterly.

But her dad gives her a pensive and contemplating stare. His silver optics narrow as he weighs his options and lists the pros and cons. After a few minutes he sighs and hangs his head in defeat.

“Alright, fine. You can go on the scavenging outing in the mall.” He concedes.

“YES!!” Uzi cheers and hops around.

“But!” Khan interrupts sternly. “You mustn’t go running off! And you always need some sort of partner with you at all times! No exceptions and no ifs, ands, or buts about it!” He tells her.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine! I get it!” Uzi nods and waves him off.

‘Somehow, I highly doubt that she “gets it.”’ Khan thinks to himself.

“And don’t go causing trouble for the others either, Uzi Doorman.” Khan adds, voice still stern.

“I won’t dad, geez!” Uzi groans again. “Have at least a little faith in me!”

“We’ll see about that.” Khan sighs.

After another short while, the colony finally makes it to the super mall. Groups are made and workers are divided up for certain jobs. Uzi meets up with the guys going into the mall to scavenge and see what they can find.

“Hey, Uzi! Didn’t think you’d be tagging along!” Thad greets jovially, fixing his scarf. “Did you bug your dad to let you join?” He then asked with a cheeky grin.

“Only a little.” Uzi giggled back. “Though, he also wants me to have a partner at my sides at all times. Think you could fill in?” She offered with an “innocent” look.

“Sure! Maybe we’ll find something good!” The jock smiled back at her.

Uzi could feel her visor go a little flush. She shook her head and buried her white face plates in her own thick scarf and the fluff of her thick blue parka.

“By the way, what do you think might be in there? I’m hoping we’ll find some food.” Thad said, turning to look at the large building.

“Honestly same here. We’ve been running off fumes for far too long. I’m surprised we haven’t started hauling the trucks around yet.” The purple-haired robot answered.

“Yeah. I am not looking forward to that.” Thad laughed.

“I don’t think anyone would look forward to something like that.” Uzi laughed too.

“Except for all the manufacturing ladies.” Thad added.

“Yeah! I’m sure they’d love it!” Uzi laughed louder.

Thad joined her in the laughter, only stopping when their outing leader, Mr. Molchalin, called for their attention.

“We’ll be heading inside the mall soon! Make sure all of your weapons are put together and you have all of your ammo! We don’t know what we’ll find in there, so be on the lookout!” He said loudly.

Everyone nodded and gave their agreements. After a quick supplies check and head count, Molchalin led everybody inside the building to scrounge around and see what it had to offer.

Uzi could feel her excitement rise with each step she took towards the place. It took a lot of inner strength to not go bounding off.

“I call dibs on any basketballs we find.” Thad whispered to his friend.

“And I call dibs on any chokers.” Uzi returned with a grin.

“Then I guess I’ll call dibs on any carbon sticks we might find.” Thad smiled in a tease.

“Aww! Asshole!” Uzi gasped with offense. “Fine then! I call dibs on any possible crystalline circuits!” She returned smugly.

“I’ll take that deal!” Thad smiled wider.

The two laughed again, their scavenging group finally making it inside the huge super mall.

Chapter Text

The super mall felt even bigger on the inside than it did the outside. The group of a dozen drones looked around as they walked through the main floor. Glass windows were shattered, clothing racks and shelves were toppled, decorations were broken, it was a mess all around.

And despite the sun coming in from the large and broken glass dome above, there were still places and corners that felt too dark. The group’s footsteps echoed out in the mall, too. Things were still and eerie.

Uzi looked every which way should anything suddenly jump out at her. She was tempted to pull her hood up but refrained. It would just obscure the corners of her optics and leave her open to sneak attacks.

“Let’s split up to cover more ground.” Mr. Molchalin spoke up. “If you find anything valuable, put it in your bags. Don’t split up from your partner.” He advised.

With that, the group splits up into pairs. Uzi and Thad went to the left, searching around for anything that could help them keep going in these tough times. Most stores were destroyed from the inside out, perhaps from the blast so long ago.

“Do you think we’ll be able to find anything good?” Thad asked, inspecting a few random cards.

“Maybe? I’m not really sure.” Uzi answered truthfully. “This place doesn’t look ransacked, though. We might be able to get first dibs on anything electrical.” She added, eyeing up a few stores.

“Let’s look for a department store then!” Thad said and jogged off.

Uzi followed, making sure to keep an optic open. She couldn’t hear any scurrying or subtle growling. No scraping of claws or snuffing of vents. She wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

The two young adults headed inside the nearest department store on the end of the mall. Some things were taken from shelves, leaving them barren. Most amenities were left behind in favor of tools or appliances.

“Looks like we weren’t the first ones here.” Uzi commented as she looked around.

“That’s not very surprising though, is it?” Thad asked back.

“No, just making a note.” Uzi shrugged in return.

“Well, even if we aren’t, whoever was here last couldn’t take everything with ‘em!” The jock said with a smirk, holding up a hair dryer box.

“Aw, sweet! We can dismantle anything that’s left!” Uzi smiled back in excitement.

“Maybe we can eat the chips and wires inside? They won’t taste great, but it’d be better than nothing.” Thad suggested.

“I don’t think anyone will care as long as it’s edible.” Uzi pointed out.

“True.” Her friend shrugged. “Let’s stuff as many of these things as we can into our bags though.” He said and crouched down.

“Way ahead of you, dude.” Uzi grinned, already on the ground.

Uzi and Thad began opening the boxes of the smaller appliances and stuffing whatever they could into their bags. Portable things were taken, too. Anything that was small enough to fit and eat.

“We should look for any batteries here, or some make-up for the manufacturing ladies.” Thad suggested as he closed up his bag.

“I’m not sure what they’d use make-up for.” Uzi countered. “Besides, it’d be more useful to find batteries or even charging cords. If we’re lucky, we can find ourselves a portable battery and solar accessory to go along with it.” She added and slung her duffel bag over her shoulder.

“Good point.” Thad nodded.

The two headed off again to find anything else to scavenge. There were plenty of menial things that were of no use to them at all. Uzi couldn’t help but wonder if the rest of the group was having better luck.

They did manage to find a small camping part of the store. The two took some electric grills and a solar generator. It was small but it’d be perfect for their travels. A few flashlights were taken as well, both battery-operated and rechargeable alike.

Uzi and Thad soon moved on, not wanting to stay in one place for too long. With their bags full and heavy on their backs, the duo made the short trek back to the mall entrance.

“You think Mr. Molchalin will let us take something home for ourselves?” Thad asked as some idle chatter, spotting a sports section next to the camping one.

“Knowing him, absolutely not.” Uzi shook her head, keeping her crossbow in her hands.

“Do you think he’ll notice if we smuggle it?” Thad questioned next as he turned to her.

“What are you planning on “smuggling,” exactly?” Uzi inquired back with a quirked brow.

“I told you earlier that I wanted a basketball!” Thad returned with a grin.

Uzi huffed out an amused sigh, letting her gaze fall to the floor.

“First off, we don’t even have a hoop for it. Second, you’d be way better smuggling a football or soccer ball instead because of that.” Uzi pointed out. “And, if you smuggle a basketball, I want to smuggle something of my own.” She added.

“Go ahead! Who am I to stop you, right?” Thad chuckled. “B-But uh- You’re right about that basketball part…” The boy then muttered to himself.

Uzi would’ve laughed back if they both didn’t suddenly pause. Their smiles fell right off their face plates as an odd smell filtered into their olfactory sensors. Sweat drops blinked onto the two’s visors.

Uzi and Thad raised their weapons, a crossbow and metal bat respectively. They crouched down a little and hunched their shoulders, their frames going tense. Sluggishly, the two inched their way over towards the smell’s origin.

Neither drone could hear anything as they approached. Yet the smell got heavier and more nausea-inducing as they neared. Thad admittedly wanted to turn and puke at how strong it was getting.

Turning the corner of a cash register desk, the two robots recoiled at the sight of a dead drone’s body. It was mutilated, chest open, oil everywhere but the unknown drone’s tubes, wires long dead, and internal machines rearranged or missing.

“Poor dude…” Thad muttered in pity.

“I guess whoever was here first didn’t get to leave.” Uzi commented.

“What should we do?” Thad asked, wincing as a robo-roach emerged from the carcass.

“See if there’s anything we can take and get out of here I guess.” Uzi shrugged.

“That’s a little disrespectful, isn't it?” Thad questioned with a flat expression.

“We don’t exactly have any time to waste, and there’s no use grieving over someone who we not only don’t know, but looks to have been dead for a while.” Uzi argued, already crouching down next to the graphic scene.

She looked around for any pouches, bags, pockets, anything that could hold something. Uzi managed to find some round silver batteries. Not much, but she’ll gladly take anything.

“Let’s get back to the others. I doubt we’ll find anything else here.” Uzi said as she straightened.

“Y-Yeah, sure.” Thad nodded in return.

He gave one last sorrowful glance the body’s way as he turned. He trotted to catch up to his friend, an awkward silence now settled between the two. Neither drone was in the mood to speak, not anymore.

“What do you think might’ve done that guy in?” Thad asked quietly.

“Could’ve been anything, to be honest.” Uzi shrugged. “But by the looks of it, probably an Apex Drone. Cannibals usually take all the machines, don’t they?” She then inquired with a glance.

“That’s what I keep hearing from all the old guys.” Thad nodded in return. “Pretty sure the only thing left would’ve been oil smears.” He added with a grossed-out wince.

Uzi made a hum, her face plates scrunching up from the disgusting mental image.

Making it back to the main floor, the two headed straight for the doors they entered from. If they saw something useful, they quickly detoured to take it. There wasn’t much, just some loose screws and bolts from broken shelves.

Uzi let out a tired sigh as she plopped down on a dusty bench. She took a gander around, spotting all the previous wreckage. Only two other pairs had returned from their own treks around the mall.

Taking the moment to rest, Uzi could feel the exhaustion creeping up on her again. Perhaps she should’ve stayed standing, that way she wouldn’t feel like she was about to pass out from fatigue.

‘Not to mention how it feels like it’s getting warm…’ She continued in her thoughts, sweat drops forming on her visor.

“You doing alright?” Thad asked from behind the bench, noticing the woman’s changed demeanor.

“Yeah, just tired. Had trouble sleeping last night.” Uzi answered and rubbed her visor.

“Maybe your dad will let you get some sleep in one of the trucks when we get back.” The jock said.

“Doubtful to be honest. It’s better to have all hands on deck, no matter how tired one pair of them is.” Uzi huffed back and slouched over her knees.

“I could try and help convince him?” Thad suggested, turning to look over his shoulder. “Maybe if a couple drones say you need it, he’ll let you get some shut-optic!”

“It’s fine, Thad. It isn’t like I haven’t had sleepless nights before.” Uzi waved off with an appreciative grin.

“If you say so…” Thad trailed off, a sweat drop on his visor.

As silence fell over the two again, the rest of the scavenging group came back. Some looked hopeful, others not so much. It was telling just who found something good and who didn’t.

“Do we have everyone?” Mr. Molchalin asked, doing a quick head count.

He got a round of agreements. Mochalin nodded back and started out of the mall. Everyone followed on aching and numb feet, wearing down in their own shoes from so much traveling.

“I wish we could’ve gotten more supplies from the mall.” Uzi said, giving it a glance.

“Yeah. If we had a truck with us, we could’ve packed it with bigger appliances to take apart.” Thad agreed.

“And maybe everyone would’ve been too distracted enough to know we smuggled a few things for ourselves out.” Uzi giggled.

“Who said we didn’t smuggle anything?” Thad asked back cheekily.

“Huh?” Uzi turned with wide optics.

Thad took a moment to dig through his bag. He then swiftly pulled something out, thrusting it right into Uzi’s face and making her flinch.

“WA-BAM! I got myself a football!” The jock said proudly, a similar look on his face plates.

“I can see!” Uzi laughed. “But I’m also not gonna help you get out of trouble when people start questioning if you were doing your job.” She added with a grin.

“Yes you will! Because I got you something, too!” Thad argued.

He dug through his pocket, pulling out a keychain. It was of a feathered snake, all black and with red accents. A tiny faux red gem hung from the bottom, shaped like a drop of blood.

“I know it’s small and not exactly what you wanted, but I figured you’d like it!” Thad smiled, handing the item to Uzi.

She took it, staring down at it with hollowed optics. Her visor went flush, making her bury her face into her scarf and parka’s fluff.

“Th-Thanks. A lo-ot.” She mumbled back, averting her gaze.

“Don’t mention it!” Thad laughed.

Finally, the group returned to the rest of the colony. Their bags were plopped down for others to sort through. Uzi turned to sit against one of the trucks. Its wheel shifted as she leaned against it.

She took a few moments to check over her brand-new keychain. There were some scratches on it, but it still looked badass. Uzi clipped it onto her crossbow, both marking it as hers and giving it a little pop of badassery.

Setting her weapon down, Uzi fanned herself with her parka. Sitting in the sun was making her warm despite the occasional breezes.

[WARNING! TEMPERATURE LEVELS RISING!]

OOOrrrr she’s low on fuel and getting too hot.

Uzi groaned and clicked the warning away. She got to her feet and went over to Ron, once a cop and now their rations handler. And of course, he still has a little bit of that cop training in him, hearing Uzi’s approaching footsteps.

“Uzi, it’s been a while. How have you been?” Ron asked jovially, looking over a clipboard.

“It’s been the same-old, same-old.” Uzi shrugged back. “How’re the rations going?” She asked in return, if only to be polite.

“They’re low as usual.” Ron sighed back, glancing at the small car trailer’s interior. “Anyways, was there something you needed?” He then asked as he turned back.

“C-Can I have a little bit of oil please? I’m running low on fuel.” Uzi asked, still fanning herself.

“I can give you a little, but not much.” The older man answered with a nod. “Make sure to get some rest, too. Don’t overexert yourself.” He added as he handed a tiny can to the woman.

Uzi took it and opened it up. Peering inside, she saw about a fourth of it filled. Uzi frowned at the amount but didn’t fight Ron about it. She just went back, sat down, and slowly sipped it.

Leaning her forehead on her knees, Uzi listened to the things around her. Drones sorting their new haul, manufacturing ladies chatting amongst themselves, some boys including Thad playing with the new football, a few drones on watch. Nothing too interesting.

Taking the last swig of her drink, Uzi set the can on the ground. She had the urge to eat it, try and get as much nutrients as she could from it. But Ron and her dad would just get mad at her for wasting precious resources.

Lifting her head, Uzi stared at the bright sun. It was only mid afternoon. Uzi groaned and let her head hang again, tired and aching.

‘I want to sleep…’ Uzi thought. ‘I just want a good night’s rest for once-!’ Her hands tightened into fists.

Taking a deep vent, Uzi calmed herself down. Maybe, if she pleads hard enough, she can convince her dad to let her get an early night in.

“Uzi! Come here! We need your help!” But it’s gonna have to wait until nightfall.

Trudging to her feet, Uzi went over. On the way, she returned the can to Ron. Plopping back down in the snow, Uzi was ordered to start taking apart the small appliances collected from the mall.

Uzi began the menial task, unscrewing plates and snipping out wires, circuits, boards, and whatever else. It was mind numbing enough that she could do it on autopilot.

‘And also because I’ve done this a million times before.’ Uzi thought offhandedly. ‘And I also know that most of this stuff is gonna go straight to the ladies who’re manufacturing pillbabies right now.’ A bitter thought crossed her CPU.

Uzi was admittedly a little jealous of them. Not so much for creating new life, but because of the special treatment. Getting pampered, getting the most fuel, getting to stay inside the trucks all day and night, getting the best bedding, and more.

“I at least want to be able to eat more…” Uzi sighed to herself. “Where do I put all of this stuff?” She then asked her older peer.

“Give it to the manufacturing women. They’ll need the material.” He replied.

Uzi bit back the annoyed groan in her voice box. With a mildly annoyed huff she didn’t hold back, Uzi scooped up the wires, screws, boards, and whatever other edible things into her arms.

Lightly kicking the truck’s trunk door as a form of knocking alerted the women inside to her presence.

“I’ve got food! You guys want any?” Uzi called loudly.

Rebecca’s face was the first she was met with. Uzi held back the anger tick from showing on her visor.

“Aww! Thank you, errand girl!” The blue-haired chick cooed. “Why don’t you come in so we can all see what you have?” She then suggested, opening the flap.

Uzi huffed and hauled herself inside. She kneeled and dumped the bits of machinery onto the floor. Just as she was about to leave, Rebecca caught her arm.

“So, how’s boy life?” She asked cheekily. “It must be going good if you’re still rocking that dumb tiny half-ponytail.”

“It’s going fine, thank you.” Uzi growled back, ripping her arm from Rebecca’s grip. “Also, don’t you have a boyfriend you can ask that question to?” She asked back snippily.

“He’s busy!” Rebecca argued feebly and crossed her arms. “Besides, he isn’t a girl that’s forced to dress and act like a boy. I’m just curious!”

“‘Curious’ my ass…” Uzi snorted in disbelief.

“Hah. Whatever. Just don’t go doing anything stupid out there.” Rebecca scoffed and turned to the pile of machinery bits.

Uzi gave her an unimpressed stare. Her lavender purple optics soon fell to Rebecca’s pillbaby bump. If she didn’t know any better, she was about to pop that thing out at the slightest slouch.

One of Uzi’s hands crawled up to sit over her own machine fabricator, hidden by her rubbery black waistband and her thick winter clothes. It made her uneasy knowing she could become just like that should any outsiders find out she wasn’t a boy.

Uzi shook her head and rid herself of the unsettling thoughts. She hopped out of the truck and picked up her crossbow. Everyone was packing up as she exited, the colony soon hitting the unknown trail again.

Chapter Text

The night shift wasn’t a job many drones liked. It was boring, scary, eerie, and nerve-wracking. There could be danger just around the corner, and it was your job to survive long enough to shout about it.

But Khan hasn’t lived this long through this hell for no reason. Despite having night shifts almost every night, he’s still managed to survive. Perhaps he has a few scars here and there, but he’s living.

“See anything out there, Sir?” Rich asked as he came by, fixing his coat.

“Nope.” Khan replied.

“That’s good.” Rich nodded.

The two fell silent. They kept their optics peeled in search of anything suspicious. Of course, anything could be suspicious when it was this dark.

“How much longer until we get to this lab place you keep talking about?” Rich asked quietly.

“Not long. Maybe about another day or two.” Khan answered.

“What are we looking for there anyway? Supplies?” Was the next question.

“Supplies, materials, and hopefully some sort of map or location to someplace actually safe.” Khan told him.

“I highly doubt that last one will be there.” Rich huffed.

“I know, but an old man can hope.” Khan smiled.

“I guess so.” Rich chuckled.

More silence passed. A few other watchers sat or stood around the small camp. Some soft snores could be heard from inside the covered truck beds.

“How’s your daughter doing?” Rich inquired.

“She’s doing fine.” Khan returned, adjusting his grip on his cheiroballista.

“That’s good to hear.” Rich nodded again. “I heard you let her go on a scavenging mission. That true?” He then questioned next.

“Yes, I did.” Khan sighed back. “She wouldn’t stop bugging me about it yesterday. Not to mention all the other times she’s begged me.” He continued.

“Well, she’s gotta learn eventually, right?” Rich gave an encouraging grin.

“I know, I know. I’m just worried is all.” Khan said.

“Hey, I would be too!” Rich laughed.

Khan made a tiny hum in amusement. Their conversation died for the third time now. And this time, the atmosphere turned serious.

“How old is Uzi? I keep forgetting.” Rich asked and leaned against the truck’s side.

“She’s twenty-two now.” Khan said.

“Legally allowed to drink, huh?” Rich mused.

“Has been for a year and a half at least.” Khan shrugged. “Not that it really stopped her before…” He added to himself.

“Well, you’ve gotta let her make some of her own decisions! Ones where she doesn’t need to ask for permission.” Rich laughed again

“That’s far easier said than done. Not everything Uzi wants to do is safe for someone like her.” Khan argued lightly.

“Alright, alright. You’ve got me there.” Rich conceded with a dismissive wave.

Some scraping sounds alerted the night watchers towards an old building. Some loose rubble fell quietly some ways away. Everyone’s tensed shoulders relaxed again at the false alarm.

“You know, Uzi could really help out the colony.” Rich suddenly spoke, his voice far less playful than before.

“Oh yeah? How so?” Khan asked, his brows furrowing.

“Our numbers are low as it is. About… Twenty-five? Thirty? Somewhere around there. Either way, there aren’t many of us.” Rich started, his gaze narrowing on something in the distance.

“And what does that have to do with anything? We’ve survived this long with this many drones. I think we’re fine.” Khan said, his tone becoming stern.

“If I can be frank with you for a second, Khan; Your daughter’s a beauty. For as much of a spunky little spitfire as she is, she’s a pretty little worker with a pretty little face.” Rich told the slightly older man.

Khan’s grip on his cheiroballista turned even tighter.

“She’s at a prime age to be helping out the colony, like Rebecca and Darren! All we need is a private place and about an hour, and we can add more numbers to the colony!” The other man said.

“Rich, you are over twice her age! Do you even hear yourself?!” Khan exclaimed, growing angry at the implications.

“I didn’t say it had to be with me!” Rich argued. “It could be with Ron, or Todd, or anyone! She’s friends with Thad, isn’t she? Just put them together! Order them to start makin’ some bacon!” He went on.

“Absolutely not, Rich!” Khan kept firm in his standing on the suggestion. “And even though she is friends with Thad, I’m not going to force her to do something she doesn’t want to!” He added.

“And how do you know Uzi ‘doesn’t want to?’” Rich questioned back, putting a hand on his hip.

‘The fact she can barely sleep without me next to her tells me!’ Khan thought.

“Have you seen her show interest in manufacturing?” Khan asked with a quirked brow.

“Have you even asked her?” Rich tried to counter.

“Even if I did, I can assure you she wouldn’t agree to it.” Khan returned.

“Come on, Khan! At this rate, her fabricator’s gonna rust up and become inoperable!” Rich tried to say, a sweat drop on his visor from losing the argument.

“That’s not how machine fabricators work and you know it.” Khan growled.

“It still doesn’t erase the fact that she’s at the prime age to start it up!” Rich scoffed.

“And it still doesn’t erase the fact that I said no!” Khan easily countered. “I will not allow her to be used and abused. If you want a kid so bad, fall in love with someone your age and wait a few years to ask. Otherwise, keep my daughter, her name, and her existence out of your mouth!” He nearly shouted, pointing a finger in Rich’s face.

With that, Khan turned for the trunk’s entrance. Rich glared after him as he walked away.

“I’m going to get some sleep for the night. You can have a double shift.” Khan said, though Rich knew it was an order.

The said glowering drone clicked his tongue at the order. He turned and stomped off to keep watch over somewhere else.

Khan climbed as quietly as he could into the truck bed. He was careful of the sleeping drones all around, stepping between locks of hair and splayed limbs. He made his way over to Uzi, huddled in a corner closest to the engine.

With a soft grunt. Khan lowered himself to the floor. His joints creaked until he could settle himself.

“I really need some lube or grease for my joints…” Khan muttered to himself.

Looking over to his daughter, Uzi was getting some rest on her own for once. Either she couldn’t sleep until she passed out, or the effort she made paid off. Either way, Khan was glad she was getting some rest.

‘I should really get some, too. We’ll be having an early day tomorrow.’ Khan thought.

He made himself comfortable and tugged some of the blanket free from Uzi. He covered himself up as best he could and prepared to head into Sleep Mode. Khan made one last glance at the entry flaps before letting himself get some rest.

Khan was right next to his daughter. And with his monster of a crossbow, no one would dare come near her with any bad intentions.

The day was overcast. Because of that, there was a wary tenseness in the air. Optics kept flicking about, watching, waiting for something to jump out at them.

But things were quiet all around them. The buildings continued to stand tall all around, but the quietness of the city felt unnerving. Anything could be hiding inside them, Apex Drones included.

“Do you know where you’re going, Khan?” Ron asked, flicking his optics all around.

“Of course. I wouldn’t be taking us through this place without knowing where we’re heading.” Khan reassured with a nod. “That being said, we should all stay close and move at a decent pace. We don’t want to stick around here for too long.” He added, eyeing all the buildings.

Along with being long-abandoned, they were particularly broken down. Large, thick and deep cracks running all over, icicles and snow or ash clinging to window sills and signs, broken windows, toppled street lamps. It was like a bomb set off near the place.

“Khan! I see something in the distance!” One of the men riding the trucks exclaimed with a point.

Khan turned towards his finger, squinting at the far-off figure. It looked to be a group of drones with wheeled cages. Khan had a bad feeling about it.

“They’re directly in our way…” He muttered disdainfully. “Does anyone have binoculars?! Check out the group over there!” He then ordered to someone.

A man with long hair pulled out a cracked pair of binocs. He trotted up and spied the group passing through like them.

“It’s a traveling Doxy Trade!” He stated.

Khan clicked his tongue and narrowed his glare.

“Uzi. Get inside one of the trucks.” He ordered.

She gave him a glance, then the traveling traders. She opted to listen to him and retreated into one of the three trucks they had tamed.

Once she was safely inside, Khan led his men towards the traveling traders. He hoped they could just pass them by with no big ordeals.

“Men, make sure to keep your guard up. And don’t let them near the trucks.” Khan ordered sternly, keeping his silver optics on the traders.

He got a round of agreements. Khan kept his pointed glare on the traders as they slowly approached them.

After too many tense minutes for Khan’s liking, they eventually crossed paths with the traders. Their ringleader took quick notice of Khan, how he was heading his colony.

“Well, isn’t this a surprise!” The man said. “It’s been a long while since I’ve seen a full colony! How have your travels been, sir?” He smiled politely.

Khan stayed silent for a few moments. He eyed the ringleader and his fancy dark red and long coat sitting over his grey suit. There was a whip sitting on his hip, barely hidden by his coat.

The only thing it couldn’t cover was the man’s head, his optics a bright cerulean blue and his short but wavy hair platinum blond in color. One lock was longer than the rest, sitting over his right shoulder and held with decorative studded straps.

“We’ve been fine. How have your travels been?” Khan finally returned.

“They’ve been alright, but we could be better, admittedly.” The Doxy Trader leader sighed mournfully. “We were recently attacked by a fierce Apex Drone. We managed to drive it away, but some of our stock had been killed because of the foul thing!”

“That’s horrible to hear.” Khan commented back, rather dryly too.

“Say, you wouldn’t be interested in buying any of our remaining stocks, would you?” He offered, shuffling closer to Khan.

“No thank you. We don’t need any ‘stocks.’” He declined.

“Well, are there any you don’t need? We’ll even take the elderly!” The shifty man said.

“We’re still good, thank you.” Khan declined again.

“Aww, that’s a shame!” The man cooed. “Oh! But where are my manners?! We’ve been chatting like chums the whole time but we don’t even know each other’s names! How rude of me!” He smiled guiltily.

“My name is Rorin. What’s your name, kind sir?” He said and extended a hand, halting the two parties.

“It’s Matty.” Khan lied, shaking his gloved hand.

“‘Matty?’ Isn’t that a woman’s name?” Rorin questioned with wide eye lights.

“It’s a nickname.” Khan shrugged.

“Ah, I see now!” Rorin smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ‘Matty!’” He said with a shake of his hand.

“You too.” Khan nodded back, also shaking.

“Well, now that we’ve introduced ourselves, let’s talk trading!” Rorin turned playfully cheerful once more. “We’ve got more than lil Doxies here! We have some supplies and materials for trade as well!” He said.

“Oh? Like what?” Khan asked, admittedly intrigued.

“Come and take a look for yourself!” Rorin invited, heading to his group.

Khan glanced at his men. A few followed him over to one of Rorin’s closed trailers. Khan and his men couldn’t help but send pitying looks all the caged womens’ ways, sitting in fenced trailers. Rorin opened up an enclosed trailer and let the natural daylight flood the thing.

“As you can see, we’ve got many things for trade!” The Doxy Trader said, an arm motioning to the shelves, tables, and hooks of items. “You can take anything you’d like! But be warned that it may just cost you a pretty little gem, haha!” He laughed.

Khan took a glance around. There were many things that were valuable to colonies like his. Wires, batteries, circuit boards, charging cords, rechargeable camping equipment, tents, sleeping bags, weapons, and even more.

“What’s that thing in the corner?” Ron asked, pointing to a darker place.

“Oh, that’s one of our most valuable things!” Rorin said, trotting to the back. “There aren’t much of these, and they’re admittedly more on the “experimental” side, but they’re special chips!” He said as he came back over.

He opened up the small case, having been locked tight. Inside the padded case were small computer chips. They were an odd color, bright, lusty pink.

“What do they do?” Ron asked.

“These chips make one more susceptible to the throes of love!” Rorin smiled! “Well- More like lust.” He corrected.

“Meaning?” Khan asked with a quirked brow.

“Meaning, that if you install one of these expensive babies into a female Worker Drone, it’d make them more susceptible to their overworking cycle!” The trader elaborated.

Khan gave him a narrow look.

“So it’s an aphrodisiac.” He commented.

Rorin opened his mouth to say something but paused.

“Well- Yes, I guess it is.” He couldn’t help but agree.

“Then we’ll pass.” Khan declined with a small wave of his hand.

“Suit yourself~!” Rorin sing-songed. “Is there anything you have your optic on?” He then asked as he put the case back.

“We’ll take two of the rechargeable lamps and their charging cords. We’ll also take some rope.” He answered.

“Great! Let’s see what you have to offer in return!” Rorin clapped his hands together.

“We have some hair dyers, a couple electric grills, a couple flashlights, a portable slow-cooker, and a hand vacuum.” Ron told him, listing the items off on his fingers.

“Oh! That’s quite the selection!” Rorin laughed. “But I’ll take a flashlight, a grill, and the vacuum.” He said.

“It’s a deal then.” Khan nodded and held his hand out.

“It’s a deal indeed.” Rorin grinned, taking the older man’s hand.

“Thank you for the good business, Mr. Matty!!” Rorin waved off.

“Thank you as well!” Khan returned. “I do have one thing I want to ask you, however.” He quickly turned to the man.

“Of course! Whatever you want!” The trader said back jovially.

“We’re heading to the North to find a place to hunker down for a while. Do you know if it's dangerous there?” The older man inquired.

“Hmm… That’s hard to say.” The trader admitted with a thoughtful look. “I might be able to give you a better answer if you gave me more details about the place.” He said.

“It’s on the very edge of the city, right near a forest. Not too far from a campsite.” Khan told him.

“Uh-huh…” Rorin nodded, thinking again. “I don’t think it’s much worse than wherever you’ve traveled before. I wouldn’t let your guard down, however. Apex Drones can turn up even in places you wouldn’t expect.” He advised.

“Alright. Thank you anyway.” Khan said.

“Of course!” Rorin exclaimed jovially. “Happy and safe travels!” He then waved as Khan’s colony started moving again.

“You too, Rorin!” Khan said back with his own wave.

Rorin and his crew watched the small colony walk off down the road. Things were quiet as the multitude of drones passed by.

“Welp, we should get going too! These Doxies won’t sell and trade themselves!” Rorin said to his own group.

And with that, his Doxy Trade began towards the West once more.

Chapter Text

Along the way towards this laboratory her dad keeps talking about, Uzi hopped back out of the truck. She wished she could hide out in it longer to rest her aching feet, but she knew her dad would drag her out eventually.

She was even tempted to ask him about who those figures were, but she knew she wouldn’t like it. Uzi sighed and adjusted her grip on her crossbow. If she can make it to this place her dad is so intent on getting to, she can finally take a break.

‘Maybe I can even get a nap in.’ Uzi thought tiredly.

But that won’t come for a long time. It’s midday and her colony still has plenty of walking to do.

‘Why the hell does everything have to be so damn far away?!’ Uzi grit her teeth in frustration. ‘Why can’t places be closer together?! Freaking humans and making shitty roadways…’ A huff left her vents.

Uzi hopes her feet will last long enough to make it there. With all this walking, she wouldn’t be surprised if her joints or wires have been slowly getting damaged somehow.

‘I really have to wonder how everyone else is able to keep moving for so long. I can barely even keep up anymore!’ Uzi mentally whined.

Speaking of, she needs to pick up the pace. She actually is falling behind.

Shuffling more towards the middle, Uzi got into a decently comfortable space between some of the older guys in her colony. Looking around, she spotted Thad and his friends chatting with each other.

Uzi’s gaze fell to the keychain Thad managed to smuggle out of that mall for her. The young woman’s visor went flush again, her lavender purple optics flicking back to her puppy-crush.

‘If only his friends weren’t total jerks…’ She thought mournfully.

“What’s the long face for? Something on your CPU?” Rich asked.

Uzi startled and turned to him. She sighed out a relieved vent at knowing it was just one of her colonymates.

“It’s nothing. Just super tired from all this damn walking.” She told him.

“Yeah, I think everyone’s feeling tired.” Rich nodded back at her. “I think us older folk need some lube or grease for our joints, too. I’m creaking just about every other step!” He laughed.

Uzi giggled at the joke, though she knew it must be partly true. She honestly feels a little bad for the older dudes. But she’s also glad she isn’t old enough in her robotic life to need to worry too much about creaky joints.

“Maybe we’ll find something for your joints at this lab place dad keeps talking about.” Uzi said.

“I hope so! I don’t know how much longer I can take all this creaking!” Rich replied.

Uzi made a snicker at that.

“By the way, how have you been lately? I know it must be hard having to hang out with so many guys and so little girls.” Rich inquired with a chuckle.

“It’s not too bad. Dad’s a little overprotective of me and always makes me hide in one of the trucks whenever some colony or another passes by, but it’s not the worst.” Uzi answered.

“It must still be tough considering the world we live in now.” Rich commented. “But I’m glad you’re not too pressured by it.” He smiled.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t pressured.” Uzi corrected.

“My bad! Should’ve known better, huh?” The older man’s smile grew wider.

“A little.” Uzi returned with a hint of smugness.

“Don’t get cheeky with me now, little miss!” Rich playfully scolded.

“You brought it upon yourself!” Uzi laughed.

“Uh-huh.” Rich nodded with a light but non-believing tone.

A bout of silence fell between the two. There was some quiet chatter amongst the other colony members. Thad and his friends began lightly tossing their new football around to help pass the time and keep them entertained.

“You went on a scavenging mission recently, didn’t you? How was it?” Rich inquired.

“It was alright. Thankfully there wasn’t anything dangerous there, but me and Thad found a dead body.” Uzi shrugged in response.

“Oof. Sorry you had to see that.” Rich winced.

“It’s alright. It isn’t even like it’s something we aren’t all used to.” Uzi dismissed.

“Still, young folk like you shouldn’t have to deal with that kind of thing.” Rich commented.

“Like I said; You learn to get used to it.” Uzi reiterated.

It was then that she noticed how close Rich got to her. She wasn’t expecting him to inch so near to her. The roads didn’t even narrow or anything.

“Well, if you get to the point where you can’t handle that sort of thing, you can always hang out with the other ladies.” The older man said.

“What do you mean by that?” Uzi asked, giving him a confused expression.

“You know! Ditch all those dark, boyish clothes, ditch the weapon, stop begging to go out on dangerous missions! Just settle down or something!” Rich listed.

Though, Uzi still didn’t understand. The only thing she knew was that Rich’s arm was uncomfortably close to her back.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing for you to keep yourself safe.” Rich went on, giving her a reassuring smile. “I’m sure your dad would feel relieved if you said you wanted to drop your weapon!” His hand finally rested upon Uzi’s frame.

And when it did, she couldn’t help but flinch. Rich didn’t seem to notice, or didn’t let on that he did. A sweat drop scrolled down Uzi’s visor. There was a strong urge to slap his hand away.

‘I-It feels… Gross.’ She thought uncomfortably.

“I think I’m fine. I like being able to help out my colony instead of being another damsel in distress.” Uzi said, trying to get some distance from the man.

“There are other ways of helping your colony without risking your life, Zizi!” Rich exclaimed.

“I said no thanks, a-and don’t call me ‘Zizi.’” Uzi said, unable to escape his grasp.

It only seemed to tighten the more Uzi tried to flee it. More sweat drops blinked onto her visor at it. She was about to raise one of her hands and slap Rich’s own away when someone else came over.

“Say, Uzi! Do you want to learn how to ride a car?” Ron offered from out of nowhere.

The two other drones startled and turned to look at him. Uzi was quick to realize she had the perfect opening to get away. Taking it, she scrambled over onto Ron’s other side.

“S-Sure! It’d be cool to know!” She nodded in agreement.

“Great! Just come over here!” Ron urged with a waving hand.

He and Uzi moved towards one of the trucks, quickly climbing onto the roof where the seats were. Rich gave a small glare to Ron as he was left behind.

“Thanks for that save, Ron.” Uzi sighed as she settled down.

“It’s fine! I’m happy to help a colony member out!” He smiled back and grabbed the reins.

“Do you know why Rich was acting like that though? He’s never acted that way towards me before…” Uzi inquired, giving him a worried glimpse.

Ron was hesitant to tell her the truth. He didn’t want to worry or scare her anymore than Rich already has just now.

‘Would it even be a good idea to tell her he’s been pushy in trying to get her to manufacture…?’ Ron couldn’t help but wonder. ‘Probably not. I think Khan might get mad at me, too.’ He reasoned.

“I’m not too sure. Maybe all the tension and wariness is getting to him?” Ron shrugged back.

“He kept talking about “putting the weapon down” and “settling down,” but I don’t know what he means…” Uzi said.

Ron felt a lump form in his throat.

‘Are you kidding me, Rich?! Seriously?!’ Ron mentally asked the older guy. ‘Robo-Jesus, get a damn grip!’

“Just ignore him. If he keeps bothering you, tell me or your dad! We can take care of him for you!” He smiled back at the disguised young lady.

Uzi blinked at him. She then smiled and took the offer.

“Sure! I wouldn’t mind seeing a good ass-kicking!” She joked.

‘I think your dad would do more than that.’ Ron thought.

“I’m sure you would!” He laughed instead. “But now that you’re away from that guy, how about you finally learn to ride a car?” He then said.

“Wait- You were serious?!” Uzi asked in shock.

“Of course! It’s not a bad skill to have!” Ron nodded. “It’s actually quite easy, too. Just hold the reins like this…”

Learning how to ride a car was both incredibly fun and also very distracting. Before Uzi even knew it, her colony had finally made it to this lab place her father had been raving about.

What she didn’t expect was for it to be situated in a campsite. What she did expect was for only a select few of the colony to go farther than the city’s edge.

“We don’t know what we’ll see there, so I’m not going to risk taking too many drones.” Khan explained to his daughter. “Ron will be in charge while I’m gone. Don’t go causing any trouble for him, alright?” He gave her a pointed look, clipping a backpack around his waist.

“Yes, dad!” Uzi groaned and rolled her optics.

Khan huffed back at her with furrowing brows.

“You know how dangerous places like these are! Don’t act like this is something I’ve told you a million times before!” He scolded with a point.

‘You kind of have already, considering the amount of times you’ve said something is “too dangerous” for me.’ Uzi thought bitterly.

“Fine!” Uzi conceded anyway. “But if it’s safe, at least let the rest of us know so we can camp out here for a few days! We’ve been traveling non-stop for ages now!” She argued and crossed her arms.

“It depends on how safe this lab is.” Khan told her.

“If it doesn’t have cannibals or Apexes, then I think it’ll be pretty safe.” Uzi pouted.

“We’ll see.” Khan returned. “For now, me and some of the others will be off. Stay with the colony and don’t be giving anyone any trouble. Love you.” He then kissed his daughter’s head.

Uzi swatted his head away, Khan dodging her hand easily. He gave a chuckle and ruffled her hair before he walked off. Uzi huffed and fixed her half-ponytail with mild miff.

Once her dad had gone into the woods, Uzi turned back to the rest of the colony. She sighed and went to help Ron with anything he needed. She might as well since she’s got nothing else to do…

“Anything I can do, Ron? I’m kinda stuck here with nothing to do.” Uzi asked, looking up at the crates he stood on.

“Hm? Oh, nothing really. We’re just sorting out some rations at the moment.” He waved off gently. “Maybe you should go and hang out with the other kids? Maybe that’ll give you something to do!” He then suggested jovially.

“Uh- Sure.” Uzi nodded and walked away. “By the way, can I get my rations early? I’m still pretty low on fuel, and I don’t feel like passing out from lack of it.” She asked.

“Sure thing!” Ron smiled back at her.

He opened a crate and poured her out a small can of oil. Uzi peered inside it once given, noticing that it was filled only a fourth of the way. Her expression fell at it.

“Sorry, Uzi. You know we can’t give out too much.” Ron said apologetically.

“No, it’s fine. Just sucks is all.” Uzi waved off with a shake of her head.

“Maybe your dad will find some batteries inside the lab? Those will help you feel more energized!” Ron suggested with hope.

“Maybe…” Uzi trailed off and walked away.

While drinking her oil, she was quick to spot Thad and his friend group. They were busy playing football. Uzi wasn’t sure she was in the mood to do all that running around after so much traveling.

‘How they can even do that is beyond me…’ She thought. ‘But it’ll also fill my time, keep me entertained, and even keep my cover.’ Uzi then reasoned.

Finishing her ration, Uzi walked over to the small group. They noticed her as she approached, stopping their game.

“Hey, mind if I join?” Uzi asked.

“I didn’t know you liked football, Uzi!” Thad smiled.

“I don’t really like it but I don’t mind trying it.” Uzi shrugged in reply.

“Why should we even let you join anyway? You’re just gonna complain about it.” Prad commented with furrowed brows.

“You’ll probably just get hurt while playing! Us guys play rough, you know!” Braiden smirked in a taunt.

“Yeah! And besides, why would a girl like football!” Chad chimed in, bouncing the football in his hand.

“Come on, guys! Don’t be mean to her! Just let her join!” Thad argued.

Meanwhile, Uzi only blinked flatly at the three boys. She walked over to Chad and took the football from his hand. Uzi adjusted her feet and reeled the football back.

In the next second, she threw it right at Chad’s latch between his legs.

He made a very girly scream in pain as he keeled over onto the snowy floor. His friends all stared hollow-eyed at the hurting young man.

“Oh noooo! Looks like one of you got hurt and can’t play anymooorrree! Looks like I’ll need to fill in!” Uzi said with fake concern, her expression completely blank still. “Any objections?” She then turned to Prad and Braiden with a fierce look.

They both fervently shook their heads.

“Good.” Uzi nodded. “Now; Go long.” She then smiled evilly, reeling her arm back.

Chapter Text

Playing football was a lot more fun than Uzi thought it’d be. Of course, her sore feet became even worse, but it helped her pass the time. It also kept her entertained while waiting for her father’s return.

Uzi, Thad, Prad, and Braiden ended up playing until sun down. And at some point, Darren had come over to join them. And after inching closer to the woods, Braiden eventually threw the ball right into the forest.

“Aww, good going, Braiden!” Uzi teased with a grin.

“Sorry! I didn’t think I’d throw it so far!” He said with mockingly surrendering hands.

“Whatever. I’ll go get it since it was tossed to me!” Uzi said as she turned.

“Don’t stay in there too long!” Thad advised.

“I’m going to get a football! I doubt I can be gone longer than two minutes!” Uzi yelled back.

Heading into the aforementioned forest, Uzi searched around for the brown sports ball. The tall plants towering all around her made it even darker, Uzi only now noticing the lack of sunlight. It had also gotten chillier, making Uzi stuff her hands into her pockets.

The forest at night felt a lot more eerie than in the day, Uzi noticed. Dark shadows casted by branches, rustling leaves from breezes, silhouettes of the thick trunks. It was like the woods were trying to trick her.

Uzi shook her head to refocus. She kept walking further into the woods, wondering just where in the hell that damn ball went. It couldn’t have gone this far out into the freaking woods!

“Robo-Jesus, just how good an arm does Braiden have?” Uzi questioned quietly.

Scanning the area as best she could in the dark, Uzi searched for any traces of the football. She wanted to find it and return it to Thad since he went through all that trouble of getting it.

‘He even suffered a harsh scolding from Mr. Molchalin because of it.’ Uzi remembered.

Sighing out in annoyance, Uzi was about to go back, if only to get a flashlight and some help. But once she turned her head back to front, she finally spotted the thing. Uzi smiled and ran over to pick it up.

“You took way too damn long to find.” Uzi said to the inanimate object. “And too much effort.” She then added with a pout.

As the disguised young lady turned the ball in her hands, she found odd markings on it. Uzi knew those weren’t there before. And she also knew claw marks when she saw them.

It made Uzi look above frantically. Her optics searched all amongst the tree branches. The dark sky and many pines made it hard to decipher one thing from another. Her feet shuffled back towards the colony slowly, Uzi too scared to make any sudden moves.

And from the trees above, she saw two bright turquoise eye lights burn to life. The black viper pupils thinned into slits as they narrowed on her.

Soon, even more of the creature lit up, all in that same bright, neon turquoise. A headband with five orbs, what looks to be the bottom half of wings on its head, another pair of wings lower on its back, claws on its hands, and the iridescent shimmer of scales reflecting the double moonlight.

“A-A-An Apex Drone…!” Uzi stuttered out.

Her hand instinctively reached for her crossbow on her back. But it found no purchase. Uzi’s eye rings would go bold at realizing she was completely unarmed.

Flicking her optics back to the Apex Drone, she saw that it was gone. Uzi whipped around to find it again, desperate to get her optics on it again before it attacked. She would find it directly behind herself, arm reeled back with something shiny in its hand.

Uzi ducked under the swinging blade. Her messy bangs were nicked by the blade’s sharp edge. Luckily, Uzi caught herself with her free hand and managed to push herself away from the monster.

As the Apex Drone neared again, Uzi used the football as a distraction. She threw it as hard as she could into the thing’s face, making it flinch and yelp. Uzi bolted right past it as quickly as possible.

Her core pounded hard in her chest and sweat drops scrolled down her visor in panic. She could barely see two feet in front herself with how dark it was. Many times did Uzi nearly trip up on small piles of snow.

Hearing a maniacal laughter echo out in the forest made her run even faster. All Uzi needed was a weapon and some back up! Her colony could take this thing down if they overpowered it!

There was a whooshing of wind that alerted Uzi. She turned her gaze to her right, spotting the neon turquoise eye lights of the Apex Drone. She screamed and skidded to a stop, barely avoiding another swing for her head.

This time, she got a nasty cut right across her cheek. Luckily for her, the Apex hadn’t been paying attention to what was in front of him and ended up smacking right into a tree.

Despite the hilarious scene, Uzi continued to run towards her colony. She couldn’t be more relieved when she saw the outline of trucks signaling her colony. Uzi got out of the woods’ edge and made a continued mad dash for it.

“Uzi! Where’ve you been?! We were just about to go looking for you!” Ron asked as he spotted the woman.

“APEX! THERE’S A FREAKING APEX DRONE!!” Was all she hollered back, scrambling for her crossbow.

“There’s a what?!” Ron shouted with hollowed eye lights.

A pained shout alerted the two to the aforementioned robot’s arrival. Bright blue lights zipped about as the thing began slaughtering the colony’s nightwatchers.

“GET THE TRUCKS MOVING!!” Ron yelled to the awakening workers. “GET THE LADIES OUT FIRST! WHOEVER IS WITH THEM NOW, STICK WITH THEM!!” He added, grabbing his own weapon from his side.

Anyone near the trucks with the women were getting it awake and away. Others hopped out of the other trucks to assist in taking down the Apex Drone.

It used its odachi longsword expertly, swinging it with trained lethality at the Worker Drones around it. Many were cut down easily by the sharp edge, crying in pain and dropping their weapons.

Uzi tried firing her arrows at it, trying to hit its joints to immobilize the bastard. But the thing moved so fluidly and she kept missing. Uzi cursed it for its high mobility and crazed, taunting laughter.

Suddenly, the Apex Drone spread its dark and bright blue wings. It flapped them and took to the air, out of range of those with close-ranged weapons.

“Like hell I’m gonna let you get away that easily!” Ron shouted and twirled his flying claws.

He then threw out the taloned end, catching onto one of the wings. The Apex shrieked and tried to flap away. Ron tugged hard on the nylon cord, tightening the end wound around the wing.

Another shriek came from the monster as its wing was crushed. Ron finally downed the thing. As it fell back to the ground, the remaining Worker Drones went back in to try and finish the job.

“DON’T JUST RUSH IN THERE!” Uzi shouted in panic.

And when they didn’t listen to her, Uzi made the hasty decision to shoot more arrows at the Apex Drone. For once, they connected, hitting it right in the back. It yelped and turned to her, hissing and flicking its forked tongue out.

The Apex cut the cord of Ron’s flying claws from its wing. It then made a strong flap, making the Worker Drones around it topple from the force. The larger drone tackled into Uzi and brought her into the city.

The Worker Drone managed to dislodge from its grasp by kneeing it in the tanks. Although she went rolling, Uzi was quick to scramble to her feet. And so was the Apex Drone, as it hissed again and ran in to swing its sword at her.

Uzi blocked the first blow with her crossbow. A nasty gash was left in it. The second swing was dodged by the skin of Uzi’s teeth. The third was ducked right under. The fourth connected with her side, leaving an open wound on it.

The fifth caught her arm. The sixth stabbed through her shoulder. With each swing, the Apex Drone got faster. And with each swing, Uzi took more and more steps back.

Of course, she tried to fight back with her arrows and crossbow. Uzi bashed her weapon into the Apex’s stomach. She also struck her arrows into the thing’s shoulders and arms. It barely flinched at them.

Soon enough, Uzi was out of arrows and her crossbow was sliced in half. She stumbled back to gain distance. The Apex Drone kicked her into the wall behind her before stabbing his sword into the concrete wall next to her head.

Uzi grunted and slid to the floor, clutching at her deepest wounds. Her scared optics turned back up to the Apex Drone. It was hard to see it in the darkness of a building’s shade. All she could see was the glowing turquoise, both on the drone and reflected off his dripping odachi sword’s blade.

Things had suddenly gone quiet and tense. Another hiss rattled into the area. Uzi assumed the Apex was flicking its tongue out. Soon, a chuckle came from it. Uzi noted how it sounded masculine but young.

“You know,” The thing said as it kneeled down. “If you really wanted to come across as a boy…” It leaned in even closer, its pupiled optics boring holes into her.

“You’d make the effort to smell like one.” It told her, a joyous grin spreading across its face plates.

Uzi stiffened up at its statement. She felt true fear wash over her. Not at the prospect of death, but of something she argued was worse-

Something began rattling next to her. Uzi flicked her optics to the Apex’s sword. His grip had gone rigid. So much so that it was causing his weapon to shake. Uzi turned her optics back up to the Apex, noting that he’d closed his optics and started gritting his fangs.

“Will you…” He seethed quietly. “Shut the HELL UP!?!” He then suddenly turned.

But there was no one there.

“I DON’T CARE! I DIDN’T COME OUT HERE JUST TO FUCK AROUND!!” The Apex Drone continued to holler.

He’d gotten distracted yelling at… Nothing… But! It meant Uzi had the perfect opportunity to escape!

Picking up her crossbow pieces, Uzi began shuffling away. She dipped under the sword and scurried away as quietly as she could. But she was roughly grabbed by the neck and slammed against the wall. Uzi’s hands flew to the conical arms strangling her.

“And just where do you think you’re going?” The Apex asked with a cocking head.

“Gah! A-Away… Ggh! Fr-rom you…!” Uzi strained out, her voice box being crushed.

“Is that so?” The Apex questioned back.

He then laughed at her. Uzi grew angry at making out such a jovial expression on his shaded face plates.

‘Of course this bastard would go and taunt me!’ The Worker Drone thought.

“You Worker Drones are funny, you know that?” The Apex Drone said.

“And-d you’re a pr-ick.” Uzi strangled back in response.

The Apex’s smile twitched. Uzi figured she must’ve pissed him off. Well, if she’s going to die, then she’s going to make it as miserable for this guy as damn possible!

“Wh-at? Did I h-hit a nerve?” Uzi taunted with a grin.

“...” The Apex didn’t respond.

“I m-must’ve if you’r-re now sp-peechless!” Uzi laughed through her strangulation.

“Shut it…” The taller drone whispered.

“And wh-y should I?!” Uzi asked back.

“You…” The Apex seethed again. “CAN’T YOU SEE I’M TRYING TO DO SOMETHING HERE?!” He then hollered, whipping around again.

He’d dropped Uzi with total disregard. She yelped and made a pained grunt as her butt met the concrete floor. The Apex Drone shouted at something invisible again. Uzi felt a sweat drop scroll down her visor at the display of…

What do you even call this…?

‘Whatever the hell it is, it’s creepy…’ Uzi thought with narrowed optics.

“And the jerks from my colony say I’m a ‘friendless lunatic…’” Uzi scoffed to herself.

The Apex Drone whipped right around to her. Uzi startled from it, also internally cursing herself for accidentally saying that out loud.

“Friendless…?” The Apex mimed.

Uzi only stared at him worriedly, her eye lights void.

“I’m not friendless! I-! I have lots of friends!” He proclaimed.

Uzi’s expression turned more disbelieving.

“Sure you do…” She opted to nod back.

“You don’t believe me...” The Apex stated.

“‘Course I don’t. I’m not the one talking to imaginary friends.” Uzi rolled her optics.

“THEY AREN’T IMAGINARY! THEY’RE REAL!” The other robot shouted. “Why can’t anyone see them?!” He then asked the sky.

“Maybe because they aren’t real?” Uzi asked back, a brow quirked.

And for a moment, the Apex Drone’s bright optics just stared at her.

“Are you real?” The other robot asked.

“IIII would hope so…?” Uzi nodded in confusion.

‘What kind of question even is that?’ She had to ask herself.

“Then you will be my “real” friend!” The shadowed Apex Drone pointed.

“WHAT?!” Uzi shouted in surprise.

“You say I “don’t have any real friends,” so if that’s the case, then you being my friend would mean I do have friends! REAL ONES!!” The Apex Drone argued.

“That doesn’t make any damn sense!” Uzi hollered back, her optical lights voided again at the absurdity of this guy.

“It does, too! If you’re real and are my friend, that means you, and everybody else who said I’m friendless, are all WRONG!!” The shadowed guy shouted.

“Why the hell would I want to be friends with an Apex Drone like you?! You’d sooner kill me than hug me!” Uzi hollered.

“Why would I kill my friend?! If I did, I wouldn’t have friends at all!” The Apex argued.

Uzi opened her mouth to argue, but came to a realization. If she agreed to being this guy’s “friend,” that means she could avoid certain death! And probably save the rest of her colony, too.

“Fine!” She conceded. “We can be friends.”

The darkened Apex Drone stared at her.

“You mean it?” The Apex Drone questioned, his tone suddenly far quieter.

“Yes, I mean it!” Uzi said.

“HA! IN YOUR FACES, SHADOW DEMONS! I DO HAVE A FRIEND! HAHAHAHA!!!” He then turned around to point at the air again.

‘I’m already regretting this…’ Uzi thought miserably.

As the Apex Drone danced about in triumphant joy, the clouds covering the moon dispersed. Moonlight bathed the area again and the shadows recessed. The one covering the Apex Drone slid away and finally brought him to light.

Uzi’s eye lights would go wide at being able to finally see him. Despite his displays of animalistic habits and traits, she still wasn’t expecting him to look like that.

Chapter Text

The Apex Drone cheered and danced around in the moonlight for making his first friend. His neon turquoise lighting contrasted with the silver light and navy sky. But as he pranced around on his heeled feet, he eventually realized what happened.

The bigger drone slowed to a stop. His smile fell and his expression turned almost sad. The wings hanging from the back of hips drooped. The Apex Drone stared at the double moons high above.

Uzi waited with baited vents. A sweat drop scrolled down her visor. She worried that the Apex Drone would suddenly change his CPU.

‘If only I had a weapon right now!’ She thought.

“I have a friend…” The Apex Drone spoke to himself. “I have a real friend…”

Things were tense for another minute. Uzi slowly shuffled closer to where her colony was. She hopes they’re alright-

“Hey,” The Apex Drone turned, making Uzi freeze. “What… Do friends do…?” He asked.

Uzi stared at him silently. She was caught off-guard by that question. But the Apex Drone looked genuinely confused. He even waited patiently for her response.

“They… Do lots of things, I guess.” Uzi shrugged back. “I don’t really have many friends myself, so I don’t quite know for certain.” She admitted, her visor going a little flush from embarrassment.

The Apex Drone stared at her.

“Does that mean friends figure out what friends do together?” He asked next.

“I-... I guess so…” Uzi nodded.

What was she supposed to say?! The only friend she has is Thad, and she barely hangs out with him! Granted, it’s because of his toxic masculinity friends, but still!

“Do friends also use each other’s names?” The Apex suddenly spoke.

“Uh- Y-Yeah, they do.” Uzi nodded again.

The other drone perked up at that. He ran right over, hauling Uzi to her feet easily. He then took her hand, shaking it fervently.

“Then my name’s N! What’s your name, new friend?!” He introduced himself.

“U-Uzi.” She returned.

“Really?” N returned, stopping his hand-shaking. “Well, for someone who’s obviously trying to pass as a boy, that sure is a feminine name!” He laughed as his tail wagged.

“Usually, we use the name Uzekiel when we’ve got company.” Uzi argued.

“Ooohh! I see now! That makes lots more sense!” N grinned widely at her. His head wings made happy flaps.

Uzi felt another sweat drop blink onto her visor at how close he’d gotten.

“I-Is N the only thing you go by?” Uzi decided to ask, stepping away for some personal space.

“It is! It’s my designation!” He replied jovially.

“Is that so…” Uzi muttered in acknowledgement.

‘N as a name kinda sucks.’ She thought. ‘It could be way cooler.’

“Well, I should be getting back to my colony. I’m already worrying them as it is.” Uzi pointed the way they came.

“Of course! How could I forget! Let’s go catch up with them right now!!” N said excitedly.

“H-Hold on-!” Uzi exclaimed.

But N was already pulling his sword from the wall. He sheathed it in the sheath sitting on his hip. He picked up Uzi’s crossbow pieces before lugging her over his shoulder. N skipped off happily as Uzi complained the whole way back.

All weapons were trained on them as soon as the two returned. Glares were sent N’s way, the said drone ignoring them in favor of smiling happily while his tail wagged and his head wings fluttered.

Meanwhile, Uzi hid her flustered and embarrassed face in her hands. She made a muffled groan, wishing she had killed this guy instead.

“Hello, Uzi’s friends!” N waved cheerily with a wing. “I have come back with Uzi to continue your travels together!” He proclaimed.

“We didn’t agree to that!” She argued.

“Yeah right!” Someone scoffed.

“Why would we let an Apex Drone join us?!” Another asked.

“You probably CPU-washed Uzekiel! You Apexes have abilities like those, don’t you?!” A different drone accused.

“If you put our colonymate down, we’ll spare you.” Ron said, taking a step closer.

“Ron-!” Someone went to argue.

But Ron only glared back at him. The worker shut up, letting their second in command try and negotiate.

“Me and Uzi are friends! And if you’re her friends, you’re my friends too!” N stated happily.

The Worker Drones tensed at knowing N knew her real gender. Ron tightened his grip on his flying talons.

“Just put her down.” Ron ordered.

“Yes, PLEASE put me down already!” Uzi yelled.

“Okay, okay! Geez…” N huffed.

He set the Worker Drone on her feet. Uzi swiped her crossbow pieces from his hands before shuffling further away. Everyone felt more relieved at not having one of their own held hostage.

“Are you alright, Uzi?” Ron asked in a whisper.

“Yeah. I’ll need some patchwork done, though. He wasn’t an easy foe to fight.” She replied just as quietly, clutching her wounded side.

Ron gave her a split-second once over. He could see the cuts in her clothing and the oil staining them.

“We’ll dispose of this guy, then get you patched up. Just hold on a little-” Ron went to say.

“Now hold on a minute!” Uzi interrupted. “I know how he sounds, but I-” Her mouth gaped like a fish as she searched for her words.

“IIII may or may not have actually agreed to being his friend, ahaha…” She laughed nervously.

Ron stared at her incredulously for a long moment.

“You what?!” He shouted and made Uzi flinch.

“I know it’s dangerous, but hear me out for a second-!” Uzi tried to say with placating hands.

“Uzi, do you know what you’ve done?!” Ron asked, his eye lights going hollow. “You can’t be friends with an Apex Drone! He’s going to kill you as soon as your guard is down!” He gestured to the said drone.

“He stopped trying to kill me when I said I’d be his friend-!” Uzi argued louder.

“And what if it’s just a trick?!” Ron countered. “Apex Drones aren’t stupid, Uzi!”

“And neither are we!” She countered.

“Listen to me, we cannot just let an Apex Drone join our colony!” Ron yelled in genuine anger.

The shift in tone and the furious expression made Uzi flinch again. She stared back at the older drone with hollowed optics, suddenly feeling like a small child.

“That thing will kill us all in our sleep! He’s already killed a few of us and maimed more!” Ron told her. “I will not allow him to hurt anymore of us!!”

Uzi blinked back at the older man. She had suddenly lost her vocabulary. She could only turn her gaze to the ground and nod in defeat.

“Now, now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” N spoke.

Neither drone had seen him move. They whipped around to him, the Apex Drone standing right next to them. Everyone else had been knocked onto their asses, their weapons knocked from their hands.

“I know very well how us Apex Drones are dangerous. I have first-hand experience with that.” N said, his tail dropping a spear into his hands. “But think of it this way: It’s better to have your predator on your side than the opposite, right?” He turned his thin smile to Ron.

Said Worker Drone stared back at him unsurely and nervously. Another sweat drop crawled down his display.

“And I meant what I said before; I don’t kill my friends.” The Apex added, inspecting the spear. “If I did that, I’d have no friends again!” He then smiled chipperly.

“He’s right and you know it.” Uzi spoke up, finding her voice again. “It’s better to have him on our side than theirs. It’s one less predator to have to worry about.”

Ron’s gaze shifted to Uzi. It turned back to N, who was busy happily drawing in the snow with the spear.

“We still can’t trust him.” Ron stood firm. “It’s simply too dangerous. And how would the rest of the colony react? Or your own father?!” He went on.

“I’ll deal with dad on my own!” Uzi exclaimed. “As for the rest of the colony, it’s going to take time to get used to his presence no matter what! Even for me!” She added, her brows furrowed.

Ron was still wary. He couldn’t bring himself to trust an Apex Drone. They were made to kill Worker Drones just like them. How is this one any different-?

A hard stab into the snow startled the two drones. They turned back to N. He stared intently at the ground, unhappy.

“You guys should really keep your mouths shut. You aren’t helping.” His gaze narrowed on his shadow in the snow.

Uzi and Ron stared at him quizzically for a moment. The latter turned to the former and pointed his thumb at the Apex. She could only shrug back.

“This only proves my point that we can’t trust him.” Ron sighed.

“He hasn’t hurt anyone now, has he?!” Uzi argued still.

“Like I keep telling you; It could be a trick!” The older robot argued.

Uzi made a loud groan and rolled her optics. She wasn’t getting through to him at all!

“N! Prove that you won’t try and kill us anymore!” She hollered.

N snapped from his snow-stabbing. He straightened up and came closer. Taking something from his right thigh strap, N held up a vial with some sort of clear serum inside.

“This is my antivenom!” N said, waving the item around. “It’s something only I can make, but I’ll offer it to you in case I bite one of you by accident!” He giggled.

Ron only scooted away from the other robot. Uzi facepalmed, feeling embarrassed all over again.

“Anything else?” She inquired through grit teeth.

N made a hum and pocketed the vial again. He perked back up when another idea hit him.

“I can’t deny and say that I won’t still need Worker Drone oil to survive. Unfortunately, the only way us Apex Drones can effectively cool ourselves is through worker oil.” He began.

Uzi gave him a meaner glare. He was NOT selling himself well right now!

“But I wouldn’t have to kill anyone for it if it were donated to me!” N grinned, his snake fangs glinting in the moonlight.

Uzi and Ron both paused at that.

“Donate…?” Ron questioned quietly.

“Yup! Just one donation every few days!” N nodded back. “If I can get a steady supply of food, I won’t need to hunt for it anymore!” His tail wagged.

“I can even show you right now!” N offered.

He then took Uzi into his arms. He pulled back her coat until her shoulder was exposed. N opened his mouth, letting his tongue hit the air and drawing his fangs closer.

“Don’t worry, Uzi! It’ll just be a pinch! You won’t even feel it!” N reassured.

“NO!! NONONONONONO!!! DON’T FREAKING BITE ME!!” She shrieked.

“Aww! Don’t be like that! I promise not to inject you with my venom!” N continued, holding her tighter.

“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!” Ron interrupted, trying to pluck the two apart. “I believe you, Robo-Jesus! Just let the poor girl go!” He exclaimed exasperatedly.

N did as told, though he didn’t hide his disappointed expression. Uzi stepped away to get some distance and calm her racing core.

Once the two were apart, Ron pinched his visor and sighed. He debated on what to do about this whole situation.

‘If I agree, we may just have one less predator to worry about.’ He thought. ‘But if I don’t, we may just have one more predator to worry about.’ His gaze turned to N.

‘But this whole thing could also be a trick.’ He reminded himself. ‘There’s not exactly a definitive way to prove N’s promise. I can’t exactly rely on hope, either.’

“Not to mention the hell that’ll occur once Khan gets back…” Ron then muttered, hiding his visor in a hand.

‘Uzi said she’d deal with it, but I highly doubt she can. Khan is overprotective of her as it is, he won’t listen to a single thing she says.’ The stressed robot could already see the explosive argument.

“I think it might be best to hold a colony discussion about this.” He finally settled on.

Uzi turned back to him, her optical lights wide.

“You’re kidding me!” She exclaimed.

“I’m not.” Ron affirmed. “This isn’t an easy decision, Uzi. Plus, there’s a lot of things to consider about this whole ordeal.” He added.

Uzi wanted to say something more, but found no words. She could understand Ron’s hesitance and worry, but this could be their chance! They could have the perfect weapon to fight against the rest of the Apex Drones! Or other colonies!

“I’ll be honest with you, I’m still against this whole thing.” Ron confessed, stirring Uzi from her thoughts. “There’s no way for N to prove his loyalty, and there’s plenty of risks with having an Apex Drone with us.”

“It’s far better to discuss this with everyone, especially your father.” Ron finished, turning back to Uzi.

She stared at him with furrowed brows, taking in his words. She sighed in defeat and let her aching shoulders sag.

“Fine.” Uzi nodded.

“Thank you.” Ron quietly said back. “Let’s get you patched up, though. You’re still bleeding.” He then said, looking to her wounds.

Uzi hummed, forgetting they were even there. She’d gotten so caught up in this argument that she had tuned out the pain.

As she and the second in command of the colony started towards one of the trucks, N followed. They both stopped and turned around to face him. N only smiled back, cocking his head.

“You should wait… Somewhere else.” Ron said.

“You should probably steer clear of everyone right now.” Uzi whispered, glancing at her glaring colonymates.

N glanced at them too, spotting their narrowed and angry optics. His four wings drooped again, but he understood.

“I’ll be waiting for you then, friend.” He offered a smile to his brand-new buddy.

Uzi huffed and turned away before N could see the handful of blush lines on her visor.

‘It’s not like we’re real friends anyway.’ She thought. ‘I’m only keeping him around to scare off other guys. He’s just a guard dog!’

‘There’s no way I will ever be friends with an Apex Drone.’ Her gaze narrowed as she hopped into the back of a truck.

Made Survive AU! Uzi since I was bored and had time lmao. She wears combat boots btw, I was just using the PSG style since it's so fun to draw.

Chapter Text

N sat perched on a lamppost near to the colony. He stared out at the double moons, waiting for Uzi’s friends to make their decision. Though, as he takes a glance around, he doesn’t think they’ve begun chatting yet.

Each Worker Drone’s gaze is on him. N doesn’t really mind it. It’s not like they’re bothering him or something. Just as long as they don’t get too close, they’ll have no problems with each other.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖. 𝕊𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣?' A voice whispered.

N turned around to the building he sat near, his shadow grinning thinly at him. Shadowy tendrils rose from the thin pole’s shadow, forming narrow heads and sharp-tooth smirks.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕠 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖! 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕠 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕦𝕡?' N’s shadow asked with a cock of its head.

“I was trying to hunt. You guys were just distracting me.” N huffed with a turn of his winged head.

'𝕎𝕖 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕥𝕣𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕡!' One of the snake-like shadows defended. '𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕦𝕡𝕤𝕖𝕥? 𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕧𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕥 𝕒 '𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕' 𝕟𝕠𝕨, 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦?' It then asked.

‘𝕐𝕖𝕒𝕙! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕦𝕤!’ Another tendril spoke.

“The only reason I managed to make a real friend was because you guys kept making fun of me for it!” N argued, his hip wings fluttering.

‘𝔸𝕨𝕨! 𝕎𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕛𝕖𝕤𝕥!’ N’s shadow giggled. ‘𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕥𝕠𝕠 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕝𝕪!’

“Yeah right…” N pouted with a glare.

His shadow tilted his head and sighed. The other tendrils giggled at the perched drone.

‘𝕊𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕖𝕟 𝕦𝕡!’ One spoke.

‘𝕆𝕣 𝕞𝕒𝕪𝕓𝕖 𝕙𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕕!’ Another guffawed.

‘ℍ𝕖𝕪! 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕞𝕒𝕟 𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕕𝕠 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥!’ A third chimed in.

The shadowy snakes began to laugh. One of them was rudely interrupted when N smacked him upside the shaded head with his tail. The shadow snakes turned to glare at him.

‘ℍ𝕖𝕪! 𝕎𝕖’𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕛𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘!’ The smacked one said.

‘𝕐𝕖𝕒𝕙!’

‘𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕠𝕦𝕥!’ The other two exclaimed in offense.

N rolled his optics and turned away again.

‘ℕ𝕠𝕨, 𝕟𝕠𝕨. 𝕃𝕖𝕥’𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕗𝕦𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕!’ N’s shadow said. ‘ℍ𝕖’𝕤 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕞𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕚𝕣𝕝! 𝕃𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕓𝕠𝕟𝕕 𝕒 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕒𝕥 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥!’

‘𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕖, 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕖!’ One of the snakes huffed. ‘𝕀’𝕝𝕝 𝕨𝕒𝕚𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕓𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕦𝕥- 𝔸ℂ𝕂!!’

N growled at the shadowy snakes as he choked the one.

‘ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕨! 𝔻𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕤𝕠 𝕒𝕘𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖, ℕ!’ His shadow spoke, slithering over along the wall. ‘𝕀 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪’𝕣𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕝𝕖𝕥’𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕤𝕠 𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥! 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪’𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕥𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕛𝕠𝕜𝕖𝕤!’ He smirked.

N stared at him for a moment. He then snorted and pulled his hand away. The shadowy snake coughed and withered, his friends checking in on him.

“Don’t act like you don’t also make those ‘tasteless’ jokes.” He commented.

‘𝔸𝕝𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥, 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕖! 𝕀 𝕕𝕠 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕛𝕠𝕜𝕖𝕤, 𝕥𝕠𝕠.’ His shadow conceded. ‘𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕒𝕤 𝕠𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕟.’ He added with a cheeky grin.

“Keep telling yourself that.” N glared.

‘𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝!’ His shadow proclaimed proudly and with a short giggle.

Again, N just rolled his neon turquoise optics. He opted to try and ignore the shadow demons, watching the Worker Drones below tend to their wounded. His gaze narrowed when he spotted the truck Uzi went into.

A muffled hiss rang out in the dark truck bed. Some sparks helped to illuminate it along with the glow of a flashlight. Once the yellow and orange sparks stopped, Ron straightened up.

“He didn’t go easy on you, huh?” He asked, checking over his welding work.

“‘Course he di’n’t. He was tryina kill me at da time.” Uzi said through the rag in her mouth.

“Well, at least you’re safe and alive.” Ron sighed, using some electrical tape to reconnect wires.

The two went quiet as Ron finished up. He patched together another couple of oil tubes, a few wires, then welded Uzi’s shoulder wound back up. She growled and hissed through the pain, squeezing her optics shut as she bore through the horrible heat.

It didn’t take too long, probably a few minutes to patch up that last wound, but it felt like hours. Uzi couldn’t be happier when Ron was finally done tending to her.

“There. That should do it.” The said older man spoke up. “It might be best to not overdo it for a few days. Just let yourself rest and heal up.” He advised.

Uzi made an acknowledging hum, spitting the rag out. She then pulled her padded button-up shirt back on, hiding the slight curvature of her chest plates. She made sure to be careful of her freshly-welded wounds, gently laying the T-shirt over them.

Shrugging on her jacket, Uzi hopped back out of the truck bed. Ron followed her after packing up, checking up on the other wounded. Uzi looked around for her new “friend,” finding him sitting on a lamppost.

She noticed how his long tail was twirled around the pole, like a python on a tree branch. His scales reflected the moonlight in iridescent colors, almost mesmerizing to watch at different angles.

“I see you’re finally back!” N’s voice snapped her from her thoughts.

Uzi startled and looked up to him. She nodded, schooling her expression.

“Are you feeling any better? I know I wasn’t exactly easy with you.” N inquired, turning around to face her.

“I’ll live.” Uzi shrugged, ignoring the twitch of her brow at the flaring wound. “It isn’t like I haven’t had to fight others before anyway.” She added, stuffing her hands into her pockets.

“Well that sounds bad.” N commented. “Do you fight everyday? How bad are they?” He asked next, cocking his head.

“When I said ‘often,’ I meant enough to know how to properly throw a punch or kick, or shoot a crossbow!” Uzi exclaimed.

“Oh! My mistake!” N laughed.

He then slipped down from his perch. He landed in front of Uzi, flaring his wings to lessen his fall. The Worker Drone had to shield her visor from the resulting billow of snow and silicone.

Before she could even lower her arms, N had taken her chin in his hand. He stared at her in the optics, still grinning. Uzi watched his forked tongue flick out so closer to her lips, a quiet hiss following it.

“I can smell him on you.” N noted quietly.

“H-Huh?” Uzi hummed in confusion, her eye lights voided.

“That other male worker. I can smell him on you.” N reiterated. “Veeeeery subtly.” His smirk became wider.

“Why-y the hell do you care-?!” Uzi asked, her hands gripping his conical wrist.

“If you wear his clothes, it’ll help trick Apex Drones like me into really thinking you’re a boy.” N told her.

“Okay, I get it! Now can you let go of me?!” Uzi asked.

N made a thinking hum, his bright, viper-pupil optics trailing down her form.

“If you want, I can help you smell like a boy.” He offered with a toothy grin.

Uzi’s gaze narrowed on him. Her grip on his wrist tightened.

“Let go of me first, then I’ll consider it.” She snarled.

N hummed again and shrugged. He let the female Worker Drone go. Uzi stumbled back and rubbed her chin. She sent a wary glare the Apex Drone’s way as she stepped further back.

“My dad’s gonna be back soon from his scouting mission whatever. You should probably go back up onto your lamppost.” Uzi advised.

“What? I can’t stay down here with my friend?” N asked as he placed his hands on his hips.

“Not unless you wanna get shot.” Uzi retorted.

“You say that like you didn’t try to do the same to me just tonight!” N laughed.

Uzi rolled her optics and walked off. N followed behind her, his wings making occasional flutters. Uzi held back the groan in her voice box as she picked up her crossbow from atop a crate.

She then went to a truck and took the repair kit Ron used for her. Sitting down beside the vehicle, Uzi pulled out some metal pieces and the torch. She attempted to map out how she wanted to fix her weapon.

‘Of course, it’s gonna be hard when the inside mechanisms have been sliced…’ Uzi thought with a slight grimace.

“You look troubled.” N commented.

Uzi turned her optics up, sending him a glare.

“I am.” She confirmed. “Because someone sliced my weapon in half and damaged the inside mechanism.” She added.

“My apologies! If I had known we’d become friends, I’d have been more careful!” The Apex smiled, his tail tip wagging.

Uzi only gave him a weak growl. She turned back to her weapon, now having to figure out how to fix the inside with her minimal materials. She’s going to need specific parts to replace the trigger’s mechanism.

‘On top of that, there’s the firing mechanism that needs fixing, too.’ Uzi realized. ‘And even when or if I do fix them, I’ll need to use even more plastic to fix the body.’

“And this torch is going to melt it, no doubt…” She muttered to herself.

As the Worker Drone mulled over her broken weapon, N kept crouching in front of her. He gazed at her, observing how she mentally planned out her blueprint and made the list of materials to fix it.

N was tempted to ask her if she wanted him to just find something new. He could easily find some other Worker Drones to quickly raid, or even an Apex Drone if one was nearby.

‘Then again, this is my turf, so no Apexes should be here.’ The winged robot thought. ‘It probably wouldn’t be bad to do my rounds, though.’

“UUUGGGGHHH!! ROBO-JESUS! I’m not sure this can even be fixed at all!” Uzi suddenly yelled, startling everyone.

“Uzi! Keep it down!” Someone scolded.

The said young woman winced at the shout. She sighed in frustration and dropped her ruined crossbow. There was no way she was gonna be able to fix that without the proper tools or materials!

“I’m gonna have to find something else…” She muttered as she rubbed her visor.

“Why is this such a big deal? It’s only a weapon, one a few of your other friends have. Why don’t you just use one of theirs?” N questioned as his hip wings flapped once.

“Because, we don’t have all the supplies in the world.” Uzi told him. “And we don’t have too many ranged weapons to spare. Spears and swords and bats, we have plenty of. But anything that requires ammo like crossbows aren’t something we have in good supply.” Uzi gestured to her said weapon.

“I- See… I think…” N nodded slowly, his eye lights narrowed.

“Ugh, just don’t worry about it.” Uzi waved him off whilst getting up.

N stood as well, watching Uzi dump her crossbow into some random crate. She also put the repair kit back, then turned to climb into one of the trucks.

While she was gone, N’s hands slipped down to his sword. His optics glanced down to it, the monochrome sheath staring back at him. N’s optics turned towards the car before following after the Worker Drone.

Just as Uzi came back to ask Ron when her father was going to return, she was startled by N suddenly appearing. She gasped and grabbed her core, falling onto her ass. She didn’t even get to recover when N climbed in with her.

A sweat drop blinked onto Uzi’s visor as she crawled away. N only continued to encroach, only stopping when Uzi’s back hit the wall. For a tense moment, the two stared at each other.

‘𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕟𝕠𝕨? 𝕋𝕣𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕝?’ N’s shadow asked with a sly grin.

“Hush, you.” N snipped back, smacking his tail into the fabric wall.

‘𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕣𝕦𝕕𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤!’ His shadow raised his hands in mock surrender.

‘𝕄𝕒𝕪𝕓𝕖 𝕚𝕗 𝕨𝕖’𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥, 𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕦𝕤 𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘!’ A snaky shadow laughed.

‘𝕀𝕗 𝕙𝕖’𝕤 𝕕𝕦𝕞𝕓 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙, 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤!’ Another chortled with a taunting smile.

N’s expression fell into subtle anger. He turned to hiss threateningly at the taunting shadow demons, making them recoil and hiss back.

“Can you guys go away?! I’m trying to do something here!” N seethed.

‘𝕐𝕖𝕒𝕙, 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕.’ One of the shadow snakes commented.

The pair then began laughing at N’s expense again. He hissed again, his wings jittering in anger. With another smack of his tail, he socked the two in their throats. They sputtered and coughed as they fell back into the shadow of the truck bed.

N rolled his optics as they finally went away. He then returned to the matter at hand, who was staring at him quizzically and with hollowed optical lights.

“You need a weapon, don’t you?” N asked.

“Uh- Yeah.” Uzi nodded, startled from her confusion.

“Then for the time being, just use my sword.” N offered, unbuckling the strap from his waist. “Think of this as my apology to you for breaking your other weapon.” He smiled.

Uzi stared at the sheath. She hesitantly took it, becoming startled at the weight. She didn’t know his sword weighed this much…

“You’re gonna need some practice with it, but I’m sure anyone who sees that thing will be intimidated nonetheless.” N giggled, his head wings making a flap.

“Th-Thanks…” Uzi nodded back, still staring at his weapon.

N’s optics then turned to the side of the truck’s fabric where everyone else was stationed. There was some chatter outside.

“It seems things are getting lively.” N commented, a grin still plastered on his face plates. “Want to see what it’s all about, Uzi?” He asked.

“Might as well. It could be my dad.” Uzi sighed back. “But first; Get the hell away from me.” She then said snippily, pushing against N’s chest so close to her frame.

Chapter Text

Things had come to a sudden standstill. Khan pointed his cheiroballista right at N’s neck. The sharp arrow was mere centimeters from the plating of his throat. But despite being seconds away from getting his vocal cords shot out, N merely smiled down at the aging Worker Drone.

Meanwhile, the whole colony was silent. Uzi stared with hollowed optics behind her father, unsure as to what to do. She was afraid that if she moved, her dad might shoot N.

‘We just came out from the truck, and things have already gone to shit!’ She swore in her CPU.

“Don’t you think it’s quite rude to threaten someone without even meeting them first?” N asked.

“I don’t need to ‘meet’ an Apex Drone to know I should shoot him on sight.” Khan snarled back.

“But I haven’t even done anything.” N argued calmly.

“You were with my son-!” Khan began to yell.

“You don’t need to hide it, dad. He knows already.” Uzi interrupted.

Khan’s eye lights went void. He turned to stare at her in shock. It was a mistake, and N batted his weapon right from his hands with his tail. It landed a few yards away behind the Apex.

“There! No more distractions!” N cheered with a grin. “Can we all talk now? I believe there’s supposed to be a colony meeting about me." He said.

“What?” Khan asked with furrowed brows.

“Sorry, Khan. Uzi’s pretty intent on keeping him with us.” Ron spoke up, coming forth. “I’m against letting the Apex stay. I think it’s too dangerous and risky. We’re low on numbers as it is.” He said.

“Don’t forget that the manufacturing ladies are terrified, too.” Rich chimed in, walking up next to Khan. “We keep him around, and they’ll never get a good night’s rest, nevermind the rest of us.” He crossed his arms.

“That’s because we aren’t used to him yet!” Uzi argued, catching their attention. “I admit that I doubt I’ll rest easy with him around at first too, but think of all the advantages we’d have with him around!” She exclaimed, trotting in front of them.

“Like what? Having a painless death because he killed us in our sleep?” Khan scoffed.

“No! He could easily scare away other aggressive colonies!” Uzi said. “Or help us deal with other Apex Drones! You know how bad a time we have with them!”

“So you’re basically suggesting we fight fire with fire?” Rich asked with a quirked brow.

“Exactly!” Uzi confirmed.

“It’s an interesting idea,” N finally spoke up again, everyone turning to him. “But it isn’t foolproof. If we were to head into Apex Drone territory, there could be a pack waiting.” He said.

“Even so, having one Apex with us to fight them is better than none.” Uzi pointed out.

“I didn’t say it wasn’t!” N gave a small laugh. “I was just saying that even I may have trouble dealing with Apex Drones.” He clarified.

“But you would have an easier time with some back-up, wouldn’t you?” Uzi asked.

“Of course! Anyone would!” The Apex returned.

“Well then!” Uzi huffed. “If anything, that’s just even more reason to keep him around! He has information about Apexes that we don’t!”

Khan gave her a pensive but skeptical look. It turned up to N, who grinned innocently back at the older robot.

“We still can’t be sure that we can trust him.” Khan shook his head. “Like Ron said, it’s far too risky to keep an Apex around. I can’t get our colony exterminated because I made a foolish decision.”

“But dad!” Uzi argued.

“That’s final, Uzi!” He yelled.

His daughter’s posture fell in defeat. She wasn’t winning this argument, not when literally everyone is against her.

Uzi turned to N, a slight furrow to her brows. He’s only there because she wants to use him. She shouldn’t be this upset that she couldn’t get herself a pseudo-guard dog.

“Sorry. Guess you’ll have to stay here.” Uzi told N.

He stared back at her with saddened eye lights. His four wings drooped and his tail curled around his feet.

“It’s alright.” He told her, smiling smally. “At least my friend tried.”

“Y-Yeah. Sure.” Uzi almost flinched, grimacing at how that one word sounded so genuine.

“If I could, I’d prove my loyalty to you. But I’m not sure how I could do such a thing.” N laughed softly, rubbing his neck. “But still, thank you for trying.” He said again.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like it even worked anyway.” Uzi huffed and stuffed her hands into her pockets.

“Let’s pack up, everyone! We’re getting a move on!” Khan called to the rest of the colony. “And Uzi, make sure to keep the parts of your broken crossbow. We can still use whatever is salvageable.” He said.

“I know, I know. I put it in a crate already.” She waved off. “That does remind me, I should give this back.”

Uzi handed N his sword. For as badass as it is, she doesn’t want to hold onto it. Especially since she can’t even wield it properly and she doesn’t want to get on N’s bad side by accidentally stealing it.

The said robot took his weapon, staring down at the monochrome sheath. He turned his neon turquoise gaze back up to the female Worker Drone, already turned away and preparing to leave.

‘𝕊𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥’𝕤 𝕚𝕥?’ N’s shadow asked, sitting on the ground behind him. ‘ℍ𝕖𝕣 𝕕𝕒𝕕 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕟𝕠, 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕤, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕙𝕖𝕣? 𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 ‘𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤.’’ He questioned, a thin frown on his shadowy features.

“What am I supposed to do?” N asked back. “If I follow them, they’ll for certain try and kill me.” He said as he buckled his weapon around his waist.

‘𝕆𝕙, 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕠𝕟! 𝕐𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕟 𝔸𝕡𝕖𝕩 𝔻𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕖! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕚𝕟 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕦𝕥𝕖𝕤! ℙ𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕤!’ His shadow exclaimed.

It then slithered in front of him, N turning down to it. His shadow grabbed onto his ankles, lifting its upper body off the ground to lean in closer.

‘𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕕𝕦𝕞𝕓 𝕣𝕦𝕝𝕖𝕤?’ His shadow asked. ‘𝔻𝕚𝕕𝕟’𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕣𝕪 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕤𝕒𝕞𝕖 ‘𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕’ 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕟 𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕒𝕘𝕠? 𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕦𝕕𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕙-𝕤𝕠 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕝?’ A thin grin split across its face.

‘𝕀 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕀 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕦𝕞𝕓, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕪𝕠𝕦! ℕ𝕠𝕨 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕥!’ One of the snaky shadow demons spoke, slithering up like N’s shadow.

‘𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕒𝕔𝕥 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕟’𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕤-𝕞𝕦𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕣. 𝕐𝕠𝕦’𝕧𝕖 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤, 𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕪, 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕙𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟!’ Another snaky shadow laughed.

‘𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕚𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕠𝕟𝕖’𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕?’ A third snake with jagged fangs in its maw asked. ‘𝕀𝕗 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕕𝕠 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕣.’ It said.

“But… Uzi’s dad-” N went to argue, averting his unsure gaze.

‘𝕀𝕤 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦.’ N’s shadow said.

N’s fingers twitched. His tail made a slow wave.

‘𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕠 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟’𝕥 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞?’ N’s shadow questioned, leaning over and propping his elbows on one of N’s shoulders. ‘𝕀𝕥’𝕤 𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕣𝕚𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕙𝕚𝕞. 𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕤𝕨𝕚𝕡𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕.’ He went on with a devilish smirk.

‘𝕆𝕣 𝕒 𝕜𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖!’ One of the shadowy snakes exclaimed.

'𝕆𝕣 𝕒 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕝!' Another laughed.

'𝕆𝕣 𝕒 𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕣 𝕓𝕚𝕥𝕖!' The third smiled.

'𝕊𝕖𝕖? 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖'𝕤 𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕂𝕙𝕒𝕟! ℍ𝕖'𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕟𝕠 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕦𝕡 𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕨𝕒𝕪!' N’s shadow continued, his tail waving playfully.

N’s blue gaze was turned to the floor. He glanced up, watching the colony leave without him. Uzi spared him a glance for but a second, quickly turning away again. N couldn’t tell if she was sad about this departure or not.

‘Maybe she’s hiding it.’ N thought.

'𝔸𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕖𝕥 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕓𝕪𝕖? 𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥?' N’s shadow inquired. '𝔸𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕖𝕥 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕓𝕪𝕖?'

“What else can I do?” N said back.

'𝕎𝕖 𝕘𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒 𝕥𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤!' One of the shadow serpents pointed out.

“I’d rather not kill anymore of Uzi’s colony. They already dislike me because of that.” N argued with a pointed look.

'𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕟, 𝕦𝕙𝕙𝕙𝕙-' The serpent hummed.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕘𝕠 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕙𝕖𝕣~' N’s shadow sing-songed. '𝔸𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕝𝕝, 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕤 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕦𝕕𝕕𝕪 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕓𝕪𝕖 𝕤𝕠 𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕝𝕪? 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕪 𝕤𝕦𝕓𝕡𝕒𝕣 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕓𝕖𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕣, 𝕚𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕚𝕥?' He went on, partially hiding his grin with his hand.

N watched Uzi and her colony leave for a minute longer. His hip wings twitched. They itched to fly.

'𝕊𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕, ℕ. 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕.' N’s shadow said. '𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕦𝕡? 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 "𝕣𝕦𝕝𝕖𝕤" 𝕒𝕟𝕕 "𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪" 𝕟𝕠 𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤?' He asked, whispering into his audial.

'𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕠 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦, 𝕥𝕠𝕠!' One of the serpents jeered.

'𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕒 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕪𝕠𝕦, 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝔸𝕡𝕖𝕩 𝔻𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤!' The second mocked.

'𝕐𝕖𝕒𝕙! 𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕒 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕒 𝕡𝕖𝕥 𝕣𝕠𝕔𝕜!' The third chortled.

“I want to keep being her friend-” N tried to say.

'𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕥 𝕦𝕡?' His shadow asked.  '𝕊𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕, 𝕚𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕤𝕙𝕖? 𝕊𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕕𝕖𝕗𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦, 𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦, 𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖, 𝕥𝕣𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕖𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕪.' He continued.

N’s eye lights slowly went wide.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕒𝕪 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕠𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕠 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕕, 𝕨𝕒𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕚𝕥?' His shadow asked.

'𝕀𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕'𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟'𝕥 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕒 𝕡𝕦𝕤𝕤𝕪!' One of the snakes huffed.

'𝕐𝕖𝕒𝕙! 𝕃𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕣!' Another blew a raspberry.

'𝕀𝕕𝕚𝕠𝕥!' The third frowned.

N’s venting got heavier. His fingers twitched even more, his head wings slowly unfurling. He took a step towards the traveling group, already so far in the distance.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕤𝕞𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕖𝕣, 𝕔𝕒𝕟'𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦?' N’s shadow smirked. '𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕞𝕖𝕝𝕝.'

 '𝔹𝕖𝕥 𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒 𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕣 𝕖𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣- 𝕆𝕌𝔾ℍ!!' One of the snakes said, just before getting stepped on from being in N’s way.

 '𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒 𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕, 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥?' N’s shadow ignored the choking shadow serpent.

“I… I don’t…” N vented back. “I don’t wanna lose her. I never want to lose her.” A grin gradually spread across his face plates.

A row of big and bright blush lines blinked onto his visor, one at a time. One of N’s hands clutched onto his shirt, his fist curling up tight over his racing core.

'𝕊𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕒𝕗𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦! 𝕊𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕪𝕠𝕦! 𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕝𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕘𝕠?!' N’s shadow yelled. '𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕦𝕡 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕤𝕠 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘?!'

N’s hip wings suddenly spread out, snow blowing into the air from the force. His vents grew hot, becoming fog in the air. His viper pupils narrowed in on the purple-haired worker. Even from so far away, he could see her turn and glimpse at him.

Her one look made him lose all inhibition.

'𝕌𝕫𝕚 𝕚𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕,' N’s shadow said. '𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕒𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤.'

N crouched and flapped his wings, bolting after her.

Khan had said the lab place he scouted was safe, and that there was plenty of supplies and materials to collect there. It would make for a good place to hide out for a few days, maybe a week if they were lucky.

Uzi couldn’t wait to head to this lab, wanting to be able to take naps and laze around again. Her feet felt like they were wearing down inside her shoes from how much walking they’ve been doing.

‘And having fought N took so much out of me.’ She thought. ‘It’s too bad, though. He could’ve been useful as hell if dad actually listened to me.’ Uzi then huffed, slouching her shoulders.

“Dad, when we get to this place, can I just go to bed?” Uzi asked her father, rubbing her tired optics.

“Of course. I’ll make sure to keep watch.” He nodded, giving her a gentle smile.

“By the way, what’s this place like? I know it’s a laboratory, but is it like, all white with super bright lights and stuff?” His daughter asked.

“No, it’s not.” Khan chuckled. “It’s a lot more like an office building, actually. Though, there’s still plenty of room to conduct experiments.” He said.

“Sounds interesting.” Uzi replied before yawning.

“Are you sure you don’t want to hop into one of the cars and get some sleep now?” Her dad inquired.

“No. I’ll just have to wake up to move again anyway.” Uzi shook her head.

“I’ll let you sleep in the car if you want to.” Khan said.

“I told you, it’s fine! I’ll just wait until we’re inside!” Uzi grumbled with furrowing brows.

“Alright, alright!” Khan chuckled again. “Just don’t try and stay up too late tonight. You’re hurt and spent far too much energy fighting that Apex Drone.” Her dad advised.

“You don’t need to tell me twice…” Uzi sighed.

“Just saying.” Khan smiled.

Their conversation died out quickly after, the colony moving closer to the famed laboratory. Unbeknownst to them however, they had an uninvited guest tailing them.

Chapter Text

The laboratory was quiet. All of the lights were shut off, the power running out long ago. The hallways stood dark and eerie. The only sound inside the office portion of it was the tapping of feet against stained carpet.

Some cubicles were turned into pseudo-rooms. A few Worker Drones sat in the old chairs, sleeping the night away. Some others huddled under the desks to keep hidden in case a predator came by.

Most everyone was in Sleep Mode right now. The trucks had to stay outside, a few guards keeping watch over them. It left fewer workers to defend the rest of the colony. But of the few guards left, they were easy to slither right past with the dark of the room.

'𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠𝕠 𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕪 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕤!' A shadow snake laughed.

'𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕒 𝕞𝕚𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪'𝕧𝕖 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘!' Another chortled.

'𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕒 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕚𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕚𝕥? ℕ𝕠𝕨 ℕ 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕒 𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕕-𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕!' N’s shadow grinned.

“Hush.” N’s quiet voice came. “I’ve found her.” An eager grin formed on his face plates.

His demons quieted down as N approached the sleeping Worker Drone. Uzi lied on the floor, not even a blanket giving her warmth. All she had was the seat back of a broken chair under her head.

N kneeled down beside her, leaning in close to Uzi’s face. He took in her features, the loose royal purple strands of synthetic hair, the soft hum of her vents, the notification on her visor, the subtle weathering of her face plates.

The grin on N’s face grew wider. Some blush lines blinked onto his visor, a hand carefully brushing away some hair from her face. Uzi made a tiny stir. N froze, waiting. When she didn’t awake and settled back down, N vented out a shuddery sigh.

“For someone trying to pass as a boy, she sleeps so adorably~” N commented, his head wings jittering.

Uzi then made a shiver, some brows furrowing over her notification. N looked around for a blanket or something to cover her with. Unfortunately, the place was barren.

'ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕠𝕟𝕖?' His shadow suggested.

N stood up and snuck about, searching for a blanket, a coat, any sort of sheet for the girl. He scoured the cubicles and drones, but came up with squat. The only place that did have blankets was the break room.

‘But there’s manufacturing drones here…’ N thought, his neon turquoise brows furrowing.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 '𝕖𝕞-' A snake said.

“Then Uzi’s colony will never trust me!” N whispered back.

He huffed and turned back around, sneaking his way back to the purple-haired Worker Drone. N kneeled back down by her side, staring at her cold and sleeping form.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕦𝕡 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙.' N’s shadow said.

N didn’t reply, just narrowed his gaze on his friend. His optics soon trailed to his wings, spotting the black and turquoise feathers. The appendage flexed slowly. A grin then broke back out on the drone’s face.

“How could I forget?” N chuckled.

Crawling onto the other side of Uzi, N took off his sword and all his pouches. He then laid himself down against her back. He pulled the worker close, freezing when she stirred again. N waited patiently for her to relax again. As soon as she did, he used a hip wing to cover her and warm her up.

N’s tongue flicked out in a quiet hiss. He took in the scent of the female Worker Drone and buried his face in her tresses. The shadowy demons around them laughed at the ‘girly’ and ‘cutesy’ sight, but N didn’t care.

“Don’t worry, Uzi. I’ll make sure to keep you nice and warm~” N cooed into her audial softly.

The reptilian Apex Drone’s tail then slithered up. It curled around the worker’s legs, running up her torso. N wrapped the dark limb securely around her, keeping her extra warm.

N couldn’t help the minute squeeze to her frame, though. The constrictor part of him enjoyed the further furrow of her brows at it. And upon squeezing her again, N noticed the curves of her frame.

“Using padding are you?” N asked playfully, even though he didn’t expect an answer. “Makes sense. You’re not trying to be found out after all.” He then hissed out a giggle.

N soon went quiet, settling back down and rubbing his face in Uzi’s locks. Holding her firmly and making sure no amount of cold could hit her, N prepared his systems for Sleep Mode.

He was with his friend, his best friend. Even if Uzi’s colony didn’t like him, he was still going to stick around. And even if they try to shoo him away, what are they gonna do?

They’re far too weak to kill him.

It was almost too hot here. Uzi’s bodily temperature was staying at a consistent but moderately high percent. Not overheating, but not normal temperatures either. And there was an emptiness in her tanks, too.

Uzi tried to shimmy around, to try and pull this thick blanket off her and cool down. Yet there was something wound around her whole frame. It was thick and warm, but its texture was weird. Smooth but “segmented” in a way. As if scaled.

A small noise escaped Uzi’s voice box. Her brows furrowed deeper, the Sleep Mode notification disappearing from her display. As she wiggled around, the blanket over her brushed against her hands.

‘It’s weirdly soft.’ Uzi thought through her sleep-hazed CPU.

Getting fed up with this weird constriction, Uzi opened her optics. She managed to free her hands to rub her visor. As her HUD came back into focus, she turned her gaze to the lump beside her.

Uzi shrieked and yanked herself away. She crawled across the floor on her ass, quickly bumping into the wall not too far away. Her vents picked up like her core pounding in her chest.

“W-W-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!” Uzi hollered, her eye lights hollowed.

N slowly sat onto his hands and shins. He made a tiny noise as he woke up, a hand rubbing at his visor. His white coat fell down to his elbows, showing off the black tank top he wore. His fluffy locks had become messier from his sleep.

The Apex Drone soon turned his gaze to the Worker Drone. A grin spread across N’s face plates, his hip wings resting lazily on the floor.

“Good morning, Uzi~!” He greeted, his voice soft and friendly. “Did you sleep well last night? I made sure to keep you alllll warm~” He giggled, N’s tail waving in front of himself.

“YOU DIDN’T ANSWER MY QUESTION!” Uzi pointed out angrily. “AND AGAIN; WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE?! I told you to screw off last night!” She repeated.

N’s happy smile fell into something more disappointed. His head wings drooped at the less-than-friendly good morning his friend gave to him.

But just as N opened his mouth to reply, other members of the colony had come rushing by. Their weapons became instantly trained on N, who calmly turned to stare at them.

“Uzi! Are you alright!” Khan asked, his silver glare never leaving N.

“I-I’m fine, just freaked the hell out.” She replied, her hands patting her frame for any pain.

“Good. Now you.” Khan directed to the Apex Drone. “I told you already that you aren’t welcome here. If you leave now and return to whatever den you crawled out of, we’ll show some mercy and only leave you with a few arrows to the wings.” He threatened, his finger hovering over his mini-cheiroballista’s trigger.

N’s smile returned in full at the threat.

“I would love to listen to you, but there’s a small problem with that.” The Apex said.

“And what would that be?” Khan asked, almost snarled.

N’s grin widened. Khan thought he looked a little smug, only irritating him more.

“I’m not sure just how you heard about this place, whether it be from someone else or a map, but however you did, you certainly aren’t completely knowledgeable on it.” N started with a snarky wave of his tail.

“Just get to the point!” Khan yelled, about two seconds from shooting him.

“You know how Apex Drones have territories they reside in?” N asked back, ignoring the command.

Khan’s brow twitched. The men behind him glanced warily at each other, asking a silent question.

“I do.” Khan finally nodded.

“Well, you told me to return to my home, but I’m already there!” N told him.

Things went silent. Uzi was the first to put it together, her eye rings going bold. Khan was next, his own optics going void.

“So you’re telling me…” He trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence.

N could smell his hesitance and fear, his tongue flicking out in a taunting hiss. His smile widened as his turquoise optical lights narrowed on the aging robot.

“That’s right.” N nodded. “This place, this whole lab,” A giggle that N couldn’t resist.

“It’s all my territory.”

It made sense, now that Khan thought about it.

The distinct lack of Apex Drones aside from N himself, the peaceful trip through the woods after “befriending” him, the scratches and gouges in the walls and trees, the fact that N was hiding in the woods-!

Khan lowered his weapon and loosened his stance. His colony members behind him stared confused at him.

“Lower your weapons.” Khan ordered quietly.

There was some resistance. Ron was the first to move, coiling his flying claws and placing them back on his hip. The rest of the Worker Drones did the same, putting their weapons away.

Khan’s hard gaze never left N. The said robot was standing up and stretching, his wings flaring up high. After tugging the creaks from his tail, N let it thump back to the floor and fixed his clothes. He put all of his pouches back on his frame and went towards Uzi.

“Don’t touch-!” Khan went to yell.

“Unless you want to be strangled to death, I suggest you pipe down.” N threatened with a cool demeanor.

Uzi tried pressing herself further against the wall. N just picked her up like a cat and placed her on her feet.

“Don’t worry, Uzi! We’re friends! I’m not gonna hurt you!” N told her with a friendly grin, his tail wagging.

The female worker only stared warily back at him, her brows slightly furrowed.

“You’re not gonna hurt my colony, are you?” She asked him.

“Nope!” N returned jovially. “But I can’t promise I won’t punish them if they start ruining my territory or doing things I don’t like while inside my territory.” He added truthfully.

Uzi let out a near-silent sigh. She turned to the other Worker Drones, still staring at them.

“You guys heard him, right? Don’t go doing anything stupid and you’ll live.” She said loudly.

Most of the men startled, quickly nodding their heads. Uzi only let out a more stressed sigh.

“Guess I’m sticking around, huh?” N said cheerily, his hands held behind his back to try and control himself.

“Just until we have to start moving again.” Khan scoffed.

“Oh, don’t worry!” N reassured, even though it was more dreadful to Khan. “I don’t mind giving up my territory if it means I get to hang out with my best friend!!” He said, pulling Uzi close.

“WE ARE NOT BEST FRIENDS!” She hollered, trying to shove him away.

“Aww, don’t be like that! Of course we are!” N cooed, fighting against her fighting.

“When the hell did we ever establish that?!” Uzi questioned angrily, an anger tick blinking onto the corner of her display.

“When I came back home and saw you sleeping and cold!” N answered. “Normal friends don’t share body heat! But best friends do!” His tail wagged, his wings fluttering.

“BITE ME! YOU DID THAT WHILE I WAS ALREADY ASLEEP!!” Uzi shouted.

N gasped in shock, a hand flying to his mouth.

"If I did that, you'd die!" He exclaimed.

“Enough!” Khan hollered, forcing the two apart. “You’re not giving up any ounce of territory for something as simple as that! Nor will I let my daughter be friends with an Apex Drone.” Khan seethed.

“You are so disapproving, Mr. Uzi!” N pouted.

“It’s Mr. Doorman, not Uzi.” Khan returned, his angry expression falling flatter.

“Well, whatever your name is, your dumb rules won’t hinder me and Uzi’s best friendship! We’re already so close, we can’t possibly be split up now!” The Apex laughed.

“Stop making it sound like we’re a couple, dammit!” Uzi yelled in peeve. “You know what? Whatever. I’m going to get my share of oil. It’s too damn hot in here with all this testosterone.” She huffed and walked off, crossing her arms.

The others made way for her, watching the disguised girl stomp off. After a few quiet seconds, some of the others followed after her to get their own shares. Soon the room emptied out with only N, Khan, and Ron left behind.

“Just so you know,” N spoke, catching the two male Worker Drones’ attention. “I’m only playing nice with the rest of you because I don’t want to ruin my best friendship with Uzi.” He notified.

Khan and Ron had a sweat drop blink onto their visors.

“But if you agitate me and tick me off enough, then my strangling tail won’t have a problem squeezing you dry of your oil.” He smiled, his sharp and thin fangs peeking from his lip.

N left the conversation there, walking off after his best friend. He made sure to emphasize his dark tail, letting it wave visor-level with the Worker Drones.

Khan and Ron turned to watch N leave. He disappeared around the corner, calling jovially after Uzi.

“...What do we do?” Ron asked softly, a sweat drop scrolling down.

“...” Khan was quiet, his optical lights rings. “We tread carefully.” He decided.

Chapter Text

The lab’s office floor was quiet as the small colony drank their oil rations. Many of the weathered, aging men stared intently and distrustingly at their host. Their weapons stayed at their sides at all times, hands near to them in case.

Despite the aura they were giving off, N was more preoccupied with his new “best friend.” He sat right next to her in a cubicle, trying to engage in some friendly conversation. But his friend didn’t seem too talkative today, barely ever giving even a grunt in reply.

“You know, I haven’t had guests in so long! I’m so happy that you all are here!” N exclaimed jovially, his head wings fluttering. “And I’m especially happy that I found a new friend too of course!” He added with a bright smile on his face.

Uzi didn’t reply, just glared flatly at the cubicle wall, cracked and chipping. She sighed after taking another sip of her meager portions.

‘It isn’t even remotely filling…’ She noted.

“You look so unhappy! What’s the long face for, Uzi?” N asked, leaning over to peer at her worriedly.

“Nothing of your concern, that’s what.” The disguised worker snipped back. “I’m going to look around the place.” She then said as she stood.

“I’ll come-!”

“Alone.”

N stared at her as she stomped off deeper into the laboratory. He slowly sat back down, continuing to gaze at the Worker Drone’s back until she turned a corner.

'𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕧𝕖𝕝𝕠𝕦𝕤, 𝕕𝕚𝕕𝕟'𝕥 𝕚𝕥?' N’s shadow laughed mockingly.

N made a pouting growl, giving the shade a glare of his own.

“She just doesn’t know me yet is all! I’m sure she’ll come around soon enough!” N argued.

'𝕊𝕦𝕣𝕖, 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖. 𝕊𝕙𝕖'𝕝𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕒 𝕡𝕠𝕠𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕡𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕪 𝕓𝕖𝕘𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟.' His shadow waved his hand in circles.

“Hah. I am no dog.” N scoffed and stood up again.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕟'𝕥.' His shadow shrugged.

'𝔹𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕒 𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕜, 𝕙𝕒!' A shadowy snake mocked.

N stomped on its head, crushing it against the ground as it yelped. Grinding his heeled foot against it made the creature produce more strangled, pained sounds.

'𝕊𝕠 𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖...' N’s shadow sighed with crossed arms.

“Only because you guys deserve it.” N snarled back, his tail whipping around.

'𝔸𝕤 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞, 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥?' His shadow questioned with a jeering grin.

N stopped grinding his foot against the snaky shadow. His head tilted up, as if he heard a soft noise. His long, serpentine tail made another, slower wave.

“Don’t act like you weren’t the ones telling me to protect myself.” N said quietly and with a hiss.

'𝕀 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕨𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕕𝕟'𝕥.' N’s shadow spoke. '𝕀'𝕞 𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕗 𝕚𝕥'𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟. 𝔸𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕦𝕤?' He then asked.

“I’m starting to think that yes, I am.” N replied coldly.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕨𝕖'𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕠-' His shade went to say.

“Enough of this talk.” But N shut him- It, down quickly.

That thing isn’t a part of him, and it isn’t worthy of being called anything other than a creature or a beast or even a monster.

“I’m going to make sure Uzi doesn’t get lost. You guys keep to yourselves for once.” N told his shadow demons.

He walked off towards where the aforementioned worker stomped away. N’s shadow and the singular snake demon stared after him. As N rounded the corner, they disappeared as though they were never there.

Uzi managed to find some quiet solace in a large lobby. She picked up one of the chairs and sat down, propping her soles against the edge of a coffee table with missing legs on one side. The room’s only light consisted of one of the new lamps her father got from that mysterious trader.

Things were nice and peaceful for a little while. Uzi drank the rest of her rations, still so poor and mediocre, unfilling and leaving her wanting more. Uzi had to question if Ron actually gives her enough.

‘It always feels like I get less than everyone else.’ Uzi thought, staring at her can. ‘Maybe it’s because I’m small? I don’t produce as much heat, so I don’t need as much oil, or something like that.’ She huffed outwardly.

Uzi’s train of thought was stopped when she heard the lobby door open. Or- The rest of it, anyway. The bottom half was missing.

Thad came into the room and propped up a chair for himself. He crossed his legs on it and sipped at his rations. Uzi watched him for a few minutes from the corner of her optics. She noticed he looked a little nervous, adjusting his hood and wringing his hands.

“I hear you’ve got a new friend!” Thad finally spoke, trying hard to keep the wary shake from his voice box. “Is he nice? I heard he was keeping you warm last night.” He added as he sat next to the woman.

“He’s something alright.” Uzi sighed back, tilting her head towards the ceiling. “Weird and crazy are the first words I’d use to describe him.” She said.

“I can’t really blame you.” Thad chuckled back. “It looks like he has good intentions though! Trying to keep you warm last night and letting us stay in his territory!”

“You’re far too optimistic.” Uzi commented.

“We can’t be sad and scared and tired all the time, can we?” Thad smiled back.

“I’m pretty sure that’s all I’ve ever been, since the day I was born.” Uzi huffed.

“Don’t say that!” Thad nudged her side. “I’m positive there have been plenty of times you were happy when you were a kid!”

“Yeah, yeah, sure there were.” Uzi waved off in return, a small smile on her face plates.

Things went quiet again as their dialogue died off. Uzi turned her lavender purple optics to probably the happiest, most optimistic drone around. A nice vent of fresh air, she admits.

‘And maybe a little too happy for his own good.’ Uzi thought, a few blush lines blinking onto her visor.

Some faint thumping sounded from the walls. The two young adults leapt to their feet, sweat drops blinking onto their visors. Thad pulled out a dagger from his pocket and gave it to Uzi. He then took his bat from his back.

The thudding got louder and louder, slowly yet surely. As it neared the room the two were in, the duo’s trepidation rose. Uzi and Thad’s eye rings flicked around at all the entrances before sticking to the large vent above.

Before they knew it, there was an even louder bang. The vent’s grate came flying off, crashing against the ground and ricocheting. Uzi and Thad yelped and ducked just in time.

The two turned up just in time to see something fall to the ground. The lifted dust and gritty pebbles were blown away with a flap of wings. The two Worker Drones coughed and fanned the clouds from their visors.

Neon turquoise lights shone through the darkness of the room. Soon enough, a pair of optical lights peered at the robots. Tapping steps signaled the being was coming closer.

“So this is where you ran off to, Uzi!” N’s familiar and chipper voice called. “It’s not a good idea to go running around too far in my territory, you know! You could get lost!” He warned gently.

“Ugh! I said I wanted to be alone!” Uzi rolled her optics, her defensive stance falling.

“If that was the case, then this-...” N’s voice trailed off, his neon eye lights turning to Thad.

There was a long stretch of silence as N gazed intently at the boy. Thad could feel that N was analyzing him. But for what, he doesn’t know.

“You wouldn’t have someone else in the room with you, now would you?” N continued on, turning his attention back to Uzi.

Her expression fell and her shoulders sagged.

“It isn’t like I asked him to come along.” Uzi told him, quickly crossing her arms.

“But he’s still here!” N countered jovially, his tail tip wagging.

Uzi made another groan and rolled her whole head this time.

“Just-! Whatever!” She then exclaimed. “Was there something you wanted? Why’d you follow me?” She asked.

“No reason! Unless you count not wanting you to get lost being a reason!” N returned, rocking on his heels.

“Well, you found me. Are you happy?” Uzi huffed, her brows furrowing.

“I am!” N smiled.

“Then go on! I didn’t ask you to come looking for me anyway!” She shooed with a hand.

“Aw, but Uzi! I just found you!” N whined.

“We probably shouldn’t be too far from the colony.” Thad chimed in, rubbing his neck anxiously. “Don’t want your dad getting worried, right?” He tried to grin optimistically.

Uzi sighed again, a little more annoyed this time.

“I guess you’re right.” She conceded.

“Great!” Thad cheered. “And uh, it’s nice to finally meet your friend here! The name’s Thad! I’m a friend of Uzi’s myself.” He then offered his hand to the Apex Drone, missing how Uzi’s visor went a little flush at the last statement.

“I-I’m going to go back! I’ll see you both over where everyone else is!” Uzi suddenly spoke, speed-walking out of the room.

The two boys stared at her before turning back to each other. N stared at Thad’s hand blankly. The prolonged silence made sweat drops start scrolling down Thad’s visor in growing worry. He felt as though he was being sized up again, like he was being searched for any and every physical weakness N could find.

Eventually, N took Thad’s hand. They made slow shakes, N’s gaze turning up to meet the young man’s.

“It is a… Pleasure, to meet you, Thad.” N spoke slowly, carefully.

“Y-You too…” Thad nodded in return.

Their hands kept shaking, N keeping the shake going. Thad made nervous glances down at his limb. It felt like N’s grip was getting tighter…

“I, uhm, I-I think you’re squeezing my hand too much, haha.” Thad chuckled nervously.

N didn’t reply. He just stared at him intensely.

The tense seconds ticked by without a sound. And N only released his grip when Thad’s hand began to twitch. Thad made a pained yelp at it.

“Oh. My apologies.” N suddenly spoke, glancing down to their limbs and taking his hand away. “Apex Drones have strong grips, so I’m not used to shaking a Worker Drone’s hand.” He smiled.

“I-It’s okay…” Thad muttered back, holding his dented palm to his chest.

“I’ll have to be more careful next time! It’d do me good to watch my strength more!” The Apex then laughed lightheartedly. “For now though, have a wonderful stay at my humble abode.” He grinned.

Thad didn’t miss the glint of the Apex Drone’s fangs in his own bodily lights.

N turned for the door to go after Uzi. As his tail slithered out of the entryway, Thad turned back to his hand. The dent wasn’t too bad, nothing a good hammering couldn’t fix. But it still hurt.

Gently rubbing his injured limb, Thad picked up the lamp and started heading back to the others himself. He’ll need to find someone to help him with his dents. And also get his dagger back from Uzi.

‘I think I’ll let her keep it for now though. Her crossbow is broken and she’ll need something to defend herself with.’ The athletic boy thought. ‘I hope she’ll be alright, though. That Apex Drone guy unnerves me…’ Another sweat drop crawled down his display.

Rich just finished having a chat with some of the other guys, sorting out who was going on watch first and if it was even needed. They all unanimously agreed they should have someone looking out while they slept.

‘Who knows what that Apex Drone could do.’ The aging robot sighed internally. ‘Though I admit, he hasn’t done much. Maybe get close to Zizi and talk to himself way too much, but nothing necessarily criminal.’

It was an odd thought. An Apex Drone not immediately trying to kill a Worker Drone, nevermind one’s whole colony. And also instead trying to help that said worker.

“It almost seems like a ploy or something…” Rich muttered to himself. “Just means I’ll have to keep a good watch. That Apex could have anything up his scaly sleeve.” He then huffed in annoyance.

As he looked around for anything to possibly loot or use as scrap material, he heard a door open. Uzi came speed-walking into the room, N tailing right behind her. Right after those two was Thad, staring at an injured hand.

Rich’s brow raised at the latter, but figured he’d know what to do by himself. He turned to the Doorman kid.

‘Still dressed like a boy, as always.’ Rich internally sighed once more. ‘She’s been doing that practically her whole life, hasn’t she? Almost makes me wonder if she’s even seen a skirt at all.’ He thought as he leaned against a desk.

Continuing to stare at the young woman, she’d taken to doing some minor work. Taking apart her sliced crossbow while the Apex Drone chatted her audial into disrepair. Rich felt a little bad for her, being stuck with a primal beast like that.

But more importantly was the fact Uzi seemed to forget something. She got onto her knees to reach for it. The Apex used his long and surprisingly dexterous tail to tease her “like a friend,” the older drone could barely overhear.

But his focus was more on Uzi’s backside. Her winter pants hugged her bottom like a pair of jeans would.

‘She’d look nice in those. And jeans wouldn’t even give her away!’ Rich wanted to laugh. ‘Though, now I’m curious.’ His gaze narrowed.

‘If Khan dresses his daughter like a boy, does that mean he also makes her wear boxers?’ A hand came up to his chin in thought. ‘But if she doesn’t, that means she’s probably wearing something more feminine underneath those.’ His optics narrowed on the younger woman.

Uzi had sat back down, trying her best to ignore her new “friend.” Rich still doesn’t believe it for a second, mostly due to how Uzi reacts around the Apex. But he’s at least grateful they aren’t all being slaughtered.

‘I’ll have to keep an optic on him in case. There’s no telling when he might turn on us.’ Rich thought with a slight glare being sent N’s way.

And for a moment, he swore the Apex Drone felt it. N snapped his head in Rich’s direction. Luckily, he’d turned away just in time, making it seem like he was wandering elsewhere.

N kept staring at the older drone until he was fully out of sight. There was a moment where he kept staring but quickly turned right back around to focus on his new best friend. Her work was interesting to watch!

Chapter Text

Things were still tense with the Apex Drone around. No one enjoyed the fact that they had accidentally become his guests. Khan for sure thought this place was completely abandoned.

But since they were here, some of the younger guys decided to make the most of it. They played hide-and-seek, Marco-Polo, some football when the room provided them with space, and even found enjoyment in playing some hopscotch after finding some markers.

Uzi had basically nothing better to do herself, eventually joining the guys once she was done taking apart her crossbow for good. She’ll miss the thing, but at least the charm Thad got her was still intact.

Braiden’s foot landed on the last square. He hopped off in triumph at his good aim. The next to go was Prad, carefully tossing the rock. Unfortunately, his arm wasn’t as good as his friend’s.

“I think you need to practice your throws.” Uzi snickered as Prad walked past her.

“Shut it, Doorman…” He grumbled back.

He then gave her the rock being used as their marker. Uzi stood in front of the grid, aiming her underhand toss. After a few weak and fake swings to measure her strength, she threw the rock. It landed on the eight.

Uzi hopped her way over, switching feet each time. As soon as she made it to the eighth square, she turned around and hopped right back.

While the younger adults of the colony played their kid’s game, N watched from afar. His tail waved in curiosity, his face held in his hands as he sat on a table. Part of him wanted to join in on their game. He was curious…

'𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟'𝕥 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕒𝕤𝕜.' His shadow chimed in. '𝕀'𝕞 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪'𝕕 𝕝𝕖𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒 𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟!'

“But they’re already like, midway through their game. I think…” N replied, keeping his turquoise gaze on the workers.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪'𝕕 𝕝𝕖𝕥 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕛𝕠𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪'𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕗𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕙𝕖'𝕕 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 '𝕖𝕞!' A shadow snake cackled.

N’s expression fell into a glare, staring pointedly at the thing.

'𝔸𝕨, 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕠𝕟! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕥'𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕖!' Another demon said, slithering up N’s leg. '𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕒𝕕𝕧𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕖! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕠 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕕 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖! 𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕥!'The creature continued with an evil and cheery grin.

“I’m not gonna manipulate and coerce them into doing anything.” N huffed.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕟𝕠 𝕗𝕦𝕟!' The first shadow snake groaned and tilted its head back. '𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕤! 𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪'𝕣𝕖 𝕡𝕦𝕥𝕥𝕪 𝕚𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤, 𝕙𝕒𝕙𝕒𝕙𝕒!!' It laughed maniacally.

“I am not gonna make them my ‘slaves.’” N ground out, an anger tick on his visor.

'ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕨𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕥 𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖, 𝕙𝕞?' N’s shadow spoke up again, coming around to hold N’s shoulders. '𝔽𝕠𝕣 𝕟𝕠𝕨, 𝕝𝕖𝕥'𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕪 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕠 𝕛𝕠𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕗𝕦𝕟 𝕘𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕤!' He- It smiled.

N gave the small group a pensive stare. His head wings twitched and made a small flap, the urge to join them growing stronger and stronger. He eventually made the decision to hop off the table and approach them. The workers noticed his light skip their way, pausing their game.

“Hi you guys!! Mind if I join?!” N asked cheerily, his tail waving happily and his wings fluttering.

There was an uneasy silence that followed. The Worker Drones all looked to each other, confused, wary, and tense. Each one of them had sweat drops on their visors.

“Do-o you know how to play…?” Prad asked hesitantly.

“Nope!” N smiled back.

More silence, more unease.

“Then I-I guess you won’t be able to play!” Chad spoke up. “It’s a real complicated game, you see, so it isn’t easy to teach!” He lied with a shrug.

“B-Besides! We’re getting a little tired and are gonna take a break after this match!” Braiden added with a nervous chuckle.

“I thought we were- Mph!” Thad tried to speak up, only for Prad to slap his hand to his mouth.

“O-Oh. I see…” N nodded in return, his tail falling back to the floor. “Then I suppose I should leave you all to it! There’s always things I can do on my own anyway…!” Despite the smile on his face plates, N looked pretty damn dejected.

The said Apex Drone turned on his heels and started walking off. One of his hip wings furled around to his front, N combing his claws through the soft synthetic feathers. The ones on his head drooped, Uzi noticed.

She then let out a sigh, her hands on her hips. Closing her optics to think, Uzi’s foot tapped on the ground. Her digital brows furrowed deeper and deeper, her teeth beginning to grit.

“Wait up, N!” She called almost begrudgingly, quickly following after him.

He turned around to wait for her. Uzi caught up quick, staring right into his viper-pupil optics.

‘I can’t believe I’m doing this…’ She thought.

“I can play a game or two with you. And I’ll teach you everything you need to know.” She offered, a hand rubbing at her neck.

“Really?” N asked back, his head wings perking back up.

“Yeah, really.” Uzi nodded. “You guys can take a break if you want! I’ll hang out with my-... My friend here.” She then directed at her peers, sighing in defeat at the end.

She promised to be his friend-well, more like was forced into it-and she should keep that promise. For more than just surviving in his territory, but also because she hates seeing how stupidly sad he can get.

‘It’s almost sick how much of a kicked puppy he can look.’ Uzi thought for a moment.

“Then I’ll join you two!” Thad said as he jogged over. “I’m not tired yet, and I’m still up for a few more games! Plus! It’ll be more fun with more drones!” He added.

“That’s uhm- That’s fine.” Uzi muttered through her forming blush lines and averting gaze.

N was quiet for the most part. He wasn’t opposed to the idea, per se, but he thinks he would’ve enjoyed it better if it was just him and Uzi.

“You guys tell all the old guys we’re gonna hang out with N!” Thad called to his friends.

“U-Uh- Will do.” Chad nodded, still a bit stunned by the whole thing.

The other boys then walked off. Once they rounded the corner, the two Worker Drones turned back to the Apex Drone.

“What do you guys wanna play? We can keep doing hopscotch!” Thad said with a pointing thumb.

“Nah, I’m getting bored of that.” Uzi shook her head.

“Then is there anything you want to play, N?” The athletic boy asked.

N startled back to reality. He took a moment to think. He ended up shrugging.

“I’ve never… Really played any ‘games’ before…” He admitted, fiddling with his tail.

“Then we can easily teach you some!” Thad smiled. “We can play hide-and-seek, tag, freeze tag, Marco-Polo-” He then began to list on his fingers.

“What’s tag?” N questioned, his wings making a curious flap.

“It’s a game where one drone is ‘It,’ and they run around chasing other kids around! Whoever gets tagged is the next ‘It’ drone, and the cycle continues!” The other boy said. “There are different variations, like freeze tag, and normal tag but it’s a ‘last drone standing’ type of deal-” He went on.

‘He knows a lot about tag.’ N thought.

“Let’s just play normal tag for now. Keep it simple so N can get used to it.” Uzi interjected before Thad could get too caught up in his rambling.

“That’s fine by me!” Her friend exclaimed chipperly. “But who’s gonna be It?” He then inquired.

“Uhm, I guess I can try being It first?” Uzi shrugged.

“All the It robot does is tag others, right?” N inquired, his gaze to his waving tail. “I could try it. It sounds fun.” His visor lit up in a few blush lines, growing eager.

“You sure? It’s your first time playing.” Uzi asked back.

“Mhm.” N nodded.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine! He understands the rules!” Thad patted Uzi’s back in reassurance. “But let’s get this game started! N! You’re It!” Thad laughed, patting his back.

He didn’t even get to take three steps before he fell right on his face.

“You’re It.” N proclaimed, his hand still on Thad’s back.

Uzi stared with hollowed optics, having flinched back at the sudden movement the Apex Drone made. She reset her voice box and tried to play her startlement cool.

“I don’t think Tag is gonna work if N is this fast.” She noted.

“Agreed.” Thad said from the floor.

“Sorry. I can go easy?” N suggested with a guilty grin.

“Nah, it’s fine. We can try hide-and-seek instead. That’s more slow-paced and stuff.” Uzi waved off with a shake of her head. “It’s similar to Tag with an ‘It’ drone, but everyone else has to hide and not be caught.” She then explained.

“What happens when you’re caught?” N inquired.

“Then those drones also become It. They just help the first It drone search for everyone else, basically.” She explained with a shrug.

“I’m down for that!” Thad exclaimed as he hopped to his feet. “But this time, me and Uzi get a whole minute to hide! Since you’re so fast.” Thad told N.

He perked up and nodded fervently.

“Great! Then close your optics and start counting!” Thad grinned. “And no peeking!” He added whilst running off.

Uzi huffed but smiled, also running off.

N closed his optics and held his hands over his visor for extra measure. The room became silent as he set a one-minute timer. While watching it slowly tick down, N could feel his core begin to pick up in pulsating pace.

His frame even began to tremble a little in growing excitement. It was almost overwhelming. N doesn’t think he’s ever felt so excited before! Not to mention how happy he is that he has friends to play these fun games with!

It makes him pant, makes his visor go flush. N’s tail whips around and his four wings tremble with glee. He’s getting restless, he can feel it.

And the timer reaching single digits only makes N all the more eager. And once it hits zero, he pulls his hands away from his visor. He stares out into the quiet and dark room. The lamp was left here, giving it some small light.

N knows this place is big, but he also knows Uzi and Thad don’t know it like he does. They’re at a clear disadvantage. N almost feels bad for them because of it. Maybe he should go easy on them? He doesn’t want to ruin this game, yet he can’t help but want to chase them down.

“But who… Who should I go after first…?” N asked himself.

The decision was made quick. He should go after Uzi of course! She’s his friend, and the one who offered to play this game with him!

“Right… She did…” N muttered. “She-e did…!” His pants grew heavier.

His tail made a hard smack against the ground. N’s hands clutched at his chest. His core was racing and his oil pump was pounding. He can’t tell what this feeling is anymore. Excitement? Giddiness? Elation? Fervour?

Whatever it was, it only grew the more he thought about playing this game with Uzi. This game and more. But N doesn’t know what this means.

“I-I need to-! To play-!” N huffed out, taking a step forward.

A giggle leaves N’s voice box. His neon turquoise optics turn up, his viper pupils paper-thin. His smile stretches wide across his face, too wide. His wings slowly unfurl and spread wide. They jitter in fervour, itching to take off.

“Uzi… Uzi…!” N can’t help but say quietly, like a mantra.

His visor goes even flusher. He can’t stop thinking about her. He wants to make this game as enjoyable as possible for them. He wants to tag her and play with her.

N crouches down low to the ground. His clawed fingertips place gently upon the old, stained carpet. His fangs glint with the lamplight. His pants are heavy enough that drool begins seeping from the corner of his mouth.

His tail feels like a coiled spring despite waving around wildly. Or perhaps that’s his frame and not his tail? N can’t tell. But either way, he needs to move.

His claws dig into the carpet as N lifts his heels off the ground. His toe joints slide across the semi-slippery surface. N lets out another giggle, louder this time. A large cross, more vertical than horizontal, flickers and replaces his optical lights.

Finally, N launches from the ground.

Chapter Text

The laboratory was quiet as Uzi trotted through the halls. The entire time she’s been playing this game, there’s been a sweat drop on her visor. The lab feels too quiet, she thinks.

Uzi has no idea where Thad is, but surely he couldn’t have been caught already? Of course, she has no idea how much time has passed since N’s countdown. Probably not too long, but not too short either.

Holding back her huff in favor of turning down another hall’s corner, Uzi finds it full of rooms. She peers inside them, trying to see what was hidden within the dark. She couldn’t really make anything out…

‘Whatever. Might as well find someplace to hide out in here.’ The Worker Drone thought, stepping inside the room.

Somehow, the place becomes eerier. The dark becomes darker and the quiet becomes quieter. Uzi’s optics flick about every which way in a growing sense of fear.

‘It feels like something may jump out at me at any moment.’ Uzi can’t help but think.

She bumps into a table, gut-punching herself on accident. She rubs her waistband and takes a couple deep vents to regain the lost air. Carefully, Uzi crouches down and crawls under it.

The room stays quiet for a long while more. The only light comes from Uzi’s own frame, and even then the lavender purple glow doesn’t light up much of anything. Uzi hates not being able to see at all, but if she used a flashlight now she’d just give herself away.

And quite honestly, she does not feel like losing so easily and stupidly. Uzi wants to see this damn game through for as long as possible. Even if it means hiding in a random, dark room for hours on end.

Unfortunately, that also comes with the eternal boredom of sitting here for hours on end.

Uzi slouches over and hugs her knees, her expression falling into mild peeve. She should’ve just told Thad and N to stick with tag, and for N to go easy on them. Uzi forgot how boring hide-and-seek can be…

An echo of a giggle reached Uzi’s audials all of a sudden. She startled and perked up, only to bump her head on the table.

‘I’m starting to really hate this damn thing.’ She thought for a second.

Peeking from the side of it, Uzi scanned the broken and open doorway for the Seeker. A sweat drop scrolled down her visor when she saw nothing for a good few seconds.

But Uzi didn’t let her guard down. She knew she heard a giggle and she knew N was searching for her. The urge to change her hiding spot admittedly grew.

‘But it might not be the best idea if N is in the hallway.’ Uzi rationalized. ‘At the same time, I’m also a sitting duck in this room.’ Her gaze averted for a moment.

Faint thumping sounded out somewhere in or near the room. It was hard to tell. Uzi only knew that she was startled again. Her head whipped around for the source before she paused.

Uzi looked up to the ceiling of the room. She could barely make out a big vent grate above. The decision to leave the room was made for her.

Staying low to the ground as she sped through the halls, Uzi turned into a larger room. She wasn’t sure if that was good or bad, but she wasn’t sticking around long anyway. She just needs to get to someplace in this building that doesn’t have vents!

Uzi pulled up her hood to hide her optics’ glow. She wished she had some gloves or something on her to hide the lights on her hands, too. She’ll just have to keep the sleeves of her arms down more.

Without really looking, Uzi opened a random door to jog across the room. She hopped over a few tables and heard another joyful laugh. It was still faint, making Uzi wonder if N was going easy on her and Thad.

Whatever the reason, she spotted a file cabinet. Uzi ran over and quietly took out the drawers. She flinched when one of them from higher up thumped to the ground. Uzi made the hasty decision to run out of the room, down a hall, and kick some large metal thing or another even louder.

Her sprint back to the filing cabinet was record time. Uzi pushed it over towards the wall, made the drawer end face the wall away from the doors and shoved herself inside the cramped space.

Uzi could feel her core race and her oil pump pound in her chest. More sweat drops had blinked onto her visor and her vents picked up in pace. Uzi slapped her hands to her mouth to try and stifle them.

‘God-damn he’s gotten me so worked up with this stupid game!’ The worker thought.

A bright blue glow entered the room. Uzi could see it on the wall, faint but there. It moved slowly across the room, traveling to the other doorway. Uzi’s vents had stopped altogether at seeing the familiar turquoise glow.

The said glow took far too long to disappear for her tastes. And even when it went away, Uzi stayed put for about a minute longer. She waited and listened close. She couldn’t hear N’s footsteps. Maybe muffled by the carpet? Unknown, but she should get moving.

Uzi carefully and quietly crawled out from the filing cabinet. She hurried back the way she came. N should be distracted long enough for her to get away.

Taking a slightly different route than before had Uzi going through different doors. She went through many dark rooms, tripped over a few things, and clambered back up. The final door she went through made her pause to take a breather.

Uzi swallowed down gulps of air, walking through the larger room. She treaded carefully around toppled furniture. Her legs had grown tired by now. She just needs one minute to recuperate and she can be back on her feet.

It was hard to hold back the exhausted sigh in her vents as Uzi sat down by a broken couch. Resting the back of her head on the slanted furniture, Uzi kept listening for anything or anyone chasing her.

‘I still have no idea how Thad’s fairing in this damn game…’ She thought. ‘I haven’t seen or heard him at all, so he’s probably still hiding.’

Letting her vents calm back down, Uzi stood up and opened her optics. She let out a startled gasp and her eye lights turned to rings at seeing the large cross just above her.

Uzi was too slow to avoid the Apex Drone’s dive at her. As N tackled into Uzi, she let out a yelp. They hit the ground with a thump and the room went quiet again. Uzi let out a pained groan after having hit her head on the floor.

She rubbed the back of her head before spotting the larger robot above her. Uzi’s eye lights turned to rings again, staring up at N. He grinned down back at her, straddling her lap as his tail waved and his wings fluttered. Uzi noticed how he was letting out light pants.

“I found you, Uzi~!” N sing-songed giddily, another giggle leaving his voice box.

“You-u sure did…” Uzi grinned back nervously.

“This game is really fun~! I’m glad I got to play it with you!” N’s smile grew wider.

“Uh- Yeah, sure thing…!” Uzi chuckled back, a sweat drop rolling down the side of her display. “Uhm, could you get up now?” She asked as she glanced at their laps.

N made another happy giggle, his pupils thinning even more. N placed his hands besides Uzi’s head, leaning down close to her. His tongue danced near her face plates, the worker leaning her head away.

“Did you have fun, too?” N asked quietly.

“Of-f course I did! Why wouldn’t I?” Uzi smiled at him.

“That’s good to hear!” N grinned. “I had so much fun this game that I’m getting a little warm, eheheh! You’ve gotten me really worked up here!” He laughed some more.

N shifted on Uzi’s lap, making her visor go flush. The Apex Drone leaned back up and tilted his head towards the ceiling. His panting grew a little heavier. N’s tongue flicked out again. Uzi wondered what he was smelling for.

“It’s too hot in here…” N whined.

He just as quickly shrugged off his coat and let it fall to the floor. Uzi’s eye rings went bold and she tried to crawl out from under him. N tittered above her and panted still. His turquoise gaze fell upon her exposed neck, somewhat hidden by her parka’s fluff.

N leaned back down, taking her wrists into his hands. Uzi connected their gazes again at being pinned. She tried swallowing the lump in her throat, almost choking on it.

“Wha-t are you doing…?” She whispered.

“Can I feed from you? Please?” N asked.

“What?” Uzi questioned in shock.

“It’s hot. My temperature is too high. I need oil.” N told her, his grip growing stronger. “I need your oil. I had told you that, remember?”

Uzi blinked up at him. She remembers when he said that. N wasn’t really doing a good job of making himself seem friendly and trustworthy to her colony.

“I don’t need much, but I won’t survive without it.” N went on, feeling saliva pool in his mouth. “And I really don’t want to hurt any of you because I started to overheat.” He tried to swallow his saliva down.

“Please… Just a little…” N begged further, leaning in towards her neck with his fangs extended.

Uzi’s head was tilted up. She closed her optics when she felt N’s fangs tap at her plating. She used her free hand to angle his head down to her shoulder, the welded one.

‘It isn’t like I can’t re-weld it.’ Uzi thought

“Don’t take too much.” She told the Apex Drone.

He laughed, breathy and quiet. His tail wound around her waist to keep her still. His hip wing arches planted onto the ground to steady himself. N then used his head wings to block the view of his mouth from anyone that may pass by.

“Tell me when you get dizzy.” He murmured back.

With that, N sunk his fangs into Uzi’s robotic flesh. She flinched and grit her teeth, squeezing her optics shut. Her free hand slid around until she could find purchase on one of N’s wings.

N tilted his fangs and siphoned oil from the Worker Drone’s oil tube. Uzi stayed stiff and tense, waiting out this feeding. It hurt every time a drop of oil was sucked past her plating. Her grip on N’s wing arch tightened over the course of a few minutes.

The Apex Drone focused on getting his fill. He kept careful track of how much he was taking. Accounting for her small size, their previous fight, and her recent breakfast, N knew he shouldn’t take too much.

So N only took a few mouthfuls of her oil. He relinquished his fangs from her neck, fixing the punctures with his tongue. Uzi shivered at the thin and forked thing licking her plating. But N was quick to lift his head and lick his lips free of any stray oil.

“Thank you, Uzi~” N vented as his head wings fluttered.

“Mm- Don’t fr-rickin’ mention it…” She huffed back. “Seriously. Don’t tell anyone about this.” She added with a pointed look.

“Of course!” N smiled. “But how are you feeling? Dizzy? Grainy vision? Weak?” He cocked his head.

“‘M fine, I guess?” Uzi shrugged back. “A little tired and warm, but not about to die.”

“I guess our game will have to end here. It won’t be any fun if you aren’t able to play with all you’ve got!” N laughed.

‘Yeah, I wonder why.’ Uzi thought bitterly.

“Cool. Can you get off me now?” She instead asked.

“Maybe~” N replied teasingly, shifting his hips around more.

Uzi made another surprised noise, her visor going flush again. Her legs squirmed under N’s frame and her hands slapped to his knees.

“Dam-mit, get the hell off!” Uzi shouted as she pushed at the other drone’s legs.

“Okay, okay! I was just teasing.” N relented, crawling off the young woman.

Uzi huffed and scooted back onto her butt. Her legs snapped together and she gave a mean glare to the Apex Drone. He was a little surprised at the look, but at least had the decency to look guilty.

“Sorry. I didn’t know you’d get so upset.” N apologized, his tail wrapped around his legs.

Uzi continued to glare at him. She then let out a sigh and stood up.

“It’s fine. You just need to learn some boundaries.” She told him. “Let’s go back though, and find Thad. I doubt you caught him if he wasn’t with you this whole time.” Uzi spoke as she began walking through a doorway.

“I can lead you back to the others and track him down. It isn’t hard to find you guys.” N grinned cheekily.

‘So he was going easy on us.’ Uzi figured.

“I must admit though, you had certainly gotten me all riled up with this game.” N then spoke, catching Uzi’s attention again.

“Oh? How so?” She asked with a quirking brow.

“Well, it’s my first time playing with friends, so I uhm… Ahah, I may have gotten a little excited.” The Apex admitted with a nervous laugh. “I just couldn’t stop thinking about playing with you. Not even Thad, just you.”

Uzi’s brow quirked even more. A sweat drop blinked back onto her visor as she noticed N’s tail starting to wave around.

“I wanted to have so much fun and make this game as enjoyable as possible, it was hard to control myself.” N giggled, his four wings twitching as his visor went a little flush. “But I managed to reel myself in enough to make the game last longer. Just for you!” He told the worker.

“That’s uh- Cool. I guess. Thanks” Was all she could think to reply with.

“Of course! It wouldn’t be fun if the game only lasted a minute!” N laughed.

‘Well, he’s got a point there.’ Uzi couldn’t help but think.

“Oh, I recognize this place. I can get back to the others from here.” Uzi then spoke up, scanning the dark room.

“Alright! I’ll grab that lamp you and your friends left behind and search for Thad!” N nodded. “I’ll see you in a few minutes!” He called as he jogged away.

“Cya.” Uzi weakly waved back.

As she watched the other drone trot off, Uzi’s visor went flush again. There was an odd feeling all over her frame. It felt as though she was warm, but not in the “I’m low on oil way.” It was hard to describe.

But Uzi huffed and shook her head. She headed down another hall to get back to the others. Maybe she really is just low on oil. N did drink some of hers after all.

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.

Chapter Text

Peace and quiet. Something N doesn’t get very often. It really only happens when he’s in Sleep Mode, when the voices have died down into patient slumber. It’s perhaps N’s favorite time.

But recently, he’s started enjoying being awake. Because then, he gets to hang out with his new best friend! And he’d much rather spend time with her than sleep his days away.

However…

There’s a change in the air. N can feel it, something is going to happen. The Worker Drones are all giving him wary, hard stares. They’re planning something.

N couldn’t tell you what it was, however. But he knows he should figure it out soon. Perhaps they’re plotting to try and kill him again…

His black and turquoise head wings twitched as he walked through the office. His long tail waved and slithered side-to-side with each of his steps. The whole room felt uneasy around him.

Making it to the back, N found his best friend all curled up on her jacket. He’s never seen her without her coat before. It actually startled N at first, seeing the slight curve of her chest plates.

Though, it was hard to make it out with the odd thickness of her shirt. It was densest on her waistband, hiding that curve.

N kneeled down, staring intently at Uzi. That big, bold sleep notification shone brightly on her visor. N’s head wings twitched in curiosity. He couldn’t help but roll her onto her back to gaze at her torso better.

His fingers trailed feather-light down to her waistband. With just a soft touch, N could feel the padding sitting inside the cloth of her shirt-

“I advise you get your hands off her, Apex.” Khan’s voice made him pause.

There was a tense moment of silence. N could feel his cheiroballista against the back of his head. A grin spread across N’s face plates, his fangs gleaming in the soft lamplight.

“I wasn’t going to do anything, Mr. Leader.” N said, raising his hands where Khan could see them.

“Like I’d believe that.” Khan spat back, a hard glare on his features.

“Have you seen me do anything before?” The Apex Drone questioned back, slowly getting to his feet.

“I’ve seen you trying to strangle her in her sleep.” He retorted.

“I wasn’t strangling her!” N defended as he turned around, still smiling. “That’s just how us Pythian-type Apexes sleep together! I was merely keeping her warm by cuddling her!” He explained, his scaled tail waving innocently.

Khan’s glare only hardened even more. N sighed and let his arms fall.

“You’re clearly not going to listen to me, so why are you bothering to hear me out?” He inquired with a shrug.

Khan clicked his tongue and lowered his weapon. An anger tick blinked onto the corner of his visor as he pointed towards the other cubicles.

“Just get the hell away from her.” He growled.

N’s head wings twitched as a pout formed on his face plates. He “Hmph!”-ed and crossed his arms before walking away. While passing the older Worker Drone, N “accidentally” smacked his waving tail into his leg.

Khan yelped and caught himself on a desk. He whipped around to glare at the taller robot who tried to hide his taunting laughter behind a fist.

“O-Oops! Sorry! I didn’t see you there.” N smirked with a tongue-flicking hiss.

With that, he turned back around and walked away. Khan only glared at him for a couple more minutes. Once the Apex Drone was gone, he turned his attention back to his daughter.

“Uzi… How many times do I have to tell you not to go undressing yourself out in the open?” He sighed to himself, sitting beside her with a grunt. “Even if it’s just your coat, it’s still too dangerous.”

He stared at his daughter for about a minute longer. Uzi made a tiny noise and rolled towards him. Khan felt a small smile tug at his lips, tenderly patting his daughter’s head.

“Was that Apex Drone giving you trouble, Khan?” Rich asked, stirring Khan from his kid.

“A little.” He sighed back quietly. “Luckily I stopped him before he could do anything.”

“That’s good.” Rich nodded back. “By the way, I got this for you. Figured it might be nice to get some rest yourself.” He said, handing over a blanket.

“Thanks. Robo-God knows I need it right now.” Khan chuckled and took the cover.

He flipped it open and laid it over his daughter. Uzi snuggled into the soft but worn fabric, still sleeping peacefully.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Didn’t Uzi say she was hot earlier?” Rich questioned with a quirked brow and a hand on his hip.

“I don’t want her going around without her jacket on. It’s just a precaution.” Khan told him, tugging the blanket over Uzi’s shoulder.

“The only drones here are the colony members. And with so many of us around, I highly doubt that Apex Drone will do anything.” The other man pointed out, leaning against a desk.

“I don’t care. I’m not letting my daughter expose herself.” Khan shook his head. “Now, was there any other reason you came by?” He then questioned, turning his narrowed optics up to Rich.

“To check on you, mostly.” He shrugged back. “Heard Rebecca also finally had her kid. They doing alright?” Rich went on.

“Right, you were watching the trucks by the front doors, weren’t you?” Khan muttered to himself with another sigh. “Yes, Rebecca finally finished manufacturing. She had the child just the other day. Barely anybody got any sleep.” He replied.

“Oof. Sorry to hear that.” Rich grimaced lightly.

“It’s fine. It isn’t like we’re not at least somewhat used to it.” His leader shrugged.

“How are the other ladies? They any closer?” The other man questioned, glancing at the breakroom door.

“Most likely. But I don’t know when they’ll finish.” Khan told him. “For now, we’ll just have to watch out and make sure we’re prepared.”

“Should we set aside some resources for them then?” Rich inquired.

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea…” Khan trailed off with a thoughtful nod.

Things then went quiet. Most of the colony was in Sleep Mode, trying to get as much rest in as possible before they had to go back out. A few changed shifts with the group taking care of the cars by the front entrance.

“Do you have any idea where we’re going next?” Rich asked, breaking the silence.

“No.” Khan shook his head truthfully. “We’ll need to ask around and figure something out. For the time being however, we’ll be looking for oil.” He added.

“Should we head to some mines then? They might have something since they used to house Worker Drones before the collapse.” His colonymate suggested.

“It isn’t a bad idea, but I can’t lie and say I do have high hopes for those places.” His leader answered.

“Then I’m all out of ideas.” Rich shrugged back.

Khan huffed tiredly, watching some of his friends who were watching the cars get settled in to rest. Khan felt like he was about to pass out himself, so tired and unable to sleep with everything that’s happened recently.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re getting jealous of all the sleeping drones here.” Rich chuckled.

“Is it that obvious?” Khan asked back with a guilty grin.

“Would you be angry if I said yes?” The other man teased back with crossed arms.

“At this point? Not really.” Khan shook his head in amusement.

“Why don’t you get some rest then? You need it just as much as the rest of us.” Rich told him, leaning off the table.

“I can’t. That Apex Drone is still around.” His leader denied, adjusting his seat against the wall.

Rich’s expression became more pensive. He quickly thought of some sort of idea when he perked back up not long after.

“Well, that Apex Drone won’t do anything to your daughter if someone’s watching her, right?” He said with a pointing hand. “So why don’t I watch over her while you get some sleep? You could possibly even give yourself a charge at one of the outlets~!” He sing-songed at the end, pointing his thumb towards one.

Khan stared at him with exhausted optics. He could feel the curving lines of fatigue sprouting from the inner corners.

Even so, he didn’t quite trust Rich on his own. He didn’t want him pulling any sort of funny business with his daughter, especially if she hasn’t been feeling well lately.

“I’ll ask Ron to help you keep watch. Better two than one, right?” Khan said as he stood up.

“Whatever you say, Mr. Doorman!” Rich smiled back.

Khan only tiredly nodded back. He left the two for a split second, going over to Ron not too far away. There was a mumbled, quiet conversation before a unanimous nod and Ron’s approach.

“I’m surprised you aren’t tired yet, Rich.” Ron said in greeting to the orange-haired man.

“Watching the cars isn’t too hard. They’re all old anyway. They don’t do much.” He shrugged back in return.

“Must be nice.” Ron chuckled and sat in a chair.

“It’s mostly boring, to be honest. We just end up playing cards a whole bunch.” The other man said. “But how are you doing? The rations still low?” He asked in turn.

“I’m still trucking, that’s for sure.” Ron smiled tiredly. “As for our rations, I can’t deny and say we couldn’t be better…” He trailed off and averted his gaze.

“Well, I believe we’re leaving this place soon, so we should be able to find something outside.” Rich pointed out.

“I hope so.” Ron sighed back.

Their conversation then died out. Things were quiet as drones slept. Even Rebecca’s new baby had calmed down some time ago, allowing this peaceful hour.

Every now and then, Rich’s gaze would flick to Uzi. She slept soundly and peacefully. Her parka was being used as a pillow and there was a blanket covering her form. It was as comfy as one could get out here.

But Rich still wondered something…

“Hey, I hear Uzi’s been a little sick lately. Do you know anything about it?” Rich asked his colonymate with a glance.

“Uhm, all I know is that she’s been overheating a little. It isn’t too bad, but I’m considering upping her portions.” His colonymate replied with a thoughtful but tired look.

“Is that so…” Rich trailed off quietly, looking to the purple-haired young woman again.

Once more their conversation died. And this time, it wasn’t picked back up.

A few hours passed, if Rich had to guess. During that time, he must’ve dozed off, same as Ron. Because when he next awoke, Uzi had rolled over and Ron had leaned forward over the back of the chair in Sleep Mode.

Rich sighed and stretched out his wires and joints. A few of the latter clicked while some gears softly groaned. Rich could feel his age in that one stretch alone.

Ignoring that, he took a look around. Everyone was still in Sleep Mode. Maybe he wasn’t out for too long? Probably not if he seems to be the only one up.

‘I don’t even see the Apex Drone anywhere.’ He thought. ‘Whatever. Just means he won’t be a pain in the ass right now.’ Rich then puffed in agitation.

Swiping the thought away, Rich turned his gaze back to Khan’s daughter. She had rolled onto her back and shifted enough for her blanket to cover just up to her thighs. A little bit of it covered up to one hip, but she was mostly exposed.

Her padded shirt even lifted up a little. Not by much, but some of her waistband could be seen. Rich couldn’t bring himself to look away. Especially not when he knows no one is looking.

Rich shuffled closer. He sat down next to the girl. Uzi’s hair was a mess, her hair tie having fallen out. Her purple locks splayed out on her blue coat. One of Rich’s hands drew closer to her.

A finger brushed carefully at her shirt. His hand trailed down to the blanket covering her legs. Rich carefully lifted it, staring at the boyish snow pants she wore. They were slightly falling down her hips. Rich could see the upper half of her pelvic plating, making his optics narrow on the white metal.

Rich lowered the blanket. He took a good look around, finding nobody awake yet. Not even Ron had stirred. The orange-haired man’s optics turned back to the sleeping woman.

‘I still don’t get why Khan doesn’t just hook her up with someone. She’d help the colony far more than she is now by growing it!’ He thought with furrowing brows.

As he thought this, his hand trailed back up to Uzi’s shirt. He shifted his fingers just under the bunched, padded hem. Slowly, he began pushing it up-

“Are you trying to help her?” A male’s voice suddenly spoke.

Rich yelped and whipped around, reeling his hands back to himself. He didn’t even hear the Apex Drone! When the hell did he get behind him!? How?!

“Wh-What the hell are you doing here?!” Rich asked quietly.

“I was checking up on my friend, of course!” N smiled back as his tail wagged.

He was crouched down onto his toe joints, holding his chin in his hands. His smile seemed innocent. All four of his wings were perked up but relaxed. Rich couldn’t get a good read on the guy.

“Is t-that so?” Rich decided to comment back, a nervous grin on his face plates. “Well, she’s fine, so you don’t need to worry.” He waved him off.

“Really?” N asked with a cocking head. “Because it looks to me that you weren’t really making sure of that!” He giggled.

Rich felt a sweat drop scroll down the side of his visor.

“If you were, you’d know how to fix her clothes properly!” N then said, hopping closer like a bird on the ground.

He quickly pulled Uzi’s shirt down, pulled her pants up, fixed up her hair a little, moved her arms into a more comfortable position, and pulled her blanket back over her.

“See? That wasn’t so hard!” N told the Worker Drone.

“Uh- R-Right…” Rich nodded, staring in shock at the other drone.

‘I’m not sure if he’s stupid or good at being two-faced…’ He thought warily.

“I think you should get more sleep. You guys need it after that pillbaby was let off the production line!” The Apex Drone then advised with a cheerful grin.

Rich only stared back at him with hollowed eye lights. He felt uneasy by how chipper this Apex was being…

“I’m-m alright-” He went to dismiss with a wave of his hand.

“Really. I insist.” N hissed, his tongue flicking out.

Rich stared at him silently again. N’s gaze had taken a sudden turn. Rich couldn’t quite read it, but he could still tell that it was intent and calculating. He opted to nod this time and got up.

N watched him leave with the glowing headband on his head. Once Rich was far enough away, N turned his full attention back down to his best friend.

He gently stroked her cheek with the back of a finger. A smile spread across his lips, his serpentine fangs poking out. But he, too, went to stand and do a few more chores of his own.

N wouldn’t get to when his hand was gently grabbed. He turned back down to the female Worker Drone, still in Sleep Mode but loosely grabbing his wrist. N smiled gingerly and sat down. He took his wrist from Uzi’s hand, instead lying his tail next to her.

Uzi took hold of it and cuddled into the scaled limb. N giggled quietly and produced a book from his coat. He opened up where he left off, letting his friend sleep much tighter by holding his tail. N couldn’t help but wind the end of it around her waist amiably, some neon turquoise blush lines blinking onto his display.

Chapter Text

Uzi did not like waking up being cuddled or doing the cuddling to N’s tail. As to why that was happening was a mystery to her. But she still flipped her shit and N got the whole colony’s weapons trained on him.

But like a smug cat that knows he still has his eight other lives left, he just pointed their weapons away and explained that he didn’t want to disturb Uzi’s sleep. While there was some apprehension and distrust of his words still, N swore that he didn’t do any sort of touching whatsoever.

“I can’t say the same for another drone, however.” N spoke, a sly grin forming on his lips as he scraped a claw along his solenoglyphous fang.

Rich felt chills run down his spinal ridge.

“So what? You touched someone else then?” Someone asked, clearly confused.

“No, you dumb little Worker Drone!” N laughed, though the other man looked unamused. “I mean someone else was right on his way to touch Uzi.” He said.

And suddenly, everyone felt that his tone took on a more serious note. It made sweat drops blink onto their visors.

And Uzi couldn’t help but hug herself subconsciously. She shook her head and quickly fixed her coat, making sure it was on securely. There was a feeling of dread latching onto the back of her shoulders, weighing her down.

“Then who was it?” Khan asked, subtly moving closer to his daughter, his grip on his cheiroballista tight.

“I’m sure you know him well-” N went to speak.

But the honking of cars by the front doors startled them all. Rich was glad for the interruption and distraction.

“Looks like they’re getting restless.” Khan noted to himself with a sigh. “Everyone! Pack up! We’re heading out again!” He finally called.

The colony members all gave N one last untrusting glance before departing. The Apex Drone watched them all leave, a bit of surprise on his face plates.

“Where are you all going?” He asked as he began to follow them.

“To find more resources. We can’t stay here forever.” Khan replied curtly.

‘And I’d rather not be around you anymore than we already have, either.’ He added in his thoughts.

“But there are plenty of resources here! There’s shelter, entertainment, plenty of space! I’m sure you could also salvage some of the machinery here!” N countered, his four wings jerking in worry.

“But what about oil?” Khan questioned back, stopping and turning. “What about working machines? What about electricity? We don’t have all of that here.”

N wanted to argue. He wanted to try and convince them to stay. Even if they weren’t on the best of terms, they were the only company he had. And maybe he would’ve argued some more if he didn’t spot Uzi walking past them.

“Y-You’re going too!?” N asked.

“Uh, yeah? I am part of this colony.” Uzi shrugged back at him, a brow quirked.

“But… I thought friends stick together? Why are you leaving then?” N questioned, his tail waving.

“I can’t just not go with my colony.” Uzi answered. “I still have some family, too. And I also need oil, just like the rest of them.”

“We all thank you for letting us stay here for a few days,” Khan spoke up again, catching N’s attention. “But we can’t stay here forever. So thank you, but goodbye.” He finalized.

The two Worker Drones finally got a move on again. The honking cars had stopped and the women were being guided to them. The crates were carried away and the office was left empty once more.

'𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪! 𝕎𝕖 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟!' A shadowy demon snake huffed. '𝕀 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕤𝕦𝕘𝕘𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕒𝕝𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕪! 𝕀𝕥 𝕚𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕨𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕠𝕕.'

'𝕀 𝕕𝕦𝕟𝕟𝕠. 𝕀 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕒 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕪. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕗𝕦𝕟𝕟𝕪.' Another snake laughed.

'𝕀'𝕞 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪'𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕗𝕦𝕟𝕟𝕪 𝕚𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕕𝕚𝕖𝕕!' The first retorted.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕧𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕖𝕥.' N’s own shadow noticed.  '𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕓𝕒𝕕𝕝𝕪?' He rested his arm on N’s shoulder.

“...No.” N replied quietly.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕚𝕕𝕟'𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝.'His shadow commented.

“But Uzi is still my friend.” N argued.

'𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕖.' His shadow nodded. '𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕖, 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖?' He then asked, a grin forming on his dark silhouette.

“Because they obviously wouldn’t like it if I went after them.” N pouted, his tail swishing.

'𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖?' His shadow questioned.

“...” N was mute.

His shadow chuckled, his forked tongue dancing outside his lips.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕓𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕤, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥?' His shadow commented.

N’s optics flicked to him to give him an offended glare. His shadow just brushed him off and stepped in front of him, still grinning.

'𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕝𝕖𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕕𝕦𝕞𝕓, 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕜 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕗𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦?' He questioned, his hands behind his back. It was like he wanted to spare them the oil that might be shed. '𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕝𝕪 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕥. 𝕊𝕠 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕓𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕡𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕪, 𝕙𝕞?' His shadow’s tail waved.

'𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕛𝕠𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕒𝕝𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕪.' He spoke. '𝔸𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕝𝕝, 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕠? 𝕂𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦?' His grin grew into a thin smile.

N’s turquoise optical lights flicked back up to where the lobby was. There was a moment of quietude as he thought.

There really isn’t anyone that can stop him.

So why not join them?

The cars were led back into the snow, their metal frames creaking and their engines rumbling loudly. The women packed into one of the trunks, a few men with them to keep guard in case.

Crates and barrels were stored into another trunk, this time of the largest car. They were all tied down and secured, double-checked and tested. All the while the sun began to rise over the horizon once more, so slow and lazily.

“Any idea where we’re going, Sir?” One colony member asked his leader.

“East. There should be some mines we can search for oil in.” Khan answered.

“Are we heading through the city again?” He asked next.

“We’ll have to traverse through this forest, then we’ll be able to find another city. The mines are some ways off, so it’ll take some time.” His leader answered. “For now, let’s focus on getting through this forest. Who knows what lies out there.”

“Yessir!” His colonymate saluted.

As he ran off, Khan went over to check on everyone else. Things were all packed up and the cars were ready to move. Almost everyone had a weapon of some sort, whether it be crossbows, whips, daggers, anything would work.

And as for his daughter, Uzi was talking to the other young adults her age. Khan was glad she was making some friends. Other than the snake, of course-

“MY FRIEND!!! -And her colony.”

“Oh dear Robo-God…” Khan muttered as he pinched his visor.

N landed loudly on the top of one of the trucks. There was a big, wide grin on his face plates. He also had a big bag hanging off his shoulder, filled with who knows what.

“I have decided to join you all on your quest too!” The Apex Drone proclaimed. “I figured that it’d be better for all of you to have an Apex on your side, so here I am!!” He laughed as his wings flared out.

'𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙?' A demon snake commented dryly.

N stomped on his head, shutting him up and refusing to let him damper his mood.

“NO! No! We do not need you to come along!” Khan quickly shut him down, his brows now furrowed in anger.

“Aw, don’t be so grumpy, old drone!” N cooed as he crouched down.

Khan growled at him, clearly not liking the ‘nickname.’

“I’m not joining you just because you need me! I also have a friend here that I don’t want to depart with yet!” N told him. “Hi, Uziiii!!!” He then waved eagerly over to his friend.

She gave him a weak wave back, also pulling up her hood as her visor went flush in embarrassment.

“We do not need your help. Just go back inside the damn lab and stay there.” Khan snarled at the Apex Drone. “Besides, if you come with us, you won’t be able to keep your territory!” He added.

“Oh, I know!” N smiled. “But that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make!” His tail tip wagged.

Khan made another annoyed growl. He wasn’t convincing this guy to leave them alone at all!

“Dad. It wouldn’t be a bad idea.” Uzi spoke up again, finally over her embarrassment.

“Uzi, we are not having this conversation again!” Khan retorted, his patience running thin.

“But if you took a moment to think about it, you’d see how it isn’t a bad idea-!” Uzi argued.

“And if you took a minute to think about it, you’d see how it is a bad idea!” Her father cut her off. “He is dangerous and unstable! In many senses of the word!”

“I’m not that unstable…” N pouted as his wings flapped once.

“You, quiet!” Khan pointed to N. “And you! I’ve told you how many times already? We are not going to let an Apex Drone join our colony, or follow us around, or anything!” He spun back around to his daughter.

“But he could help us! He could keep other Apexes from hunting us! Or help us fight them!” Uzi kept going, taking another step forward. “He could also be a good scout! He’s got wings!”

“Yes, wings to kill us with!” Khan refused to back down. “Uzi, in case you have forgotten, YOUR MOTHER WAS KILLED BY AN APEX DRONE!!”

The shout echoed across the whole area. It made the entire world deafen, the slight gusts and breezes stopping and the shaking of pine leaves halting. Some swore that even the sun’s rays had stopped crawling across the snow.

Uzi was left speechless. She stared at her father, eye lights void and hands trembling. Her vents had stopped and her voice had all of a sudden disappeared.

Khan realized his words too little too late. Uzi refused to think that he had ‘the decency’ to look guilty and regretful of his word choice. Not when he couldn’t even look her in the optic anymore.

“Apex Drones are just too dangerous to travel with, Uzi.” And he couldn’t even apologize for bringing up her own mother. “It’s safer for everyone if he stays here, where he’s supposed to be.”

Uzi didn’t say anything. It was silent for a long while.

N might’ve been offended by the insinuation that Khan was giving, basically treating him as if he were a wild animal his daughter mistook for a dog or a cat. But the shout regarding Uzi’s mother had him too shocked to care.

“That’s a real low fucking blow, dad.” Uzi whispered, her gaze falling to the ground and her fists balling up tight.

“I didn’t mean to-” Khan tried to say, stepping towards his daughter.

But Uzi stepped back. She didn’t want to be near him. Not anymore than she has to be. And Khan could see it, so he retracted his step.

There was another long moment of quietude. No one wanted to dare and break the silence. It was too thick, too heavy. This wasn’t even their conversation to begin with.

“We-e should get a move on. We’re losing daylight and we need to get to those mines before anyone else. Hopefully.” But Ron was brave enough to try.

“You’re right.” Khan nodded as he sighed. “Everyone, let’s prepare for departure. Make sure to keep a lookout in the forest. There could be other Apexes waiting just outside this territory.” He said and walked off towards the woods.

N was carefully shooed off the truck. He flapped down onto the snow, watching the colony all start hiking to their next destination. His turquoise gaze fell onto his friend. She refused to look up from the ground. He could see some tears in her optics.

‘What do I do now?’ N wondered, his tail waving in worry. ‘If I try to follow them, they’ll for sure keep fighting me until I do die.’ His gaze squinted, not wanting to experience that.

'𝕌𝕙𝕙𝕙- 𝕂𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕖𝕣-?' A shadow snake suggested.

N swiftly smacked his tail into him, squashing him against the ground.

'𝕄𝕒𝕪𝕓𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖? 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕞𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕖𝕝𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕕𝕠.' Another serpent said.

“Maybe…” N muttered to himself.

“Hey. N?” Uzi suddenly called, startling N from his other conversation. “Do you really, actually want to travel with us?” She asked.

“Of course! I don’t want to say goodbye to my friend so soon!” He nodded and trotted over. “Besides, I think it’d also be nice to see what else is out there, besides trees and snow.” The Apex added with a grin.

Uzi went quiet. Maybe she was thinking?

“I have an idea, but it’s a little risky. Are you up for it?” The disguised young woman asked, finally turning her gaze up to him.

N could see how it was determined, angry, sad, and spiteful all at the same time. Clearly Uzi had something up her sleeve, something her father wouldn’t like. Which would be the exact reason she was asking him this.

Which is the reason why N couldn’t help but to grin back at her, his head wings flapping in growing amusement.

“It seems you’re more of a snake than I am, little worker.” N giggled. “Tell me, what is it that you’ve thought of?”

Chapter Text

It’s been a few hours since the colony’s departure from the laboratory. It’s clear everyone liked being able to sit down and rest, even if there was an oddly friendly Apex Drone around. However, they couldn’t stay there forever.

But while on the move, Khan can’t help but send suspicious glances his daughter’s way. She’s been awfully silent ever since he told her they can’t bring the Apex along. Why she wanted so badly to keep him was an enigma Khan doesn’t think he’ll ever understand.

Aside from that, she’s been putting up virtually no fuss. She’s refused to look at him at all, sure, but she also keeps looking towards one truck in particular. As if trying to spot something.

Khan can only sigh and let it be for now. Even if he did try to interrogate her about it, she wouldn’t give him an answer. Maybe a ‘Bite me!’ but nothing more.

“What’s with the long face?” Ron asked, jogging up to his friend.

“Just-... Nothing.” Khan sighed.

“Aw, come on! You can tell me!” Ron smiled and nudged his side.

Khan rolled his optics at the cheery antics. He doesn’t know how Ron can be so optimistic in times like these.

“I’m just worried that Uzi might be up to something.” He answered. “She’s been quiet ever since we left the lab, and she won’t stop staring at the supply truck.”

“Yeah, she has been looking at it quite a lot lately…” Ron nodded, giving the said girl a glance. “Maybe she’s thirsty? You know we’ve been cutting down on oil a lot lately. It isn’t healthy for a girl as short as she is.” He said, his brows creasing in worry.

Khan’s gaze fell to the ground in thought. It’s not out of the question, but if Uzi was truly thirsty, she’d have no problem asking one of them if she could be spared a cup.

“Who knows what she’s up to…” Khan sighed, more so to himself.

Ron could only chuckle nervously, silently agreeing with the sentiment.

N adjusted his grip on the machines and metal underside of the truck. His wings furled tighter against his hips, his tail having to shimmy and squeeze around some pipe or another to keep it hidden.

He hated having to hide under the undercarriage like this. It was cramped and uncomfortable. For as much as he can squeeze himself into dark spaces to keep cool or ambush some prey, he didn’t like it when his hidey places were moving!

'𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤.' Some shadowy snake commented, his silhouette blurry on the moving snow. 'ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕𝕟'𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕙𝕚𝕕𝕕𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕔𝕜 𝕓𝕖𝕕?!'

N wanted to reply, but he knew it’d just give himself away.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕟 𝔸𝕡𝕖𝕩 𝔻𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕖! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕'𝕧𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕘𝕦𝕪𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕖𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘, 𝕥𝕠𝕠!' Another shadow demon spoke.

N tried to tune them out, instead listening to the running engine or moving tires. These guys weren’t going very fast. He wished they’d pick up the pace a little so he can get out of here sooner…

'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕨𝕠 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖. 𝕀𝕥 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥!' The third shadow demon huffed, turning his head up snootily.

N could feel an anger tick blink onto his visor. His claws dug into the metal of the undercarriage as his grip tightened.

'𝕄𝕒𝕪𝕓𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕗𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪'𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕤𝕝𝕖𝕖𝕡, 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕒 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖.' One of them said next.

Okay, that didn’t sound too bad-

'𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕡𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕜 𝕒 𝕗𝕖𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕠𝕗𝕗 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕒 𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕣𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕠 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞!' Nevermind.

N let out a pissed huff but nothing more. He adjusted his grip on the undercarriage one more time, just wishing his shadow demons would shut the hell up for once.

The city was ever-eerie as always. Tall buildings creaking in the wind and crumbling slowly. Gaping holes in the sides of them and shattered glass lying buried in snow or on the floors of the buildings.

The streets had a few rusting, toppled cars here and there. Anything that could be useful was most likely rusted or far too damaged to salvage. Either that or the parts were already taken by other Worker Drones.

While traversing the city through the setting of the sun, Khan’s colony kept a lookout for any Apex Drones or hostile workers alike. Anything could be lying in wait around here, just waiting to pounce on them.

“Khan, I think we should find somewhere to stop and rest soon. Drones are getting tired.” Ron spoke.

Khan took a look around, finding he was right. His colonymates were slowing down and looking exhausted. They’d been traveling all day with very little rest. They didn’t exactly have time to spare with their low oil supply.

“We’ll keep going for a little longer. Just until there’s no more sunlight left.” Khan said, turning back around.

“But Khan-!” Ron exclaimed.

“I know, we’re all tired, but we have to keep moving.” His leader interrupted. “We don’t have much oil left, so we need to conserve it as much as possible. And if we move as much as we can in one day, we’ll be closer to the mines.” He explained.

Ron gave him an uneasy look, taking another glance around at their colony.

“I guess you have a point.” He eventually sighed. “But can we at least slow down a little? Others are lagging behind.” He inquired.

“Fine. But we keep moving until there’s no more daylight left.” Khan nodded.

Ron gave him a nod in return, going to tell everyone that they’ll keep going, albeit at a slower pace.

Khan glimpsed over at his daughter again. He could see the exhaustion lines forming from her eye lights. She was walking slow, much like many others. Even the energetic boys like Thad and Chad were looking fatigued.

But they really didn’t have any time to lose. It was best if they kept going as long as possible, to get closer to the mines and not waste any oil. Khan disliked it as much as anyone else, but it was a necessary evil.

Shaking his head, Khan stomped harder into the icy snow and silicone. He should focus on the buildings around them. They’ll need a place to stay for the night.

N startled out of his dozing when the truck rolled over some bumps. He looked around, noting how it had gotten dark. The floor changed to hard tile and that concrete glue stuff. N rubbed his visor to wake himself up more.

His head wings twitched at hearing the Worker Drones shuffling about. It seems they were getting ready to fall asleep. Maybe N can finally slither out from under here and stretch his wings a bit.

The truck bounced as some crates were taken from the bed. N huddled further into the undercarriage to prevent himself from getting squashed. His tail wrapped even tighter around some part of the frame.

The truck didn’t quite like that. Its tires shifted and it gave a weak honk. The Worker Drones urged it to calm down.

“What’s gotten into ‘em?” One of them questioned.

“Dunno. Maybe it’s just tired.” Another worker replied. “Let’s just get it to calm down so we can unpack the rest of the supplies.” He added.

N changed his grip and loosened his hold. The truck calmed back down but it kept fidgeting uncomfortably. The workers were still clueless about why but chalked it up to the truck being tired.

One more bounce and the last crate they needed was unloaded. Some oil was being rationed out and others were preparing for Sleep Mode. A few blankets were laid out, one a little too close to N’s hiding spot.

He climbed up towards the hood of the truck, hoping to be out of view of any lying Worker Drones. He disliked how his feathers and scales liked to reflect the light in turquoise colors right now.

N watched the blanket nervously. A sweat drop scrolled down his visor as he watched, his tail gripping tightly and nervously onto the truck’s undercarriage again. It made the truck make a louder honk this time, clearly displeased.

The loud and startling noise made-...

What was her name again? Reba?

Well, whatever her name was, it made her new child start crying. A round of groans sounded out among the colony as the wailing started up.

“Everyone, that’s enough!” Khan’s voice said.

N could hear some disgruntled mutterings and grumblings from a few of the closer Worker Drones. N could feel their pain, perhaps more than they knew. His head wings furled close to his tresses, trying to block out the high-pitched wailing. It was grating on his audials…

“What the hell has gotten into the damn truck?!” Someone asked, trying to keep their voice down despite their anger.

“Hell if I know! Maybe it ran over some glass or a nail.” Another man replied, probably with a shrug.

“It would’ve complained way sooner, don’t you think?” The first guy questioned.

“Ray, I don’t know! Just get it to calm down!” The second man said.

“Fine, fine! Geez…” ‘Ray’ huffed, barely heard over the crying pillbaby.

The fidgeting car was soothed and consoled into going still again. N loosened his tail again, making an internal note to remind himself to not squeeze it anytime soon. Once the truck settled down, N sighed in relief. It wasn’t all that relieved with the baby crying, however.

The blanket beside the truck shifted and N whipped his head over to it. Some Worker Drone sat next to the vehicle. N watched them take a knife from their backpack. He then observed as they made a small incision along the seam of their arm, slicing open an oil tube.

A cup was placed on the floor and the drone hunched over, their arm hovering over the cup. N noticed the purple light the back of the hand held. He perked up at the familiar color-

The cup was slid under the truck, Uzi quickly patching up her arm with some bandages. N stared at the cup, then the bottom half of Uzi. He carefully took the small item with his tail and brought the bottom of it to his mouth. N pierced it with his fangs and sucked the oil out that way.

“You need to be more careful, N!” Uzi’s panicked whisper came from beside him. “Whatever the hell you’re doing under there, stop it!”

“I’m sorry. It’s hard being cramped under a moving space.” N returned, finishing off his oil. “And thank you for the oil, Uzi~! It was very tasty, hehe~!” He grinned cheerily, passing the cup back.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever! Just stop doing whatever it is that’s disturbing the truck!” She scolded again, taking the cup.

Uzi got up and walked away. N watched her boots leave. Once out of sight, a hand lifted to his mouth. His tongue flicked out and danced in the air. A giddy grin spread across his face plates, his visor lighting up.

‘Her oil doesn’t taste any different than any other worker’s oil, but it’s Uzi’s oil, and that makes it taste different enough!’ He thought as his tail tip wagged. ‘I would do anything to have my fangs pierce her neck again~!’ His blush lines got brighter, his hand falling to his cheek.

N made a tiny, bubbly giggle, drowned by the continued wailing of Rebble’s baby. He hid his blushing face in the metal frame of the truck, his four wings all jittering happily.

He’s very thankful everyone’s so distracted with the baby’s crying.

About an hour passed before Rebbie’s new baby calmed down and stopped crying. As soon as it did, everyone immediately went to get some sleep before it woke them all up again.

Uzi set her backpack down to use as a pillow, then rolled herself into a protective burrito in her blanket. If someone was feeling her up in her sleep, then this should help prevent that!

Or tell her someone tried again. Either or.

Lying her head onto her uncomfy ‘pillow,’ Uzi stared at the undercarriage of the truck. N stared back through the thick darkness, his bodily lights and headband glowing ominously in the shade.

Uzi stared at him warily, a sweat drop on her visor. She huffed and decided to roll over so she would be spared the creepy sight. It worked for the most part, but she could still feel N’s gaze on her back.

‘Whatever. Just try and get some rest.’ She told herself, getting cozier in her blanket burrito.

As she did that, N looked around some more. He didn’t hear anything besides the calm vents of the Worker Drones around him. His gaze turned back to Uzi. He couldn’t tell if she was in Sleep Mode already or not.

Even if she wasn’t, he needed to get out from under here. His limbs are starting to ache…

Carefully, the Apex Drone crawled further towards the truck’s hood. He took a good glance around for anyone that might be up still. There were a few guards on watch. Not surprising.

Crawling backwards, N slithered out from the back of the truck. It fidgeted again as its sleep was disturbed by the tickling sensation. N cursed it for being so sensitive. But he was able to get out from under the thing.

And once he was free, he quickly made his way to the nearest exit. He avoided any and all guards and made his way outside. The bright moonlight met his plating, feeling quite refreshing.

N felt a happy grin etch onto his face plates. He climbed up the side of the building and onto the third floor, staring out at the city.

“It’s been quite a long while since I’ve been near human settlements.” He thought aloud. “It’s almost nostalgic.”

His grin widened. N spread his four wings out wide and turned around. A breeze blew past him, ruffling his hair. The moonlight reflected elegantly off his scales and turquoise feathers.

“One day, I wish to know what it’s like to feel, when I’m at the top, and it’s all surreal.” N spoke to himself.

He leaned backwards off the ledge of the gaping hole. Gravity fell to none as he was sent into free fall.

With a flap of his wings, N soared through the night sky.

Chapter Text

Uzi tossed and turned as she feebly tried to get some sleep. Her optics wouldn’t turn off and her CPU kept running at a hundred miles per hour. The cold also kept her wide awake, blowing in through the gaping hole in the wall and penetrating her flimsy blanket.

For the umpteenth time this night, Uzi opened her optics. She took a glance around, most of the colony asleep. A couple of night guards kept watch over them all, looking quite exhausted themselves.

Blowing out a quiet sigh, Uzi decided to get some fresh air. Maybe it would calm her enough to fall into Sleep Mode? Or she might find someplace cozier for her to rest in. At this point, she was willing to try just about anything.

Unraveling her blanket burrito and standing up, Uzi made her way towards the stairs at the back of the room. Her blanket dragged on the floor and collected dust as she walked. Uzi went up to the third floor.

As soon as she opened the door, she was met with minimal moonlight. The third floor and above was desecrated, virtually nothing left behind besides the back wall. Uzi carefully walked upon the floor and to the ledge.

She took a seat and stared out at the two waxing moons hanging giant in the sky. Their crescent shapes were stamped among the stars and navy blue of outer space.

A cold breeze rustled her messy and stained hair and pierced her blanket further. Uzi held it tighter around herself and curled her knees to her chest. Being away from everybody helped to make her a little more tired.

‘Guess my social battery was running out.’ Uzi mused to herself, setting her chin on her knees.

The quietude of the night is as relaxing as it is eerie. With no sound, there was no way to tell if a threat was out there. But maybe the silence is actually a good thing. It’s far better than hearing the pained and terrified screams of her colonymates as they futilely fended off an Apex Drone or stronger colony.

Uzi shook her head and snapped her optics open. She let out a more frustrated sigh. Why couldn’t she get to sleep yet? She was so exhausted just a few hours ago! What happened to all that fatigue?!

The sound of the old door opening made Uzi whip around. She relaxed at seeing that it was just Rich. He looked as surprised as her when he caught sight of the young woman.

“Well, I didn’t know you were awake.” He teased as he walked over.

“Well, I didn’t know that’d offend you.” Uzi returned with a grin.

“It doesn’t, but it would be nicer to see you getting some rest.” Rich replied and sat next to her.

Uzi was far too tired to notice how close he was. She simply kept her gaze to the city reaching far out beyond the horizon. Roads and sidewalks long-covered in a thick blanket of ice and silicone below them.

“Was there any reason in particular you couldn’t sleep again?” Rich decided to ask, keeping his own gaze to the city.

“Hell if I know anymore.” Uzi shrugged tiredly. “I think it’s just some sense of paranoia that keeps me up so much. Can’t get any rest when I can’t stop thinking or can’t stop worrying over something happening while I’m asleep.”

“It’s possible.” Rich shrugged back. “I’m sure your old man has his own sleepless nights, too. I think anyone who worries so much would.”

Uzi only hummed and placed her chin back on her knees. She closed her optics as she felt sleep tugging at her groggy CPU. Her vision was starting to go dim.

“Why did you come up here?” Uzi asked, sluggishly falling into sleep’s clutches.

“Wanted to get away from everyone. Was getting a little claustrophobic down there.” Rich smiled. “I figured I’d also scout from up here and see if any threats were nearby. Doesn’t look like it, thankfully.” He added.

“Thanks for looking out for us.” She said, another breeze passing through the building’s gaping hole.

“Of course! I’m part of this colony, so I gotta help take care of it!” He gave her a light nudge.

Uzi smiled and kept her optics closed. Rich could see her lights growing dimmer by the second. She was just about to fall into Sleep Mode, wasn’t she?

“Maybe you should sleep up here for tonight. It looks like you’re about to pass out anyway.” The older man chuckled.

“Sure…” Uzi mumbled through her blanket.

“I’ll keep watch over you in case then. Go lean over by the wall and get comfy.” Rich told her, helping her stand.

Uzi didn’t much feel like moving but she obeyed. It would be just a slight bit cozier if she could lean against something. At the very least, she wouldn’t risk falling forward off the building’s ledge.

The younger drone slowly and sleepily crawled her way over to the wall, letting her blanket hang off her frame. It got caught on some pebbles and slipped right off her shoulders. Uzi made a whine and fumbled around for it.

Rich moved to help her, but got distracted at the realization Uzi wasn’t wearing her usual thick parka. She was only in her winter pants and padded shirt. The sight had his visor going just a little bit flush.

Uzi finally tugged her blanket free and lied against the wall. There was just enough left on the front of the building to block the crescent moons’ light. She pulled her thin cover over her shoulder and got her head comfy on her arm.

Sleep Mode came easier without so many other drones around. Maybe she was still a bit cold, but she’s been so hot lately anyway. Maybe the chilly breezes will keep her temperature lower.

As Uzi finally got some sleep, Rich did as promised and watched over her. Perhaps too much so, as his optics couldn’t leave her form. They trailed over her figure, outlined by her blanket.

There was a decent curve to her hips, but maybe that’s from lying on a stiff concrete floor? Either way, the blanket was doing Uzi many favors. On top of that, her messy hair was splayed on the floor.

‘It’d look even more attractive on a bed or pillow.’ Rich thought as a sweat drop popped up onto his visor.

His optics left her for just a moment, looking around. The coast was clear on all sides. No one but those two were up here. All by themselves. All on their lonesome. With no distractions to get in their way.

Rich turned back to the sleeping robot. He shuffled his way over and sat next to her. Rich’s hand hovered near her neck and carefully pulled some strands of hair away. He then pulled down her shirt’s collar just a little.

‘That scar looks to be doing well. I’m glad it hasn’t rusted at all.’ He noted.

The older man’s eyes trailed down Uzi’s figure again. Sleeping on her side, her head on her arm, her bangs covering her visor. The blanket’s hem was hooked just under his fingertips. But he let it fall back over Uzi’s shoulder.

He instead let his hand rest gingerly on Uzi’s arm. She didn’t stir at the touch. Rich made a test and tardily slid his palm lower. Uzi still didn’t stir. Was she in deep sleep? Or was she simply that tired?

Whatever the case, Rich continued until his hand met with the side of her hip. He paused just to stare at it. Not too large, not too small. Manufactured in a specific way, one to help the conceptualization process.

Rich swallowed a forming static bubble, his visor going flusher. His fingers twitched on Uzi’s hip. His optics couldn’t turn away from it. Thoughts of the young woman finally getting put to good work entered his CPU.

On her back, naked, flushing and panting. Rocking or bouncing up and down as she stared up at the one towering over her. Maybe her brows would be furrowed in that defiant way.

‘Right. She’s defiant.’ Rich thought with bitterness, his mental image immediately ruined at realizing such a thing would never happen. ‘She won’t do anything of the like with how stubborn and brash she is.’

Uzi would make for a great young lady, but that headstrong and recalcitrant nature of hers gets in the way of it. She’d probably have guys falling at her feet if she weren’t so disobedient.

She’s got beauty, she’s got grace, but she doesn’t have a good sense of authority or order. A little bit here and there isn’t so bad, but Uzi challenges just about everything. She’s not afraid of it either, which really turns Rich off at times.

‘But damn if it wouldn’t feel great taming her.’ Rich couldn’t help but think, retreating his hand. ‘Ha. Imagine. Being able to ‘tame’ someone like her, who’s such a bull.’ He smirked.

Rich turned his gaze back to the city. The moons were starting to fade and the sky was starting to brighten. Have they really been up all night? Rich didn’t realize so much time had passed…

‘I should get some sleep myself. Won’t do me any good to go passing out from exhaustion in the middle of our trek.’ He huffed.

Rich turned back to Uzi. She had rolled onto her front, her head lying on her arm still. Her rump was even more pronounced. Rich swore it didn’t look so big before. Maybe his own lack of sleep was getting to him and he was seeing things…

But his hand was raising of its own accord. He laid it gently onto her butt, feeling the scratchy blanket. Another lump of static formed in his voice box. Rich’s hand hesitantly squeezed at the hidden silicone.

Uzi made a small noise but didn’t stir further. Lavender brows furrowed over her sleep notification as another light squeeze was made. She rolled over away from the unknown force, settling in again.

Rich’s hand reeled back when Uzi rolled over again. He kept his limb to himself and looked to the sky. The sun was going to creep above the horizon soon.

‘I wonder… If Uzi keeps missing out on sleep, would she even think clearly anymore?’ Rich leaned against his palm. ‘She was barely listening earlier tonight because she was so tired. And I hear lack of sleep can make you delirious and weak.’ A sigh left his vents.

Rich’s gaze flicked back to the Worker Drone woman beside him. He turned his optics back to the horizon.

‘I’ll figure it out later.’ He told himself. ‘Should probably focus on just getting through another day. Who knows when something might attack.’

Rich leaned back against the wall and closed his optics. Things were silent and peaceful. Rich could get some sleep with the quietude and shade, as well as the lack of any threats.

And knowing that there were other drones keeping watch downstairs, Rich let himself fall into Sleep Mode. No Apex Drones were around to disturb it.

Oil oozed down into N’s gaping and smiling mouth. His forked tongue was showered in the thick substance spilling from the Worker Drone head. His fangs were painted in the black substance, tinting his saliva.

The other Worker Drone he found tried to crawl away with his hands. He heard the distinct sound of crunching snow leisurely treading behind him. He whipped his head around to stare in horror at the Apex.

N merely grinned back down at him from over his olfactory sensors, licking his stained lips. His four wings waved in mirth as he showed off his solenoglyphous fangs.

The Worker Drone’s HUD suddenly broke out in warning pop-up windows. He tried clicking out of them all, only to get a critical error message. His motor systems failed him entirely, his head thumping to the snow.

His aching leg flared in scorching agony. It hurt most at the two holes in his calf, rusting around the edges. More oil oozed from the punctures, colored mud-brown and being far too coagulated to be normal.

It was hard to spot the Apex behind him when he couldn’t move. His fingers twitched erratically as a warning triangle replaced his eye lights.

“Hmhmhm~! I can smell the fear coursing through you like my venom~” N hissed in amusement.

He crouched down next to the Worker Drone, his grin growing wider. He lifted his head by the hair, licking some of the oil from his cheek. The Worker Drone shivered at the uncomfortable warmth and run of spit.

“You two have made for a fine meal, but I still think my best friend’s oil is better~” He told the random guy.

Of course, he couldn’t give less of a shit. Who would ever be friends with an Apex Drone anyway?!

N dropped the Worker Drone and watched him slowly malfunction to death. The oil in his tubes was only getting thicker and more viscous by the second. His frame ticked and ground from within as his whole body rattled uncontrollably, all while he went numb all over.

The Worker Drone’s last sight would be of a critical failure within his motor and OS. His death came not long after he received those warnings, his frame going stiff and the ticking and grinding sounds stopping.

N’s grin grew wider. He stood up and took the body with him. He tore off an arm and sucked the viscid oil from it. The distinct sweet taste of his glycol venom made his head feathers flutter and his tail wag in delight.

Dropping the limb when he was done, N turned to start heading back. He shouldn’t be gone too long, he could get left behind! Not to mention he could miss seeing Uzi wake up from her slumber!

“Ooohh! I bet she’d look so adorable!!” N giggled like a schoolgirl, kicking his heel into the air. “Don’t worry, Uzi! I’ll be there soon!” He called to her, even though she was far away.

He drank down the last of his dinner, feeling full and satisfied. He even filled a couple of vials with oil in case he ever needed them in an emergency. They wouldn’t fill him like an entire limb could, but it wouldn’t hurt.

Dropping the body, N spread his wings and took off. He rocked in the sky as he swiftly flew back, relishing in the wind rushing past him. When was the last time he had a good fly like this?

Well, whatever! N was out and about and able to fly freely right now! And seeing his friend only made him even more excited! He couldn’t wait to see his best friend again!

Chapter Text

Daybreak made itself known along the horizon. A dark silhouette whizzed by high above. He landed down on the overhanging edge of a crumbling building. His wings furled against his sides as he slithered down to a sleeping Worker Drone.

Brushing his fingers against her cheek, N’s face plates broke out into a smile. He knelt right over her, leaning down as his tail waved mirthfully. His tongue danced about just in front of Uzi’s face plates, taking in her scent.

His neon turquoise optics drifted to her exposed neck. Strange. Doesn’t she usually wear her coat? Maybe she got hot and took it off? Whatever the reason, N wasn’t going to complain.

He leaned down even lower, his forked tongue flicking over her plating. The noticeable warmth it made had him closing his optics. N pressed against her side as he licked up more of her scent.

The winged drone’s tail waved around even more, like a whip being lazily lashed. The small wings on N’s head fluttered as he hissed with his intake of air. His grin grew wider and he pushed his face into Uzi’s tresses.

Purple strands got tied up with his tongue. N didn’t mind, but he made sure to be mindful to pluck them out from his mouth. He couldn’t help the giddy giggle he made as he leaned back in.

“Mhmhmhm! Your smell is so tantalizing, Uzi!” He told the sleeping drone. “I’m glad I came back when I did!” He kicked his toe joints against the ground.

N’s tongue left small trails of saliva in its wake. His vents grew heavier and foggier with each intake of the Worker Drone’s smell. N had no control over his tail as it whipped around fervently.

'𝔸𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕡𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕥, 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕟𝕟𝕒 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕒 𝕝𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕡𝕠𝕡!' A shadowy snake commented.

 '𝕆𝕣 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞!' Another commented.

'ℕ𝕒𝕙, 𝕤𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕥𝕠𝕠 𝕙𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞.' The third spoke up, a thinking tendril to his chin.

'𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟'𝕥 𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕙𝕠𝕥!' N’s own shadow chimed in with a grin and pointing finger. '𝕄𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕡𝕙𝕪𝕤𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪, 𝕠𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖.' He added.

“‘Mostly physically?!’” N asked in offense, whipping his head around. “Are you trying to say she’s ugly?!”

'𝕆𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕥!' N’s shadow waved his hands. '𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟'𝕥 𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕞, 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦?'

N turned his furrowed gaze back down to the worker. He couldn’t disagree with his shadow. She’s always been very warm, and has had to take breaks to drink more oil and cool down. It’s admittedly worrying…

'ℂ𝕒𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕠 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕝𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕪? 𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕙𝕠𝕥.' A shadow snake asked.

N strangled him with his tail, choking the damned thing. But he didn’t exactly disoblige either.

He leaned back down and stuffed his face into the crook of Uzi’s neck. It shouldn’t been worrying how quick he was to change demeanors, unable to control himself and letting his entire tongue glide along the woman’s neck. But he’s never bothered to notice it before, and he’s never bothered to care.

Uzi, on the other hand, cared a lot about the feeling of something comfortably warm but disgustingly slimy running along her neck.

“GAAAAAHHHH!!! WHAT THE HELL!?!” Uzi shouted as she launched N off her with her feet.

He went slamming into the remaining wall by the door. He fell onto the ground with a thump and a ruffling of feathers. The gaggle of shadow demons all busted out laughing at him.

“What were you doing, you creep! EW! Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew!!!” Uzi rubbed vigorously at her neck.

“I-I’m sorry. I got a little entranced by your scent.” N apologized as he stood back up. “But hey! You’re awake now! Wahoo!” He cheered, pumping his fists in the air.

“YEAH, I WONDER WHY!” Uzi shouted in rage.

She then let out an aggravated sigh and let her hands fall. She turned to the horizon, watching the sun slowly greet the other side of the planet. Uzi supposed now was about a good a time as any to wake up.

‘Would’ve been better if it wasn’t by someone licking me in my sleep…’ There was a bitter note to the thought.

“Judging by the fact that you’re not under the truck, I’m going to assume you had gone out last night?” Uzi asked as she stood and gathered her blanket.

“I did!” N skipped back to her. “I was getting hot under there, and since we’re traveling together, I wanted to get something to drink for the travels!” He told her.

“Do you have any for the road?” The Worker Drone questioned.

“A little! It’s just a bunch of vials, however, so not much at all.” N sighed back in disappointment.

“Maybe we can find some jars or canisters while traveling.” Uzi told him. “For now, we should head back to the others. They’ll be waking up right around now.” She started for the door.

N didn’t follow, just stared after her for a moment.

'𝕀 𝕨𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕦𝕡 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕠𝕟 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕨𝕟?' N’s shadow questioned, his arms crossed and head cocked.

 '𝕄𝕒𝕪𝕓𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦~!' A shadow snake poked N’s side with a dark tendril.

“...” But N didn’t react.

'Ugh, he's thinking hard again.' A second snake grumbled. 'ℍ𝕖'𝕤 𝕟𝕠 𝕗𝕦𝕟 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤!'

'𝕄𝕒𝕪𝕓𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕤 ℂℙ𝕌 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕠𝕦𝕥?' The third one snickered.

N’s tongue danced out in a flicking hiss. His optics narrowed in distaste. As Uzi finished fixing her clothes and reached for the door, N quickly grabbed her wrist. She startled and whipped her head towards him. N stared back with a pensive expression.

“Can I help you?” Uzi asked.

N didn’t speak, just leaned in close. Uzi tried to step back but her face was grabbed by N’s other hand. As he leaned in towards her neck, Uzi could feel her visor light up a little. She watched as N’s tongue hovered near her metal.

It then trailed down her side slowly. N kept sniffing for something, but Uzi has no idea what. And the fact N was getting so close to her bottom was making it worse.

“H-Hey, can you stop!?” Uzi asked.

N knelt down, freeing her face and holding her waist instead. Uzi squeaked and her display went even brighter. His tongue came awfully close to her pants, right where her silicone cheek is.

Uzi grew nervous, sweat drops adorning her visor. She began struggling and pushing N away. He sprung back up to stare at her face. A sweat drop scrolled down her visor. She struggled to free her wrist.

“Someone’s scent is on you.” N spoke.

Uzi’s eye lights went void.

“Wha-at?” She asked quietly.

“Were you up here alone last night?” N asked, ignoring her confusion.

“I-... Rich came up after me.” She said truthfully. “We talked for a little while before I could finally fall asleep. He kept me company.”

N’s gaze hardened. He finally let go of her wrist and stepped back. His tail waved in thought and his four wings made minute movements.

“...Don’t be alone with him.” N spoke after a while.

Uzi simply stared, her core racing.

“It wasn’t my intent-” She tried to say.

“I know. Just don’t be alone with him.” N told her.

He opened his mouth to say more, but didn’t know how. He doesn’t know Rich’s scent like he does Uzi’s or even Thad’s. But he does know there was another scent clinging to her and the blanket. It gives him a bad feeling…

As the silence continued, Uzi heard her colonymates start waking up. The trucks were dragged outside to wake up with them.

“I’ll try not to.” She answered the Apex Drone. She reached for the door handle before pausing. “You know, I’m not even sure why you care so damn much.” She admitted, her brows furrowing.

“Because you’re my friend!” N exclaimed, happy once more. “I don’t want something bad happening to you, you know!”

Uzi eyed him up, trying to decipher him. She let out a sigh and gave up, opening the door.

“Whatever you say. Just don’t get caught crawling under one of the trucks.” She told him.

“I won’t!” N returned.

The door closed and N was left alone. His shadow demons rematerialized beside him, staring as well.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 ℝ𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕠𝕟 𝕙𝕖𝕣?' His shadow inquired.

“He’s the most likely suspect if he was the only one here with her.” N returned.

'𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕚𝕕𝕟'𝕥 𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕦𝕡 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕞𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕤?' A snake questioned.

“No. Just Uzi’s and one other drone’s.” N answered, his gaze hardening.

 '𝔻𝕒𝕞𝕟. 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖.' Another snake scoffed.

N sent him a glare. The snake only blew a raspberry back at him. N returned it. The two quickly started a raspberry feud. N’s shadow only sighed in mild annoyance.

'𝕎𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖.' He spoke, his shadowy tail flicking.

Uzi pulled on her coat and zipped it up all the way. She took her ration from Ron and chugged it down, almost desperate to cool her ever-higher-than-average temperature. She then collected her bag and put the blanket away before waiting for everyone else.

As she assisted in handing out some rations, Uzi spotted N swiftly and sneakily making his way under one of the cars. She didn’t let her gaze linger long, turning towards the vehicle housing the manufacturing ladies.

A sweat drop blinked onto her visor as she stared at the cloth flaps acting as a pair of doors. She’s already dreading even opening them, nevermind going inside. Rebecca is in there, with her child, and she doesn’t feel like being picked on so early in the morning…

But Uzi took a deep vent and opened up the flaps, stepping inside. The older, kinder ladies greeted her with soft smiles and warm welcomes. Uzi smiled back and handed them their large cans of oil and bags of mechanical bits.

Uzi swallowed the pooling saliva before it could ooze from the corner of her mouth. As she turned to Rebecca, she was met with the sight of her kid, right up in her face plates.

“Look, Doorman! Isn’t my kid awesome!?” Rebecca asked, a smug grin on her face plates.

“He sure is…” Uzi replied with a twitching smile.

“It’s too bad your dad won’t let you have kids. But I doubt any you’d make could ever top mine!” She boasted with an utmost prideful look on her face plates.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure they wouldn’t.” Uzi sighed back. “Anyway, do you want your rations or not?” She held up the robotic food.

“Of course I do!” Rebecca retorted, swiping it from her hands.

Uzi held back the second sigh and just rolled her optics instead. She turned to leave the car and let the ladies eat.

“You know, even if you could have kids, I doubt anyone would be willing to even try with you.” Rebecca commented, setting up a charging bottle.

“Oh yeah? And why is that?” Why was Uzi humoring her? Because she’s a mom now?

“Because of your sour attitude! Duh!” Rebecca waved, like it was oh-so obvious. “You don’t really let anyone close, and you don’t put in much effort to befriend them, either.” She pointed out.

“I do too make an effort-!” Uzi went to argue.

“Not even.” Rebecca scoffed. “You play games with the guys, sure, but what else?” She questioned, turning her gaze towards her.

“You don’t open up, you don’t eat with them, you don’t get to know them, you don’t let them get to know you, the list goes on, Doorman.” Rebecca went on, basically scrutinizing the woman.

Uzi stared at her in silence. She didn’t know what to say. How could she even respond to that?

“You don’t have to have kids, but if I were you, I’d at least make a friend or two.” Rebecca spoke up, stirring Uzi from her stupor. “I’m happy with Darren and Pierce! But if you wanna be lonely forever, be my guest! It’ll be fun to laugh at you!” She giggled.

Uzi’s expression fell again. She turned around and hopped out of the truck, going over towards the one N scurried under. As she waited for everyone to start heading out, she couldn’t help but reflect on Rebecca’s words.

No, she doesn’t get close to anyone, but there’s a perfectly good reason for it! She doesn’t want to let her guard down around some random guy, only to pay the price for it. Who knows what they could be thinking in a world like this? Who knows what they’d do to her?

‘I really don’t want to get double-crossed and handed over to some Doxy traders.’ Uzi bit her lip at the terrible image. ‘It’s part of the reason my dad dresses me like a boy!’

‘Someone’s scent is on you. Were you up here alone last night?’ N’s words echoed in her CPU along with her own. ‘Don’t be alone with him.’

Uzi’s gaze moved on its own accord. Her optics locked onto Rich, talking with her father, Ron, and some other colony members. Uzi felt phantom touches along her frame the longer she stared at him.

She felt like… Like they were from him…

Uzi’s hand habitually slid towards her butt. It stopped just short, her fingers hooking onto the belt loops of her pants to adjust them. They didn’t feel tight enough on her, despite Uzi already wearing a belt to keep them steady.

Shaking her head allowed Uzi to turn it away. She took a few deep vents to calm herself. She has no evidence that Rich did any of that. While he was certainly a little creepy that one time before meeting N, he’s kept his distance since.

But… Uzi can’t help but feel like he really hasn’t.

And she just didn’t know.

Chapter Text

How many days has it been again? N’s lost count after about the third. It’s surely been more than a week since departing from his territory, but he neglected to count how long it’s been since that pitstop at the ruined building.

He’s amazed these Worker Drones could go on for so long. There’s been little breaks along their journey. Only at night, when they’ve exhausted themselves and the darkness could cover Apex Drone tracks.

N’s getting tired of hanging from the bottom of this car. His hands are going numb and his tail is going stiff. His wings are tired and his knees are starting to shake. If the colony could stop for just a second-!

The loud rumbling of a crumbling building echoed across the city expanse. The whole colony froze in fear, turning their heads towards it. Dust billowed into the air before starting to descend.

“Do you think it was an Apex Drone?” Someone asked.

“I don’t know. But let’s hurry up before we find out.” Khan spoke, quickening his step.

Everyone else followed suit behind him. They sent sparing glances towards the fallen building, hoping it was merely age and weathering that made it crumble.

Uzi was glad she was allowed to steer one of the trucks instead of walking. She’d keep her temperature low and not wear herself out so quickly.

“I hope that wasn’t an Apex Drone.” Thad spoke, sitting next to her.

“I feel like if it was, we would’ve seen or heard them.” Uzi replied.

“Well, that crash was pretty loud. I doubt we would’ve heard them screaming.” Thad argued.

“Maybe…” Uzi mumbled in reply.

Her colony kept moving towards the mines all the way across the city. Uzi hoped something was there, and something good, not an Apex again. Otherwise, she’ll be damn pissed.

‘And I’m sure others would be, too.’ She sighed.

After more hours of traveling, the colony made it onto a main road. Their trip was relatively easy here, just follow the snowy roads onto a highway, cross the said highway, and keep going towards the edge of the city towards the mountains.

The peaks of the said mountains were poking above the horizon, nestled amongst the tall apartment complexes and office buildings. It would still take some time before they made it to any mines.

But for now, they had to stop for the night. N was especially glad, as that meant he could get out from under this stuffy truck and stretch a little.

Everyone came to a stop at a large and roomy restaurant. A few workers traveled to the back to test the stoves and ovens. Others set up camp for the night. A couple helped the manufacturing ladies step out of the trucks to stretch their legs for once.

N shimmied under the truck, barely holding back a whine as he itched to stretch his own frame. His tail curled tighter around the undercarriage of the truck, making it shake in response.

'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕚𝕤𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗.' A demonic shadow snake chuckled.

N’s expression fell in an instant.

'𝕀 𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘. 𝕎𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕𝕟'𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕟 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕪?' Another demon spoke.

N would’ve replied if it wouldn’t give himself away. He watched the shuffling feet and moving shadows of the Worker Drones. His third snake demon clicked his tongue and scoffed.

'𝕃𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞, 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤. 𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕤𝕠 𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞!' He exclaimed, turning to N.

The said Apex Drone glared back.

'𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 𝕒𝕤 𝕙𝕖 𝕚𝕤, 𝕨𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟'𝕥 𝕕𝕠 𝕞𝕦𝕔𝕙.' N’s own shadow commented, appearing on the floor. '𝔹𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕤, 𝕨𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕌𝕫𝕚, 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥? 𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕨𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕫𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕪.'

‘Thank you!’ N thought.

'𝕌𝕘𝕙! 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣!' The third snake groaned.

“Hey, guys! We got one of the stoves working!” Someone yelled from the back.

There was immediate cheering and uproar, much of the colony herding towards the kitchen. They took with them oil and mechanical bits salvaged from old machines and devices.

And with less of the colony around, Uzi was able to safely donate some oil to her “friend.” She passed the cup under the truck and moved away to heat up some of her own oil.

N drank from the cup and set it back where Uzi put it. He looked around, making sure no one was around. He quietly and carefully lowered himself onto the floor. He let out a soft sigh and lied there for a few moments.

His entire frame ached from holding such a position for so long. He’s lucky his joints haven’t locked up yet. But with a sigh, he turned to finally sneak out from under the truck.

Getting to his feet, N stretched his arms above his head and flared his wings. His joints creaked and pistons shifted. N didn’t linger long, slithering over to the nearest vent and crawling inside.

He crawled through the ventilation system and peered into the building’s rooms. They were mostly empty, only with some minimal furniture toppled and destroyed. N sighed at the lack of anything interesting.

‘Might as well check out the kitchen.’ He thought.

The way over was quick and easy. N peered into the kitchen from the vent grate in the corner of the room. Everyone was having fun talking and warming up oil and metal bits. The smell made N’s mouth water and his tongue flick out.

He quickly spotted Uzi’s purple tresses amongst the mass of robots. She talked to Thad and some of the other young boys, waiting for her oil to warm up. N watched her laugh at a dumb joke.

Thad said something next, making them laugh louder. Uzi’s visor was a little flush, and certainly not from the heat in the room. Her optics glanced down, only to widen at how close hers and Thad’s hands were. She turned her gaze away as more blush lines blinked onto her visor.

N’s tail thumped against the vent shaft. An agitated hiss followed suit. As his brows came down, he heard a chuckle.

'𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕛𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕦𝕤, ℕ!' His shadow teased, a hand futilely hiding his mouth.

“Jealous!? Of course not!” N turned his head away in a pout.

'𝕄𝕞𝕞, 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕟'𝕥.' His shadow laughed. '𝕀𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕤𝕠, 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕥 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕕?' He then asked.

N caught himself in the act. He shook his head and rolled onto his back to stop himself from doing so. But his headband had other ideas.

'𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝕕𝕚𝕕𝕟'𝕥 𝕚𝕥?' His shadow mused.

“Shut it.” N growled.

'ℍ𝕒𝕒, 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕖.' His shadow waved off.

He disappeared right after, much to N’s delight. He rolled back over and stared at the disguised Worker Drone. She took her can of oil from the stove and lifted it to her lips.

A delighted hum left her voice box. She tried her hardest to savor the taste and drink it slowly. But it’s been forever since she’s had warm oil.

“I’m going back out to the trucks. Probably gonna turn in early tonight, too.” Uzi told the boys.

“Night!”

“Cya tomorrow!”

“Don’t let the robo-roaches bite, heheh!”

“Later, Uzi!” They all bade farewell.

Uzi waved them off and headed back into the restaurant’s main room. N followed from the vents to watch her more. And seeing as Uzi made her way out front, he hopped out of the vent to walk up to her.

“Shouldn’t you be hiding?” Uzi asked, her can of oil steaming in the cold air.

“I was! But I need to stretch my legs some more.” N replied with a grin. “How’s your oil?” He questioned.

“Really good. Someone got a stove to work again, thankfully it’s a gas one.” The Worker Drone replied, staring into her can.

“No wonder there was all that commotion, then.” N chuckled, leaning against the wall.

“We don’t really have the time nor safety to wait around and make fires or heat up electrical stoves.” Uzi shrugged back. “Maybe if we’re staying somewhere for a few days we can.”

“I guess I can see that.” N nodded. “However…” He trailed off as another grin split his face plates.

Uzi looked up to him, only for N to step in front of her. He took her wrists into his hands and leaned in. Uzi felt a few sweat drops blink onto her visor. N’s head wings extended and covered their faces.

“I’m pretty curious myself about how warm oil tastes compared to cold or room temperature oil.” The Apex Drone spoke, his tongue dancing in front of her face.

“What? You want to drink some oil from my ration?” Uzi asked as a brow quirked.

“Hmhm, close, but no.” N giggled, his tail waving playfully. “But I wouldn’t mind trying it if you think your temperature is low enough to spare some~” His neon turquoise optics narrowed on her.

Uzi blinked back up at him. She sighed and took her wrists from his hands. She offered the can to him, much to his surprise.

“Don’t take too much.” She told him.

N blinked at her. He then broke out into a fit of chuckles, his hip wings fluttering.

“I was more alluding to taking some more of your oil to compare, but thank you.” He said.

Uzi’s visor turned flush in embarrassment. She tried to hide it with her can.

“Then I guess I’ll just drink it.” She muttered.

“Wh-! I-I want some!” N exclaimed.

“No! You already said you didn’t want any!” Uzi retorted, holding her cup away.

“I didn’t say that! I just said I was talking about your oil!” N argued, reaching for her can.

“Why do you care so much anyway?! Can you even drink normal oil?!” Uzi returned, trying to shove his face away.

“Not really! It’s hard for us Apexes to process!” N answered truthfully.

Uzi stopped and stared at him. N stopped as well, though he tried to subtly reach for it. Uzi slapped his hands away.

“What do you mean? How?” She asked.

N stared at her for a moment. But he paused when he realized he didn’t know why.

“I… don’t know.” And he said as much, his gaze turning to the ground.

“You don’t know?” Uzi whispered. “That- But- Why? It makes no sense that you shouldn’t be able to live off normal oil like us Worker Drones.” She said.

“Is this difficulty to process regular oil the reason why Apex Drones kill us workers?” She inquired.

“It is.” N knew that much. “Though, I don’t know why it’s so hard for us to process regular oil. We can only live off the oil that you guys process.” His tail waved and his wings furled tighter against his back.

Uzi stared at him for a while. She tried to think of some theory as to why that was, but she was coming up blank. She has too little information to go off of.

‘Maybe if I knew more about N’s origins, I could think of something.’ Her gaze narrowed on him.

But for now, she should drink her oil before it gets cold.

N’s bright optical lights turned to the Worker Drone as she took another sip of her drink. The steam had lessened but it still tasted good, if the small smile Uzi made was anything to go by.

His tail waved again as he watched her lips slowly slurp up the dark fluid. N’s brows appeared and furrowed on his visor.

“What’s with you? Mad you can’t drink the normal stuff?” Uzi asked, noticing his staring.

“...No.” N spoke after a moment, turning his turquoise gaze away.

“Uh-huh.” Uzi hummed. “Whatever.” She then whispered, turning back to her warm drink.

N continued to stare from the corner of his optic. His tail tip swished around and his wings ruffled. N combed a hand through his hair, letting it fall back over his shoulder. He can’t lie and say he wasn’t curious about how normal oil tastes…

'𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕥𝕙.' A shadow snake spoke. '𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖, 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕪.'

'𝕐𝕖𝕒𝕙! 𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕚𝕡𝕙𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕥 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕡𝕤!' The second one jittered.

'𝕆𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖- 𝕌𝕤𝕖 𝕒 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕨.' The third commented.

'𝕌𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕨 𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 ℙ𝕌𝕊𝕊𝕀𝔼𝕊!!' The first retorted loudly.

And although N hated these serpent assholes, he couldn’t disagree with their proposed methods-

Uzi let out a soft vent, some steam blowing from her mouth. N tuned back in and eyed the droplet that dribbled down her chin. Uzi went to swipe it away with a thumb, but N stopped her and grabbed her wrist.

The Worker Drone turned up to him with an unimpressed look. N ignored it, instead pushing her against the wall. His optics didn’t leave the small trail of dark liquid.

“What is it now-?” Uzi huffed.

N leaned in and licked her lips clean of the fluid.

Uzi shrieked in disgust and pushed N away. He only slammed his hands onto the wall beside her, leaning back in to continue licking at her mouth. Uzi tried pushing him back more but N didn’t budge.

He only stopped when there was no trace of the fluid left. And when he leaned back, N licked his own lips and savored the taste of normal oil.

“It really does have a different taste…” He mused with a grin and a waving tail.

Uzi only stared back up at him with a lavender visor. N’s smirk grew wider and his four wings flapped in amusement.

“Looks like I’m not the only one who can make you flush~” N snickered into Uzi’s audial.

The said Worker Drone pushed him back hard enough to make him fall. Uzi kicked some snow into his face before stomping off, pulling her hood up to hide her burning face plates.

N stared after her, hearing her muttering curses and swears. He raised a hand to hide his smile with his fingers, laughing at her fluster.

“Sorry, Uzi, but I really was curious~” He said, even though the worker was already gone.

'𝔽𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟' 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜- 𝕆𝕌𝔾ℍ!!' A shadow snake was socked in the throat for that.

Chapter Text

As Uzi retreated inside the building after N’s little “prank,” or whatever, she could feel her body starting to run hot. And like in that Apex Drone’s territory, it wasn’t the usual kind. It couldn’t have been if she just drank warm oil!

Uzi’s visor went flush with the rise in temperature. Her knees became a bit weak, so she opted to sit down beside one of the trucks, leaning against its wheel. Uzi closed her optics and unzipped her coat a bit.

N walked into the doorway of the place, giving her a concerned look. With a cock of his head, he approached and sat next to her.

“Are you alright?” He asked as his head wings twitched.

“...” Uzi gave no response.

“...Sorry for earlier. I really was curious…” N pouted, playing with his tail.

“‘T’s fine.” Uzi mumbled through her limbs.

N gave her a glance from the corner of his optic. He wasn’t quite convinced seeing as she refused to look at him.

“Maybe you should rest for the night? I’ll have to go back into hiding soon anyway.” N suggested.

“Sure.” Uzi replied.

N sat there for another moment, just staring. His head wings flicked when he heard approaching steps. With a soft sigh, N slithered under the car to get some rest himself.

‘𝔾𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕚𝕕𝕚𝕠𝕥!’ One of his various demons mocked with a jeering grin. ‘𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕤𝕒𝕕!’

“Don’t act like you guys weren’t the ones spurring me on.” N growled back with a glare.

‘𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕥!’ Said another snakey demon.

N rolled his neon turquoise optics. He decided to just ignore them for the rest of the night.

Although she’d cooled off a bit last night by unzipping her jacket and sleeping without a blanket, Uzi still felt that her temperatures were above average. And all this walking that her colony’s been doing wasn’t really helping.

But Uzi shook her head and pushed herself to keep up anyway. She doesn’t want to fall behind, not when they’re approaching the edge of the city. Hopefully, after this other forest they’ll pass through, they can find a mine with some oil in it.

And as Uzi was struggling to keep up, N glanced at her feet from under the truck. A sweat drop formed on his display, his concern growing for his best friend as she seemed to still be under the weather.

‘I should apologize to her again the next chance I get.’ He told himself. ‘Maybe… Maybe I should also get her something? That’s what you do when you apologize to someone, right?’ His tail wanted to wave.

‘𝕀𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕥𝕠𝕠 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕕, 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕟𝕟𝕒 𝕓𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕞𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕓𝕠𝕒𝕣𝕕.’ One of his three shadow snake demons jittered.

N’s expression fell into miffed unamusement. There was a strong urge to choke the damn thing. But he was at least able to reply with an agitated growl, drowned out by the truck’s rumbling engine.

Ignoring the pest, however, N turned his attention back to his best friend. Her boots trudged through the snow. The white ash and frost lingered on the toe of her shoes.

‘I’m starting to think she isn’t sad as much as she is sick.’ N’s brows creased. ‘I should check up on her when I can.’

For now though, he has to stay hidden. Which is annoying, seeing as he’s so worried for his friend and he doesn’t like hiding under a moving vehicle. Especially for so long, threatening to make his joints lock up and go stiff.

As the day passed, Uzi’s condition only got worse. She began to overheat again and her visor went all sorts of flushed. She only got some reprieve when Prad and Chad managed to convince her father to take a break right at the edge of the city.

Uzi couldn’t have been more relieved, quite honestly. She was finally able to stop walking on sore feet and get some rations. And when she received her cup from Ron, she was ever-thankful that it wasn’t a meager portion like usual.

“Hey, Uzi? You alright, kid?” But Ron’s voice had her stirring from her drink.

“I-I’m fine.” Uzi dismissed, chugging down her oil.

“You don’t look all that ‘fine.’” The older man’s brow quirked.

“I’m just running a little hot, is all! It’s nothing to worry about.” Uzi still tried to wave off his concern.

But Ron could see how flushed her visor was, and how foggy her vents had become. His brows moved into a crease and he hopped off the crates.

“Uzi, I don’t think this is something you can brush off-” Ron went to touch her forehead, to see if the heat was spreading up to important chips and wires.

But as soon as his cooler metal hand met the fiery-hot metal of her face plates, Uzi let out a small and involuntary moan. It startled both drones, and even some around them.

Ron’s eye lights went void. The realization quickly dawned on him. With it, he shook his head and carefully set his shoulders onto the disguised woman’s shoulders, leading her towards another truck.

“You stay inside this truck with the other ladies, okay? Just get some rest and don’t move around too much.” He quietly told her, trying not to let the others know of her condition.

Uzi’s flush turned into an embarrassed fluster. She nodded and obeyed his gentle order. Uzi hated the way the softness of Ron’s voice made her lower circuitry twist in need.

She hobbled into the car and made herself at home in the back corner closest to the engine. Ron gave her a thin blanket in case and told the other ladies to watch after her.

The said fabric only made her hotter. Uzi was quick to take off her jacket and let it lie on the floor as she attempted to keep a relatively cool temperature. It still only did so much.

But while Uzi was resting in the car, Ron went over to tell her dad that she’ll be out of commission for a few days. Khan was quick to notice his approach, drinking his own oil portion.

“Hey, Khan! I’ve got some news.” Was Ron’s greeting, a nervous smile on his face plates.

“What is it? Are we out of oil?” His leader questioned as he stood straighter.

“No, though we are running quite low.” Ron shook his head. “It’s Uzi. She’s going through her Thermal Runaway cycle again. I put her in the truck with the ladies in case, but I figured you should know.” He explained, pointing a thumb towards the aforementioned car.

“I see… Thanks.” Khan sighed, his shoulders drooping.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine! Just like all the other times!” Ron reassured with an optimistic grin.

“I’m not sure how you can stay so happy in times like these.” Khan shook his head as a small grin crawled onto his face plates.

“Well, I think that someone has to stay cheerful for everyone, right?” Ron chuckled. “It’ll be no fun if everybody is miserable all the time!”

“I guess so.” Khan huffed a laugh. “But again, thanks for telling me about Uzi. I’ll make sure to check on her later.” He repeated.

“Of course! It’s only right, considering she’s your daughter and all.” Ron nodded back. “Well, I should get back to work. I’ll see you in the morn, maybe.” He turned and waved.

“Don’t stay up too late, Ron.” Khan waved back.

“Only if you don’t!” The other man laughed.

Khan let out a more amused vent and turned back down to his oil. He finished it off and returned the can to a crate. He quickly turned for the car housing all the female drones. Quietly and carefully, he stepped to the back.

Uzi was resting as much as she could during this time. Her visor was still flushed and her vent still misty. Some sweat drops clung to her visor, along with snowy condensation. Khan’s sigh turned more stressed and worried, swiping some of the droplets away.

His daughter flinched and let out a tiny moan when his finger grazed against her face. Khan quickly pulled his arm back, his brows creasing.

“Maybe you should give her a little space?” One of the ladies spoke.

Khan turned to her. There was a gentle grin on her face plates. But he could see that she was willing to give Uzi the referenced space she needed if he didn’t do so soon. With a vent, Khan stood up and hopped out of the truck.

“We’ll continue into the forest tomorrow. Try to get as much rest as you can.” Khan told them just before letting the flap close.

The ladies all acknowledged the information and bade him farewell. Once their colony leader was gone, the women all turned to the disguised girl.

“Are you doing alright, Uzi?” One of the women asked.

The said girl just replied with a disgruntled hum. She buried her face deeper into the flimsy blanket.

“If you need anything, don’t be afraid to tell us.” Another woman spoke.

Again, Uzi merely hummed. She just wanted to be over this TR cycle already…

Night fell once more and all the Worker Drones headed off into Sleep Mode. N snuck away from the truck’s undercarriage, finding a building to stretch his limbs. His tail had to be tugged on to get all of the stiffness and creaks out of it.

Letting his long limb fall, N vented out a sigh and looked out the window. He’s overheard some of Khan and Ron’s conversation, talking about Uzi and this “Thermal Runaway cycle.” He doesn’t know what it is, but it seems to be the source of her troubles at the moment.

Hopping out the window, N was tempted to head back into the city to look around a little. But part of him didn’t want to stray from his best friend.

‘I also can’t be caught by her colony, either.’ N’s bright turquoise gaze snapped to some guards.

‘𝕀𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕𝕟’𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕒 𝕓𝕒𝕕 𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕒 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕖𝕘𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕒 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖, 𝕟𝕠?’ N’s shadow formed beside him, grinning like usual.

“I guess not, but I still don’t want to be too far away from Uzi.” N retorted, hiding within the shadow of an alleyway.

‘𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕤𝕙𝕖’𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤. ℕ𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕤𝕙𝕖’𝕤 𝕙𝕚𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕟 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕤.’ His shadow argued. ‘𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥? 𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕦𝕥, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕙𝕖𝕣! 𝕋𝕠 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕥 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕒 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖!’ He snickered as his dark tail waved.

N gave it some thought. Uzi might just perk up a little if he got her some sort of gift. It would just be a question of what, exactly, he should find.

“I’m not sure I really know her enough to know what she’d like.” N muttered in a pout, his hip wings drooping.

‘𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ‘𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕣’ 𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕕.’ His shadow spoke.

“Yeah, but that’d take too long. And what if I get something that ends up making her angry instead?” N argued, a thoughtful hand to his chin.

‘𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕥 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕜 𝕀 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕖.’ His shadow shrugged and laughed.

N’s expression fell and he gave him a light glare in return.

The truck was starting to feel too hot. Uzi was awoken from the increase in heat. It seemed to only be getting worse and worse as the hours passed.

‘I need to cool down.’ Was Uzi’s near-delirious thought.

Carefully, she stood up in the truck. She quietly stepped around the manufacturing ladies and out of the back flaps. Uzi steered clear of any and all guys on night shift. She knew going near them would only make this feeling in her circuitry worse.

But the snow under her feet and the light winds brushing past her gave Uzi that much-needed feeling of coolness. She stopped right at a piece of stray debris just some distance away from her colony. Not enough to be dangerous but enough to be private.

Uzi took off her boots and socks, letting her metallic and shoe-like feet soak up the chill of the ash and frost. Uzi took deep vents of the cold air, letting it circulate through her hot vents.

Every exhale was foggy still, but the cold air helped her to feel less like she was going to overheat. But despite that, the feeling of needy, squirming circuitry just under her pelvic plating didn’t leave.

It was annoying and it made Uzi wriggle around. She could feel herself getting hotter down there, more than she’d ever liked to admit. Static formed in her voice box as her fingers twitched.

Uzi carefully adjusted herself to spread her legs into a W or M-like form. She pressed her butt to the floor, hoping to cool herself off. But her pants kept most of the cold out, much to her chagrin.

With a quiet and embarrassed whine, Uzi ditched the clothing. She even took off the shirt, letting her chest plates cool off in the night breezes. And without any insulation, she was able to press herself against the ground.

The chill made Uzi gasp. But she dug herself a little indent and kept herself planted there. She touched her visor, feeling its heat. The inside of her was still warm, even with all the deep vents she was taking.

And being pressed against the snow like this, it made her riled up somehow. Uzi hated it, how something as simple as sitting in the cold snow could get her machine fabricator yearning for material.

But the feeling of primal need just kept growing. Uzi knew this routine, has hated it ever since it started some years ago. And because of that, she made a routine to follow whenever it happened.

Find someplace safe and private and away from all men. Cool yourself in the snow. Wait until the feeling becomes unbearable. Untie all the twisting, writhing knots in your lower circuitry.

Simple but effective, as much as Uzi hates it. And she also hates how touching herself makes her gasp and release small moans. She tries to hide them with her other hand slapping over her mouth. It’s the best she can do while like this.

Uzi just wishes she could also block out the noise of shifting lubricant and shuffling snow. All she can do is prevent the view of these actions with her woolen underwear and by tilting her head up and squeezing her optics shut.

But the latter is more from rubbing just right around that button over her entrance. Uzi tries to swallow down her moans and gasps. It’s probably futile, it’s hard to hear the muffled and soft noises over her pounding core and oil pump.

She supposes that’s as good as she’s going to get when blocking out noise. Just wait until her core and pump pound so hard in her chassis that it becomes hard to make the wet sounds out.

And thankfully, due to being so riled up and sensitive from this damned Thermal Runaway cycle, it doesn’t take long for her frame to tense up and another moan to hum past her lips into her hand.

Uzi can feel thick lubricant coat over her hand. She sits there for a few minutes, letting her frame untense and relax against the chunk of debris. The Worker Drone swallows again and takes her shaky hand from her mouth.

She looks down and lifts the hem of her underwear. Uzi grimaces at the mess smeared all over her hand and undergarment. But she just slips out her limb and tries to hold back the even stronger grimace as her warm lubricant slides against her folds.

Uzi takes a few minutes to vent deep and cool herself some more. Her temperature went up again doing that. But it’s settling down some now that she’s untied some of those frustrated wires.

And as she lets her vents stabilize and her shaking plating return to rest, she feels exhaustion creeping up on her. Uzi realizes she should get back before anyone notices her.

‘I’ll have to find new underwear tomorrow.’ Uzi makes a simple note before minimizing it.

As she sluggishly pulls her clothes back on, she misses the quiet puffing and crunching of snow behind her. And once she’s got her clothes on, she makes her way back to the truck.

She’s too tired to notice a man with orange hair staring at her, his visor a little flush and his vents a little heavy. Uzi was just to go back to sleep.

Chapter Text

Uzi kept herself hidden within the truck full of other women. For the most part, they left her alone. Sometimes they’d ask if she was alright or feeling any better. Uzi just gave them some weak, half-assed response and returned to resting.

She was glad Rebecca had the decency to not pick on her too much during this time. Seeing as they both have to go through the same thing, they don’t try and hold or use it against each other. Though, sometimes Rebecca will still be annoying even during this short period.

Even so, the days were nothing less than a blur for Uzi. She slept most of the time, and when she couldn’t sleep, she was trying to subtly rub herself free of some of the sexual tension in her frame.

She hated it, with every circuit of her being, but it was the only way to ease the frustration and tire her out. Uzi wouldn’t even be surprised if the other women had also done this from time-to-time, just to relieve their own TR cycles.

But, it was time for a pit stop. The trucks were slowing down and drones were getting hungry. They parked under overarching pine trees in the shade and unpacked the essentials. A few groups were made to scout around for anything useful.

“I suggest we just stop here for the night, Khan.” Ron spoke to his leader from atop a crate of barrels. “By the time we’re done drinking our shares, the sun will have just about set. Not to mention I think everyone’s getting more and more exhausted lately.”

Khan turned to stare at the horizon, almost covered entirely by tall trees. He didn’t disagree with his long-time friend, but he still wanted to keep moving for as long as the sun was up.

‘Though, he’s still right on the “setting sun” part.’ His brows twitched, wanting to knit together.

“Fine. We’ll stop here for tonight.” He sighed and turned back to his friend. “How are our rations?” He asked next.

“Running low, sir.” Ron’s voice and expression turned more somber. “We need oil, and we need it soon. We won’t last much longer, even with our rationing.”

Khan hummed in acknowledgement as his gaze fell. He shook his head and pinched his visor tiredly.

“If we can just get through the forest, I’m sure we’ll find something.” He spoke.

Ron glanced at him. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure if he could trust that.

‘The last forest we went to just held an Apex Drone.’ Ron didn’t like that he couldn’t quite trust his leader’s words, but he couldn’t help but be wary.

“I’m going to have a couple groups form up and search around for anything dangerous. I’m going with them.” Khan spoke up, stirring Ron from his thoughts. “You make sure everyone else stays safe and close by.”

“Will do, Khan!” His friend saluted right back.

Khan nodded and turned around, addressing the colony members. As he did so, Uzi hopped out of one of the trucks to get some oil for herself.

“Hey, Uzi! How’re you doing?” Ron knelt down to better meet her optic level.

“...” Uzi stared back at him in tired and blushing silence.

“Not great, huh?” Ron’s grin fell. “Well, maybe some oil will help you out a little. And why don’t you grab something from one of the food crates? My treat.” The older and nice man offered, pouring her a cup.

Uzi nodded and took her share, eyeing the small portion. She said nothing and only sighed as she turned around to find something to snack on.

The oil didn’t do much to soothe the heat all across her frame, and especially not just beneath her waistband. But it still tasted nice, she supposed. And the big motherboard she dug out wasn’t too bad, either.

Uzi went over to a far lonelier truck and sat down. The snow felt more refreshing than the oil did. It made her huff and crack a tiny grin.

“Hey, N?” She called quietly.

“Hm?” He hummed back in acknowledgement.

“I need you to-...” But she trailed off, her visor going flush.

“Need me to what?” N inquired, now curious.

Uzi averted her gaze from the vehicle. She didn’t want to admit it. To tell him she needed underwear. But with each nervous, embarrassed fidget, she could feel old and new layers of lubricant messing up the fabric.

“Can you take to like- A clothing store? Or find some for me?” She asked quietly, her visor only going brighter.

“Clothes? What for? Don’t you already have clothes?” N questioned.

“I-I do, but-!” Uzi closed her mouth, too embarrassed to say it. “I just- Fine some clothing tonight, whatever the type. It’s important.” She murmured.

N was quiet for a few seconds.

“Okay.” He replied. “Let’s wait until the coast is a little more clear. Perhaps when the sun’s gone down.” N added.

“Okay, that’s- Okay.” Uzi sighed with a nod.

It would be better to wait until there’s less optics around. That way, N won’t risk exposing himself and getting killed. Even if Uzi didn’t like having to wait a couple more hours to get a change of clothes.

The falling of night made it easy for drones to slip away in its darkness. Uzi took this opportunity to do just that, meeting up with N over by some secluded trees away from the colony. He’d dumped some worker bodies onto the ground, perking up when he heard her approach.

“Are you alright? You’ve been looking unwell lately.” N cocked his head, grinning as usual whilst sitting against a trunk.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just eager to get some new clothes.” Uzi waved off dismissively, turning her attention to the corpses.

“Then I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t keep you waiting, huh?” The Apex Drone giggled.

“Nope.” Uzi replied, her focus more on the dead robots.

“Well, I hope you find something good from that selection. If we were in the city, it would’ve been easier to find clothes.” N started as he began preening his hip wings.

‘I hope so, too.’ Was Uzi’s thought in response, checking through the worker bodies.

“Do you mind telling me why you want new clothes all of a sudden?” N asked as the young woman shuffled around. “Your current ones look fine as it is. Or, are they not fitting you anymore?” He turned his head to look at her from the corner of his facial screen.

“My clothes fit me just fine, I only need-” And again, she cut herself off.

Uzi was too embarrassed to admit it. And she simply didn’t want to. Not to a guy, anyway.

But since she went silent, N’s gaze on her narrowed. He stopped grooming his feathers, stopping Uzi as well. N turned to face her, a hand twitching and itching to grab his sword in case.

“Uzi, you aren’t trying to suddenly trick me, are you?” N inquired as the black slit pupils in his optical lights thinned.

“No! Of course not!” The Worker Drone whipped around to reply in offense. “Why would I suddenly turn on you after going out of my way to hide you and feed you?!” Her brows furrowed.

“Just… You’re acting odd.” N replied, moving his hands into his coat pockets as his tail swished.

A sweat drop blinked onto Uzi’s visor. It was a little too personal for her to go and tell him the real reason behind this outing. Not to mention possibly dangerous.

“Some of my clothes had gotten ruined, so I wanted to replace them.” She sighed.

And while it wasn’t the whole truth, it should be just enough detail to get her by.

“I also figured that I could get myself some spares so I don’t have to go out to find clothes too often.” Uzi added, just to be sure.

N blinked at her, his four wings shifting. But he smiled and released a soft vent.

“Alright. That’s all I wanted to know.” He spoke. “Well then, if those clothes don’t fit, just tell me! I can go back out to find more bodies to raid!” He laughed as his head wings perked up.

Uzi let out a soft sigh in relief and turned back to the clothes. A lot of them could work for not only herself, but the others as well. But it would be suspicious if she suddenly came back with a bunch of clothes, so she’ll focus on herself for now.

Ignoring things like shirts, socks, pants, and whatever else, Uzi focused on underwear. She managed to find something thick and warm, perfect for the ever-freezing weather of this planet.

She glanced at N. He was busy inspecting his claws and sharpening them with a file. Since he was distracted, she swiftly undressed the corpse and took her clothes. Uzi did the same for another couple of bodies, just to have some spares.

After putting the pants back on, Uzi stuffed the underwear into her bag. She stood, which alerted N and made his optics fall onto her.

“Done already? Did you find what you needed?” He inquired with a wave of his tail.

“Yeah. Thanks for helping.” Uzi replied, grimacing at the feeling of lube rubbing against her crotch. “That’s all I needed, so feel free to do… Whatever it is you do.” She waved off, turning to head back.

“Aw, leaving already?” N whined as he stood. “You could at least hang out with me for a little while. You clearly have no qualms about breaking rules or whatnot.” The Apex followed after her.

“M-Maybe another time, okay? I’m not feeling great, remember?” Uzi huffed, a sweat drop on her flushing visor.

The closer he got, the more her lower circuitry twisted. Uzi could feel her visor getting warmer and brighter with it.

“Ah, right.” N’s tone turned disappointed, much like his features. “When you feel better, do you think we could hang out again? Even if it’s just the two of us?” His tongue flicked out in a playful hiss.

“Y-Yeah, sure, whatever!” Uzi puffed, speeding up her walk.

N giggled and his wings fluttered happily. He couldn’t help but to let his long tail wave around in barely-contained giddiness.

Uzi only rolled her optics and kept moving. If she could just get some distance from him, that’d help her a ton! Especially since the feeling is just getting worse and worse.

It eventually got to a point where Uzi’s vents were becoming ragged and misty again. The heat in her frame rose and her lower circuitry twisted almost painfully. Uzi had to stop to try and cool herself with the night air, leaning against a tree for support.

N quickly noticed her change in demeanor and stopped just beside her. He cocked his head as his brows creased in worry.

“Hey, Uzi? Are you alright?” He asked, moving to set a hand on her shoulder.

She flinched and let out an involuntary moan. Uzi slapped her free hand to her mouth but shied away from the male Apex’s limb.

N stared at her with voided eye lights, startled by the noise. He was soon snapped out of it when Uzi fell to the ground.

“U-Uzi! What’s the matter?!” He knelt right beside her in an instant.

“N… Nothing, just… Don-n’t worry about it.” She tried to brush him off, to get to her feet.

But she fell back onto her shins. With N so close, her Thermal Runaway cycle was acting up. And it probably didn’t help that she could see her colony in the distance, some men out on guard duty.

The young woman’s legs shifted closer together, squeezing and creating pressure on her moistening crotch. It barely did anything to help the increase in frustration, the one she’d been trying to hide from the Apex.

Said animalistic drone fretted over her but didn’t know what to do. Uzi tried to get back onto her feet again, but couldn’t. N tried to help her up as carefully as he could, even if Uzi flinched and made small noises at his touch.

‘If I can at least get her to a colonymate, then she should be fine!’ N thought to himself, his brows knitting together.

The Apex Drone managed to get the worker onto her feet. Slowly, the pair started back on their path towards the campsite. If someone sees Uzi, they’ll surely help her, far more than he can!

‘Yes! Anyone will do! Any member-!’ N told himself, looking up.

But he paused, making Uzi pause, too. N stared at the closest member to them. His two sets of wings began to puff up as his pupils went paper-thin.

The closest member was the one N smelled on Uzi when he’d first departed from his territory.

N didn’t like him. He didn’t like him one bit. And certainly not with this Uzi, who’s flinching, huffing, puffing, and gasping at every slight touch set upon her body.

“Uzi, my best friend,” N called softly, catching her attention for just a moment. “I’m sorry that I can’t quite follow through on your whole plan. There’s an emergency.” He told her.

Before the woman could respond, N was draping her with his coat. He then picked her up, keeping her close to his chest. Even though she weakly thrashed in his arms, he didn’t let her go.

And even when the other colony members took notice of him, realized one of their own was being held by his chest, he didn’t let her go. Not even when weapons were trained at his throat.

And N kept a firm hold on Uzi as his viper-like gaze bored into the visor of a familiar-smelling man.

Chapter Text

The night had grown very incontinently tense. Many weapons were trained on N’s form, directly at his head. A sweat drop formed on his visor but he didn’t let himself falter.

“I know that you’re angry, among many other feelings,” He started.

“Yeah, I wonder-!” Someone went to shout.

“But I’m not here for a fight.” N spoke over him. “And I didn’t touch my dear best friend. Look; I’m kneeling down,” The Apex Drone began slowly lowering into his knees.

“I’m setting her down,” Uzi was carefully placed onto the floor. “My weapon is going on the floor and my hands up in the air,” He did as he described.

As he slowly rose back up, eyeing all the pissed Worker Drones and their dangerous weapons, Khan scooted closer. He lowered onto his own knees and reached out a hand to grab his daughter. He had to lower his miniature cheiroballista to drag her over into his arms.

His fingers brushed against her bare hands. Uzi released a moan and her flush brightened. Hot puffs of air left her mouth with every vent. Lust swathed her CPU and prevented her from thinking clearly. She tried to get out of the large white coat covering her and reached up a hand to her father’s face.

Khan grabbed her arm, making sure to touch only the parts that were covered, and lowered her limb. A sweat drop blinked onto his visor as he glanced at his daughter.

‘Clearly this cycle is hitting her hard this time around.’ It was a worrying thought.

“Someone get a stretcher- Or whatever we have that’s closest to it!” Khan barked to his colonymates.

He quickly returned his glare onto the Apex Drone. N stared back, his tail stiff and wanting to wave in anxiousness.

“And someone grab his damn weapon already.” Khan growled next, his glower hardening.

Someone shuffled closer and dragged the odachi longsword to them with his foot. N kept his optics locked with Khan’s, staying still and stiff with his hands in the air. His four wings furled a little closer to his back.

“Ron. You keep an optic on this Apex Drone. I’m going to put Uzi somewhere safe.” Khan told his co-leader.

Ron stepped forward to cover his back as Khan jogged off, Uzi in his arms. N watched in silence until the man disappeared into the back of a truck. His neon turquoise eye lights then locked onto Ron’s.

Things remained tense for a long handful of minutes. It felt like hours were passing, the tensity so unbearable and unyielding. But Khan soon returned and trained his weapon back onto the Apex’s head.

“Tell us what the hell you’re doing here.” He just about snarled.

N debated on whether or not he should just tell the truth-

‘𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠. 𝕆𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕨𝕚𝕤𝕖, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕣.’ His shadow advised, more serious than ever.

It was a very familiar form of seriousness-

‘𝕀’𝕞 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕦𝕡 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙.’ His shadow went on.

N tried swallowing the static in his voice synthesizer.

“I have been following you ever since you left the lab.” He answered past the lingering lump in his throat. “It was Uzi’s idea. She wanted me to stay, so I did.”

Khan’s gaze on N narrowed.

‘I should’ve known she was up to something.’ But he cursed himself for not seeing this sooner.

“How have you been feeding yourself? I know you run on Worker Drone oil.” Khan asked next. “Did you kill one of us-?!”

“I can assure you I did not.” N shot his accusation down. “I hunted other Worker Drones, ones that were not linked to your colony. And…” N hesitated.

‘𝔻𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖! ℍ𝕖’𝕝𝕝 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦!’ His shadow hollered.

“And Uzi gave me small amounts of oil every now and then.” N erased all hints of hesitance from his voice.

Khan was silent for a few minutes.

“How did you hide from us for so long?” He moved on quickly.

“Uzi told me to hide under the trucks. I did, and they carried me along your path.” N answered, his arms getting tired.

“I guess that’s why one of the trucks was getting agitated that one time.” Someone murmured.

Khan glanced at him but quickly snapped his sights back onto their foe.

“And if you’re curious; No. I didn’t hurt the trucks. Or- I didn’t mean to, anyway. It’s hard hanging off the undercarriage of one of those things for so long.” The Apex Drone added.

Khan blinked at him and soaked in all the information.

“What were you doing in the woods with Uzi?” He kept moving on, kept asking questions.

“Uzi asked me to find clothes for her. I don’t know why and I didn’t ask. Nor did I see her change- If she even did.” N told him. “I also didn’t touch her in any way. I only ‘touched’ her-”

The weapons shot closer, nearly puncturing into his neck. More sweat drops blinked onto his display, a few scrolling down.

‘𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕’𝕧𝕖 𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕠𝕟𝕖.’ His shadow commented.

“Shut it, you.” N ground through his fangs as he glared at the ground.

“Enough with the crazy talk!” Khan yelled. “You touched my damn daughter! For that, I’m going to kill you my-!!” His optics hollowed out, about to pull the trigger.

“It wasn’t that kind of touch!” N argued loudly. “I picked her up when she started looking sick! That’s when I ‘touched’ her! To bring her back here to get her help!”

“Ask her! She’ll confirm it for you!” His solenoglyphous fangs glinted in the light as he grit them harder.

Khan stared at him in silence for a solid couple of seconds.

“I’ll confirm it when she’s feeling better.” He sighed, backing away a few paces.

Everyone else followed him. N was allowed to vent again, much to his relief.

“I don’t want to fight you all, truly. I’m simply here for my best friend. I didn’t want to part from her too soon, and neither did she want to part from me.” N spoke up again.

“Sure she didn’t.” Khan scoffed.

“Clearly she didn’t if she went through all this trouble of keeping me hidden but with you guys.” N argued right back.

‘ℍ𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕦𝕖, 𝕤𝕚𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕣! 𝕐𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕!’ His shadow hollered in panic, grasping tightly onto his ankles.

N glanced at his shade. He took a deep vent.

“I am not the one who you should be pointing your weapons at.” He spoke up once more.

“Oh? Then just who, exactly, who’s head should we be aiming our weapons at?” Khan cocked his head a few degrees.

“Would you believe me if I said it was a colonymate of yours?” N inquired right back, his turquoise gaze narrowing, his black pupils going thinner.

Khan stared back at him in silence.

“Figured.” N scoffed with a turn of his head.

“Watch your tone, venator.” Khan snarled.

N’s expression fell into mild offense, but mostly annoyance. His tail flicked at the oh-so endearing “nickname.”

“You can confirm everything I’ve said with Uzi.” He decided to return to their previous conversation. “Once she’s… Feeling better, that is.” He glanced at the truck she was hiding in.

Khan gazed at him in silence again. He seemed to be thinking hard.

“This isn’t over, Apex.” He lowered his weapon. “Until we can confirm if what you said is true, you’ll be under constant supervision. No exceptions.” Once his cheiroballista was lowered, so were everyone else’s weapons.

“Even if I’m trying to relieve my frustrations?” N gave a sly smirk, his tongue flicking out.

Khan looked confused for a moment. N waved his tail over his crotch to give him a little hint. The older man’s visor went flush.

“For fuck’s-!!” He yelled, grabbing an arrow to stab the Apex with.

N flapped his four wings and made snow billow all around. The Worker Drones all coughed it out of their vents and fanned it away with their hands. Once the frosty ash settled, they found that the Apex Drone was gone.

“You should really learn how to take a joke, old man!” N called from atop one of the trucks. “You’re going to get yourself known as being a party-pooper otherwise!” He laughed.

Khan whipped around and pulled his arm back. He threw the large metal arrow with all his strength.

N watched the ammo fly right towards him in silence. Just as it was about to hit him, he knocked it away with his sword’s sheath.

“Calm down. Your oil pressure is going to rise.” N scoffed, turning his head up to look down his olfactory sensors at the weak robots.

“I thought I told you to take his damn weapon!” Khan yelled to his colonymate.

“I did!” He raised his hands as he reeled back. “He must’ve taken it from me when he flew away!”

Khan growled but turned his angry sights to the Apex Drone. N just stared down at him blankly.

“Since I’m still traveling with you guys, I’ll be taking a spot right up on this truck.” He spoke. “That way, I’ll be close to my best friend if she ever needs me~!” He giggled with fluttering head wings.

Khan clicked his tongue as his fists balled up tight. But he knew he couldn’t do anything. This Apex Drone wasn’t something they could so easily get rid of.

‘Not to mention he’s intent on staying near Uzi.’ His gaze narrowed.

“Fine.” But he conceded as he rubbed his facial screen. “But you’re still staying under surveillance.” He pointed.

“That’s fine! Just don’t get in my way and we’ll have zero problems!” N moved to lie on his side.

Khan puffed out a scoff. He could say the exact same thing.

“Are you sure we should just let that Apex Drone sit there?!” Rich quietly asked his leader, his brows furrowed. “He’s right on top of the car holding all the ladies! Don’t you think it’s dangerous keeping him around?!”

“I know and I agree with you.” Khan turned to his colonymate. “But what other choice do we have? We can’t kill him, he’s more than capable of killing us, not to mention we still need to confirm if what he said is true or not.”

“Why are you going to bother confirming shit?! That’s still an Apex Drone!” Rich argued a little more loudly, throwing an arm towards the said robot.

“I understand your anger, Rich, I really do! But tell me; What the hell can we do against that thing!?!” Khan gestured to N with his own arm.

‘They do realize I can hear them perfectly, right?’ N wondered with an annoyed wave of his tail. ‘And that’s all rich coming from… Rich. Considering I picked up his scent on Uzi once.’

The aforementioned Worker Drone stared at his leader in silence. Khan took it as his answer and lowered his arm with a sigh.

“If you come up with any ideas, then please, tell me. Because I’m more than willing to get rid of one of our predators.” He spoke again. “But until then, we just keep an optic on him and make sure he doesn’t try any funny business.”

Khan walked away before Rich could get another word in. Everyone else in the colony stared with equal uncertainty. No one really knew what to do.

“You all should get some rest. Tonight’s been quite stressful, no?” N suggested from atop his car.

The colony all turned to stare or glare at him. But, seeing as there wasn’t anything else they could do, they took the suggestion. A few stayed up to keep watch, mostly on N now.

The said Apex Drone sighed and rolled onto his back. He stared at the stars twinkling in the sky. He couldn’t help but feel his digital brows crease with worry over his best friend.

‘What happened to get her so sick?’ Was his first question. ‘And how long is this bug going to last? Hopefully she’ll make it through it.’ His wings made a few weak flaps.

‘If not…’ He didn’t know what he’d do.

‘ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕤 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕪 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕦𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕖.’ His shadow spoke, swirling over his head on the truck. ‘𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕪, 𝕌𝕫𝕚 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕𝕟’𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕦𝕡 𝕚𝕟 ℝ𝕠𝕓𝕠-ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟.’

“Would she? I doubt all of them are going to Robo-Heaven.” N mumbled as he pursed his lips in thought. “I know of one drone that certainly isn’t.”

‘𝕆𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕠𝕟𝕖?’ His shadow questioned.

“...” N’s lips stopped pursing. “Two drones. I know of two drones.” He finally said, his tone becoming slightly somber.

‘...’ His shadow was quiet. ‘𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕨𝕠 𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥? 𝕆𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤?’ He questioned to break the uncomfortable silence.

“Could they have moved on at all?” N returned with a question of his own. “Or are their robotic souls stuck haunting me? Or my weapon? Is there even a Heaven or Hell to begin with?”

‘𝕀 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕦𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕗𝕗.’ His shade answered, staring at the stars with him.

“The humans believed in a lot of stuff.” N sighed. “Including-...” He paused.

N and his shadow were silent for a few minutes. The stars stared back at them, mute all the way out in the endless depths of space.

“I’m going into Sleep Mode.” N finalized their conversation by rolling onto his side.

His shadow’s head turned to stare at his back. N covered himself with a wing, curling his legs and tail under it as best he could. Some more mute minutes passed by.

‘𝕀𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕦𝕤, 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥?’ His shadow spoke.

“...” N didn’t respond.

His shade turned back to the sky.

He disappeared without a sound nor trace.

Chapter Text

Snow and ash started to sparkle in the sun’s early rays. As soon as the first vestiges of light started caressing the land, Worker Drones began waking up.

For some, it was a habit. For others, it was a survival instinct. And a few still needed to be woken up after the fiasco last night.

Such memory files came to the very front of Khan’s CPU as he woke up. He stretched out his back, feeling the segments in his backstrut groan and click. A heavy and exhausted sigh left his lips as he straightened.

Hearing a small noise, his sights turned up to the top of a truck. It seems the Apex Drone was just starting to waken as well, stretching himself out like a cat. He opened his jaws wide, wider than any other Apex Drone species could. It only further showed how much of an animal he was.

Khan was tempted to shoot him, even as just a taunt or a warning. But he refrained. The Apex was being “gracious” by not immediately killing them all. Provoking him in such a way would just cause unnecessary trouble.

Instead, the colony leader turned towards his awakening friends. Some were getting ready to divvy out rations. Others picked up weapons and rubbed their visors.

“Once we’ve finished breakfast, we’re getting back on track. The cave shouldn’t be far now.” Khan told his colony, the first words spoken of the day.

They all gave some tired, half-assed replies. Khan didn’t blame them. Even he didn’t want to take on such a commanding tone right now. But he shook the fatigue from his head and went over to the second-in-command.

“Will our rations make us there?” He inquired.

“Honestly? Probably not.” Ron replied truthfully, blinking the focus into his optics. “I’m tempted to just skip my portions all day today just so we might make it.” He confessed.

“You took the words right out of my mouth.” Khan sighed and hung his head. “Guess we’ll just have to pick up the pace.”

“We can try, but we’re all exhausted. I swear some of us are fighting denta and nail just to stay awake.” Ron told him.

Khan gazed at him. He could see weary lines clutching at the inner corners of his eye lights. In his visor’s reflection, Khan could see them clinging to his own silver lights.

“I know, but we have no other choice.” He opted to say. “We either get there and find something, or we don’t and we die anyway.”

“Please don’t act like this whole thing isn’t a gamble in and of itself.” Ron pleaded weakly.

“I’m not. I know that this is our last chance. And I also know that it’s a big risk.” Khan shook his head, his tone becoming sterner.

Ron blinked at him. Khan wondered if he wasn’t going to try and object more. Or maybe fall flat on his face plates with fatigue.

“Just making sure.” But he simply sighed instead. “Are you skipping breakfast as well, or…?” He then peeked an optic open.

“I’ll skip. Might as well save it for the younger drones.” Khan replied with a nod.

“Then let me get a cup for you to give to Uzi.” Ron moved past him.

At the mention of his daughter, Khan’s optics flicked over to the truck she was hiding in. Her Thermal Runaway cycle will last throughout the week. He’ll have to keep an optic on the car since the Apex is using it as his damn bed…

“Here you go, Khan. Think you could also give the other ladies their share?” Ron’s voice snapped him from his glaring.

Khan took the makeshift tray into his hands; It was really just a sheet of spare metal. With a nod, Khan turned to the back of the truck. He knocked gently on the side, alerting the women inside.

Moving a flap out of the way, he peered inside. The women looked nervous and confused. Did they wake up last night? Khan tried not to make too much of a commotion…

“How are you, ladies? The pillbabies alright?” Khan set the tray down to hoist himself up.

“Pearce is alright. Dunno about the fr- Uzi though.” Rebecca supplied, glancing at the said girl.

Uzi stayed huddled in the very back corner. She looked even worse than last night. Either her cycle was especially bad this time, or the Apex presence above was making it worse.

“Well, I brought you all your rations. We’ll be getting a move on soon as well.” Khan told the small group.

He handed out everyone’s portions, oil and metal alike. The last was Uzi, since Khan knew she’d probably need help. And as he approached, her flushing lavender gaze flicked to his silver one. Khan felt a sweat drop mark the corner of his visor.

“Hey, sweetie. How are you holding up?” Khan asked quietly as he sat next to her. He made sure not to touch her in the slightest.

“...Lonely.” Was Uzi’s quiet response.

Khan knew what she meant.

“I-I see.” Khan couldn’t keep the uneasy stutter from his voice. “Well, I brought you some oil. Maybe it’ll help bring down your internal temperature a bit.” He told her, giving her a gentle smile.

Uzi lifted her head and stuck out her hand. Khan carefully gave her the small can, holding it by the rim. The subtle sheen on her fingers didn’t miss his optics.

The young woman downed the cup in seconds. She let out a foggy vent, the blush lines bright on her display. She and Khan sat there for a few minutes.

“Feeling any better?” Her dad wondered.

Uzi shrugged.

“Do you want some metal?” Khan asked next.

Uzi thought it over. She shook her head.

“I want to-”

“Let me take the can from you.” Khan interrupted her, not letting her dare finish that sentence.

He knew Thermal Runaway cycles well by now. Some are worse than others. Some are unnoticeable. Some are long. Some are bothersome to deal with. Uzi’s certainly was of the worse variety, always fogging up her CPU and making her think less clearly.

“I need to check on everyone and make sure we’re ready to head off again. Think you’ll be okay in here?” Khan asked his daughter.

Uzi nodded. She buried herself deeper into her blanket. Khan sighed, wishing there was more he could do. But he wasn’t going to set up his daughter with someone against her true will.

“If you have any problems, don’t be afraid to ask me or Ron. Or any of these nice ladies.” Khan told her.

Uzi just nodded again.

Khan took that as the end to the conversation. He got up with a grunt and hopped out of the truck. Just as he took the sheet of metal, someone spoke up.

“I heard there’s an Apex Drone with us.” It was Rebecca. “You can’t be serious in letting it stay, can you?” A hard glare formed on her face plates.

The other ladies turned to their leader as well. Some were scared and holding their bumps. Others were just as pissed and sending Khan their own mean looks. Said aging drone let out a stressed vent.

“Yes, there is an Apex Drone who’s decided to follow us.” Khan admitted. “No one even knew he was here. Had apparently been trailing us since we left the lab some time ago.”

“Why haven’t you driven him off yet-?!” Rebecca yelled as her brows furrowed deeper.

“What do you expect us to do?! If we couldn’t drive him off the first time, what makes you think we can this time?!” Khan yelled back in his own indignancy.

Pearce’s startled wails of beeps, boops, and blips stopped anyone from saying anything more. Rebecca bounced her new child, trying to shush him. But she still found time to send Khan a glare.

“Sorry. But my point still stands.” Khan quickly apologized. “We can’t do anything, not now. And I doubt we can for a long while.”

‘Not while we’re so low on food.’ He wanted to say.

The manufacturing ladies just stared. Sweat drops had formed onto their visors. Most looked like they still wanted to protest-

“Just give him a chance…” Uzi’s soft voice spoke up, catching their attention. “He can be useful. I know it…” She huffed hot air from her vents.

Rebecca scoffed, holding a whimpering Pearce by her core.

“Of course you’d say that, Uzi.” She sneered.

“It’s still very dangerous, no matter how you look at it.” Another lady spoke up. “But I get what Khan is saying, too. It isn’t like we can do much against an Apex Drone, either.”

“Unless you count being a robot turducken.” One more woman snarled.

“Enough!” This conversation was getting on Khan’s nerves. “We’ve already decided what to do last night, so there’s no going back now! Just focus on your rest and pillbabies, please.” He begged with tired optics.

The group just stared at him. No one said a thing, just turned their heads away. Khan let out one more vent and let the flap close.

“It’s rude to talk about someone right below them, you know.” N spoke up, peering over the top of the truck.

Khan startled and whipped his head towards him. A disgruntled expression made itself known on his visor.

“You also stay quiet.” He pointed. “The only reason you’re even here right now is because we can’t kill you, and Uzi has some sort of fascination with keeping you around.”

N’s smile faltered at the mention of his best friend.

“Say, what is wrong with her? You never told me.” He inquired, his kicking feet stopping.

“And I’m still not going to.” Khan huffed and turned away.

N’s optics trailed after him. He sighed and sat up, letting his legs dangle off the truck. The sentient vehicle started up as Khan started giving orders.

‘Guess I’ll have to do a little snooping around.’ He tilted his head towards the sky.

It was still brightening, a cascade of various shades of blue painting it. N lifted a hand towards the sky, as if to dip it in the dimming stars and ombre colors. A gentle wind brushed against his palm and made his head feathers sway with his hair.

The truck began moving and N lowered his hand. More gentle breezes pushed against his back. He looked around, noting how fast the cars were going. Most, if not all of the colony, were also inside or hanging onto the sides of the cars.

‘Guess they’ve got somewhere real important to go.’ N thought.

He lied onto his back to stare at the brightening sky. There wasn’t much he could do all alone. Especially not when every single robot here hates him. Understandable however!

‘I wonder, though… Should I get more sleep? Or see what’s up with Uzi?’ He questioned in his head, his tail waving.

‘𝕀 𝕒𝕞 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕟𝕠𝕨, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕗𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕.’ His shadow chuckled.

“Probably…” N muttered. “But what else am I supposed to do? It’s so boring without my best friend!” He whined, splaying his limbs out.

‘𝕄𝕒𝕪𝕓𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕓𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤.’ A shadow snake scoffed.

N’s expression fell into discontent as he growled.

“I’m not whining.” He huffed.

‘𝕊𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕟’𝕥.’ The same demon spoke.

‘𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨, 𝕚𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕔𝕒𝕟’𝕥 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦, 𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟’𝕥 𝕕𝕠 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥.’ Another demon spoke up.

“I’m not killing them!” N retorted with twitching brows.

‘ℕ𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥! 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕚𝕥’𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘.’ The snake replied. ‘𝕀 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕗𝕗 𝕠𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖! 𝕆𝕣 𝕗𝕝𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕! 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕒𝕥𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕠𝕒𝕥.’ He elaborated.

N gave it some thought. It was tempting… But that’d still only take up so much of his time.

‘ℍ𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕤𝕠 𝕒𝕝𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕒𝕟 𝕠𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟, 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕪.’ His shadow suggested.

“No, I don’t want to stray. Especially if Uzi isn’t feeling well.” N shot that down quickly. “It’s fine. I can find some way to busy myself while the colony is traveling.” He sat back up.

His neon turquoise gaze turned to the morning sun. It has just about fully come out from hiding now. N wonders how long it’ll take for these guys to reach their destination. Judging by the sudden increase in speed, they’re becoming desperate.

N spun around to stare at the direction they were heading. He could see a mountain close in the distance. His wings twitched. The ones of his hips wrapped around his torso.

“Maybe I can find myself a snack once we get there.” He smirked.

‘𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗 𝕒 𝕤𝕟𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖.’ A snake of shade spoke up.

N smacked it upside the head with his dark tail.

“How many times have I told you already?! I’m not killing anyone from this colony!” He yelled.

The snake grumbled and dove back into his shadow. N rolled his optics and leaned onto a palm.

‘I don’t even know why I bother acknowledging them…’ He blew out an annoyed sigh.

Chapter Text

After such long travels, the colony had finally made it to the mine’s front door. A large and deep indent in the ground, circling pathways swirling into its depths. Snow and ice covered the paths, making them more treacherous than before the planet’s collapse.

Khan stared down into the mines, eyeing the glistening frost for predators or rival colonies. His fingers tapped on his cheiroballista as his gaze narrowed.

“Find anything dangerous yet?” N’s voice spoke from atop a car.

“Only you.” The older man sighed.

“So then we’re going down into that pit, right?” N inquired next, kicking his feet in the air playfully.

“That you are.” Khan returned, walking past him.

The Apex Drone giggled. “Hmhm! I thought–! Wait, what?” He then whipped around towards the man.

“I’m not putting any of my colonymates in danger. You’re also the strongest among us here. So good luck!” Khan smiled with a wave.

“I-I never agreed to–! GAH!!” N didn’t get to finish as he was knocked from his seat.

He fell onto the snow and groaned. N got up, shook and brushed off the frost, and glared at Khan. He only retorted with a poke to his back from a stick.

“I am not a cow!” N shouted.

“Then go on down there! If you hate being poked so much!” Khan hollered back.

A couple more prods and N was slapping the damn stick away. He huffed and turned around, peering into the giant pit himself. He didn’t get to stare long as Khan shoved him down the path with his stick.

N bounced around and yelped at each hit, tumbling all the way to the bottom of the crater. As he did so, his plating dented and broke off, wires snapped or were cut open, same with oil tubes, and his joints, gears, pistons, endoskeleton, and more were broken.

Once the Apex Drone met the bottom of the crater, he fell silent and limp. Khan watched from the head frame high above. He let out a mildly amused laugh at the oily but tiny sight below.

“Guess it wasn’t that hard to kill one of those bastards.” He mused to himself.

Unfortunately for Khan, one of N’s arms suddenly snapped back into place. His hand slapped onto the ground, gripping it tight as his body slowly morphed and fixed itself back into its original state.

Khan’s expression turned disgusted at the sight. Joints lodging themselves back into their sockets, endoskeleton parts reconnecting, wires slithering back towards one another, oil tubes reattaching, all accompanied by grotesque sounds; Scraping, groaning, and cracking. It was like something out of a human horror film.

N’s lower body made a sudden and swift flip. He rolled onto his back with a huff. The Apex managed to painfully sit up enough to grasp onto his lower body and forcefully locate it back into place.

After he relocated his hip joints and spinal ridge, N took his twisted leg and yanked it back into place. Metal nanites oozed from the crevices of the broken metal, rending it back into something much nicer.

The same thing happened with his hip wings; N grabbed one and pushed it back where it should be. The other was twisted around and the peeping wires and tubes were pushed back in one by one.

More liquid metal secreted from within N’s wounds, healing up all that was broken. Even his shattered visor was fixed up. Once everything was said and done, N looked as good as new.

“That was a dick move, old man!” N shouted from below.

Khan snapped out of his disgusted reverie. He scoffed and turned his gaze away.

“It was worth a shot!” He called back.

N clicked his serpentine tongue in annoyance.

“You’re lucky your daughter is my best friend, otherwise I’d have killed you for that.” He muttered under his vents.

Brushing off the rest of the snow, N turned towards the mine’s adit. He let out a sigh and began making his way towards it.

‘Clearly that old pile of scrap won’t be letting me come back up without having checked this place out first.’ His tongue flicked out in an annoyed hiss.

Taking a look around, N wasn’t met with much. Abandoned machines already pillaged for scrap and materials, a few tools left buried in the ice and snow, large rocks set in piles. It was unassuming all things considered.

But N stepped into the startings of the mineshaft, his neon turquoise eye lights glancing around and glowing in the dark. He picked up a pebble and flicked it towards one of the lamps hanging along the wall. It didn’t do anything.

“I don’t hear a generator… I don’t see, smell, or hear any workers or Apexes…” N’s tongue flicked out. “Seems like this place is pretty dead and empty.”

N walked a little deeper into the dark depths of the shaft. His heels tapped upon the ground, echoing out in the long hall. It felt marginally warmer within the mineshaft than outside of it.

But N didn’t find anything useful or dangerous here. This place might be as much of a bust as everywhere else those Worker Drones have looked for oil.

“Welp! Not my problem!” N shrugged and spun on his heels.

He left the mineshaft and flew back up to the Worker Drones. “I saw, smelled, and heard absolutely nothing while down there! Unless you count minerals and abandoned equipment.” He notified.

“Good.” Khan nodded. “Let’s start getting the trucks down there! We need to see if there’s any oil in those mines!” He called to his colony.

The trucks were escorted to the berms. Everyone was slow as they filled onto the slanted cut-outs of rock. N watched for a moment, eyeing the hidden sheets of ice.

“You should be careful going down there.” He warned Khan. “Lest someone trip and fall like how you made me.” His tail waved in front of the man.

Khan tilted his chin up so as to avoid getting touched by the serpentine limb. He gave a mild glare to the Apex Drone as he followed a random vehicle. Yet, he couldn’t stop the sweat drop from blinking onto his visor.

“Take your time when going down the slopes! We don’t want anyone to get hurt!” He shouted.

It took some time, but everyone made it to the crater safely. As they took a few moments of rest, Khan walked up to the mineshaft. He peered inside its pitch black depths.

“Did you smell oil while in here?” Khan asked the Apex.

“If I did I would’ve told you, wouldn’t I?” N returned, filing a claw.

Khan turned over his shoulder to glare at him. “How about you get off your snakey ass and come in with us? He could use a hound.”

“Not if you’re going to treat me like that.” N huffed, turning his head away.

Khan held back the aggravated groan. “It would really help us out! Please!” He stomped on over, setting his hands on his hips.

“I have no obligation to help you any further than I already have.” N retorted with a whip of his tail. “Not only did you push me down a cliff, but you wouldn’t have let me back up without checking the place out, you risked my own survival, you’ve been mean and rude to me, and we aren’t even friends!” He proceeded to list.

Khan’s glower only got deeper and more pissed. N couldn’t give less of a shit, blowing off metal dust and inspecting his sharpened claws.

“But you’re my daughter’s friend, aren’t you?” Khan inquired back, his smile strained. “And I’m sure it would make her very mad if you didn’t help us survive. I’m sure she’d even blame you for our deaths!”

“I think you give your daughter too little credit, Junkheap.” Khan bristled at the insult. “Your daughter may be sick right now, but she’s still smarter than you like to think. After all, I am here, aren’t I?” The smirk N gave Khan was pompous and vainglorious.

Khan’s grip on his waist tightened. Even his smile fell, much to the Apex Drone’s amusement. It was oddly fun riling this Junkheap up.

But while the two were arguing, Uzi poked her head out of the truck’s flaps. She watched the other manufacturing ladies having lunch together, sitting with their spouses. Uzi could feel her machine fabricator sizzle inside her frame. She shook her head and turned it away, hopping out of the truck.

Uzi trudged over to the mineshaft, staring down its gullet. There was not a single light inside. Just darkness and emptiness.

A few foggy vents puffed past her lips. Uzi took another glance around, noting how everyone was busy. She swallowed the lump of static and headed inside the cavern. She needed a little time to herself, to calm down.

‘Being around so many guys during this stupid cycle is so annoying!’ She mutely heard her footsteps echo.

Once far enough, Uzi slowed into a walk and took out her stolen flashlight. The heat in her frame was getting uncomfortable. She took off her blanket and jacket. Even still, she felt so warm. But Uzi kept going, looking around and peering into branching hallways.

Her path was illuminated by her torch, gazing deep into the trenches of the mine. It was totally silent except for her footsteps. It gave Uzi the creeps, a chill running down her spinal ridge. Yet she didn’t falter. She kept on going, searching for anything that could lead her to oil.

Her father wanted to keep this whole thing a secret from everybody, but Uzi’s smarter than he wants to believe. She knows that things have gotten dire, especially if they had to make a break for this mine.

‘Why else would he hurry everyone up?’

Uzi shook her head and kept walking. She leaned to stare inside the room, only finding dead drones, skeletons, tools, and ores inside. Not anything all that useful, except maybe the pickaxes.

‘If they aren’t rusted to hell and back, that is.’ Uzi let out a sigh.

Her frame continued to burn up and her visor continued to flush vibrantly. Uzi let out a misty sigh, her legs beginning to ache, among other areas. Deciding that she shouldn’t be here any longer, Uzi made her way back down the mineshaft.

“You are the most insufferable robot I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting!!” Khan shouted, an anger tick on his visor.

“Same here.” N replied absentmindedly, reading a book.

Khan growled and slapped his hands over his face. N just ignored him, flipping a page.

‘𝕀 𝕨𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕙𝕖’𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕟𝕟𝕒 𝕓𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕒 𝕗𝕦𝕤𝕖.’ A shadow snake snickered.

‘ℍ𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕠𝕠𝕟. 𝕀𝕥’𝕤 𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖.’ Another replied, the two watching the aging robot.

N ignored the demons, though his head wing flicked when he heard echoing footsteps. He turned towards the mineshaft, watching his best friend exit it. A bright smile formed on his face plates as he stood from his perch on rocks.

Pushing Khan to the floor, N ran over to his best friend. “UZIII!!! I’m glad to see you finally walking around a little!!” N shouted jovially.

Uzi couldn’t get much out before he was wrapping her up in his arms. He spun the two of them around for a moment, his wings curling around her back. Uzi’s already flushed visor went even brighter at the contact, her crotch aching even worse.

“N-N! Let go!” Uzi exclaimed, her hands clawing at his arms.

“Just a few more seconds? I haven’t been able to talk or see you at all lately!” N cooed with a giggle.

Uzi had to bite her lip hard enough to pierce it before she let out an involuntary moan. Thankfully for her, Khan was quick to pry N off her and push him back.

“Keep your damn claws off my daughter!” That, and train his weapon on him.

N stared at the arrow’s sharp tip with a smile. He pushed it aside with a finger, training his gaze on the older Worker Drone.

“My, there’s no need to be so overprotective.” He commented with a wave of his tail.

“I disagree, venator.” The worker snarled.

One of N’s head wings flicked at the word. But he didn’t let his smile fall.

“Well, I’m sorry that I offended you so much then.” He said.

Khan just scoffed. “Sure you are.”

Uzi snuck away while she could. She returned to the truck and hopped inside. Sitting at the back, she took a few deep vents to calm herself. Well– More like her machine fabricator.

‘I hate these stupid fucking Thermal Runaway cycles…’ Uzi rested her forehead on her knees. ‘What’s even the purpose of these damn cycles!? Just to torment all of womankind?!’

A groan left Uzi’s voice box. She lifted her head again, rubbing a hand over half her face. Some blush lines were swiped away with it, though she knows it’s only temporary.

“I just want this damn cycle to be over with already…” She took another deep vent to cool her inner frame. “Unfortunately, there’s still at least two or three more days of this hell.”

Uzi was ready to just give up and feed herself to some Apex Drones at this point…

Chapter Text

“Let’s make sure to search every corner of this place.” Khan spoke to some colony members. “And don’t split up. Just because we had that Apex Drone check this place out doesn’t mean he didn’t half-ass it.” He warned, a pointed look sent N’s way.

“If you find anything suspicious, regroup with the rest of us right away.” Khan continued. “Same goes for finding oil.”

The other drones all nodded and gave verbal confirmation. Khan split them up into pairs and handed out some supplies to make their trek inside the cave easier.

Other colony members set up a temporary camp within the crater. A few got to work sorting through supplies and others helped the manufacturing women out of the truck. They had their own little place for them to relax and chatter.

A few groups were made to keep watch over the area around them. Apex Drones could pick up their scent easily with them sitting in one place like this. Not to mention any other hostile colonies that might stop by.

Though, not everyone was too privy on helping out the colony. Not everyone even cared about the colony. Only one particular drone from it.

N knocked on the truck’s trunk to alert Uzi of his presence. He didn’t even wait for her reply before inviting himself in, poking his head through the flaps. His grin widened when he spotted the female Worker Drone sitting all on her lonesome in the back.

“Hiii, Uzi~” N sing-songed. “How’re you doing? You’ve been cooping yourself up in here for a few days now!” He clambered onto the truck bed.

“I’m doing fine, thank you.” Uzi scooted further away from him. “I’m just– Not feeling very well.” She added, curling into herself tighter.

“Aw! Are you still sick?!” N inquired, scooting closer. “If you’d like, I could go and get some oil for you!” He offered as his head wings fluttered.

“I-I’m okay, thanks!” Uzi leaned further away. “I just need to be alone for a little while. I’ll get over it in a couple days…” Her voice softened as she rested her mouth on her knees.

N’s grin fell and he looked at her with concern. “You’ve been sick for a while now, haven’t you? Aren’t you more worried about yourself?” His own voice grew quiet in worry.

“Well– Sure! But it’ll pass! It always does!” Uzi argued with a huff. “I don’t like being around anyone when I’m sick, is all!” Her visor went minutely flush at how close they were in this cramped space.

“But this is the truck where all the manufacturing ladies stay…” N pointed out.

Uzi stiffened. She cursed herself for his noticing of that.

‘Guess he isn’t as oblivious as he seems.’

“Well, it’s fewer drones to be around, isn’t it?” Uzi questioned back with a glance.

“I suppose so…” N shrugged. “Either way, maybe it would be good for you to stretch your legs a little? It must be boring sitting in this dark, cramped trunk for so long.” He told her.

Uzi couldn’t exactly argue with that. ‘It might also be nice to get away from bots like Rebecca. She keeps disturbing me by showing off her damn kid!’ She squeezed her optics shut in agitation.

But she vented out a sigh to calm herself. “Maybe a bit…” Uzi admitted.

“Then why don’t we take a walk together? Get away from everyone else and warm up the joints and wires in our legs?” N offered with another grin.

Uzi had to take a minute to think about it. ‘Taking a walk would be nice, but I’d rather be alone when doing so. I don’t want to get so close to N that my Thermal Runaway cycle flares up…’ She held her knees tighter to her chest.

“You seem hesitant.” N noted, catching the woman’s attention again. “Do you not want to take a walk?” He cocked his head while his tail waved.

“I-It would be nice, but I would like to take it alone, is all.” Uzi admitted, turning her gaze away once more.

N was quiet as he took in her reply. His neon turquoise gaze narrowed on Uzi’s face plates. It wasn’t hard to miss the blush lines marking the cheeks of her facial screen with how dim it was in the truck bed.

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” N’s voice took a sudden serious tone. “Why would you want to go out on your own? I know that you’re smarter than this—you wouldn’t risk getting caught by other Apexes.” He shifted onto his knees.

A sweat drop blinked onto Uzi’s visor. “It’d-d be nice to get away from all the digital testosterone!” She argued. “Not to mention that I’m not some dainty little flower! I can handle myself, thank you!” Her brows furrowed deep.

“You have no real weapon.” N pointed out as he slithered closer. “And if you’re sick, you shouldn’t be doing anything too reckless or exhausting.” He encroached upon Uzi as she hugged the corner.

“And even you would rather put up with ‘digital testosterone’ if it meant you were safe and could live another day.” His hands pressed against the floor next to her legs.

N stared deep into Uzi’s optics. She glowered defiantly back. She could feel how her visor was even hotter. Uzi could feel N’s vents faintly brush against her bangs. A lump of static formed in her throat and her thighs drew tighter together.

“I just want to know what’s wrong with you.” N spoke. “You’re my best friend, and I don’t want to lose you. If there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it! Your father be damned, I’ll help you in any way I can!” He pleaded as his brows creased.

Uzi just about stiffened at the statement. Such a proclamation—to do anything it takes to help her—made the fuzzy part of her CPU muddled by her Thermal Runaway cycle imagine the ways he could help her.

Hovering over top of her and connecting their frames. Tracing his fangs and tongue along the most sensitive parts of her body. His tail winding around her limbs and keeping her still as he eased her cycle. His wings encasing her entirely as they cooled down and rested afterwards.

The thoughts became rampant before Uzi could catch them. Her ladyhood began to throb and her visor went even brighter—even hotter! Squeezing her legs as tightly as she could wasn’t cutting it anymore.

A hand started to trail down beneath her blanket and towards her pants. Uzi managed to break through her foggy CPU enough to stop herself. But the need she had was showing clear as day on her face plates.

N’s expression grew even more worried. It reminded him of when she’d collapsed right before him in that forest. Blushing, panting, flinching. Was it happening again?

“Uzi, tell me what’s wrong. This isn’t normal.” N pleaded as he inched his head closer. “Even for other Worker Drones, this isn’t normal.” His tail waved closer, as if to wrap around her.

Yet N was hesitant, for if he did, he might just make her collapse again. If his touch hurt her the first time, wouldn’t it do so a second?

Uzi kept her mouth shut. If she opened it, she has no doubt the first thing to leave it would be a moan.

“I can tell this is the same thing as last time in the forest, so just tell me what it is.” N’s voice softened as his head wings drooped further. “It’s fine if you don’t want help, but can’t you tell your best friend what’s wrong with you?” Hints of sorrow welled in his optics.

‘Robo-God, he’s so dramatic…’ Some hazy part of Uzi’s CPU wanted to reply. ‘But I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this from him. Even if I can still keep the cycle a secret, it’ll just happen next month! He’s going to notice!’

Uzi turned her gaze back to the Apex Drone. He looked so scared for her. There was no reason for him to do so. And it almost disgusted Uzi… Why was an Apex Drone being so caring?

Yet the cycling part of her was flattered that he cared so much. It was more than she could say about others like Prad, Chad, or Rebecca.

“I-I’m not dying or anything…!” Uzi managed to get out without embarrassing herself. “I’m just– Ther-re’s a cycle women go through.” She puffed.

“A cycle? Like a reboot or update?” N inquired, his eye lights widening.

“Sort of.” Uzi nodded. “We-e get hot, and flustered, and-d confused.” She swallowed.

Uzi had to take a couple seconds to vent, so as to not let out a moan. N scooted even closer, her voice soft within the truck bed. Uzi’s visor only went brighter.

“And this cycle is why you collapsed the other day?” The Apex Drone questioned.

Uzi nodded. N’s head wings drooped.

“It lasts just a-a week. So it’ll be over in a f-ew days.” Uzi went on.

“That’s a relief.” N sighed out, a small grin forming on his face plates. “But why seclude yourself? Or try to?” He asked next, his tail waving again.

“B-Because…” Uzi was hesitant to say it.

She really didn’t want to give out this piece of information to him. What would N do if he were to know the reason why? Would it put Uzi in danger? Would he whisk her away in the night just to have his way with her?

“Because…” But her cycle flared up again, making Uzi’s posture fall lax.

N was giving her his full attention, but not his full attention. She craved it, yearned for it. How good would it feel if he were to whisk her away? If he were to have his way with her? If he helped to ease this dumb cycle of hers, even just once?

“It’s… A Thermal Runaway cycle.” Uzi was explaining it in further detail without even noticing. “Women get it once a month, and our machine fabricators become more active.” Her visor could probably light up this whole truck bed by now.

N’s virtual brow quirked. It took him a good minute to figure out what she meant. And when he did, N’s eye lights went void and his visor went flush.

“I-I see…” Was all he could muster out. “And so this– This Thermal Runaway cycle has you getting flustered? And, well, you know.” He went on as his tail began to more fervently wave around.

Uzi nodded.

“Ah. Oh my…” N’s visor grew flusher as a smirk spread across his face plates. “So-o my touch that night—it’s why you collapsed?” He looked at her from the corner of his visor.

“Yes, it is.” Uzi panted out, growing a bit confused and worried.

N’s turquoise gaze fell to the truck bed floor. He let out a giggle as his blush lines increased. His wings began to make small flaps.

“It did, huh~?” He vented out, his hands holding his cheeks.

N turned his gaze back up to Uzi. She made a small flinch, more so from the way he was reacting. She knew this was gonna be bad.

“Th-Then I think it’s safe to say that you’re getting exceptionally hot, Uzi~! And, well, not just in a looks kind of way.” N noted, putting a hand to her forehead.

The Worker Drone made a moan in return. N let out a giggle at it, pulling his hand back. Uzi gave him a glower through her fluster. Though, as he leaned back to give her some venting room, N’s gaze became more analytical.

‘So this Thermal Runaway cycle… This must be what caused her to collapse a few days ago.’ N let his hand fall from his face. ‘I guess… She truly is sick, in a way.’

“Is there… Anything that I can do to help you?” He asked as he kept their gazes connected.

Uzi had two vulgar words right on the tip of her tongue. But she was able to slap a hand to her mouth before she spewed them out. Instead, she shook her head.

N didn’t believe her, didn’t really want to anyway. But he opted to nod and let her be. As her best friend, he shouldn’t go and make her too uncomfortable! But as her best friend, he should be there to help her!

“Well, alright.” The Apex Drone said. “But if you do need something, feel free to ask! I still don’t completely understand this cycle thing you’re going through, but I’ll be here if you ever need me.” He gave her a reassuring grin.

“And I promise that I’ll do anything to help you~” His grin turned mischievous in a split second, his tail trailing under her chin to lift it.

Uzi moaned through her mouth, her frame growing rigid. But her hand grabbed tight onto his tail and pushed it away. N giggled again and slipped it from her grip.

“I should leave you alone. That offer for the walk is still up, by the way, if you ever feel up to it.” He told her as he crawled backwards. “If you need me, just give me a shout, best friend~” And falling backwards out of the flaps, he disappeared just like that.

Uzi stared after him with heaving pants. She waited a couple of minutes before letting her hand fall. Her legs trembled and her crotch burned. Uzi opened her legs within the blanket wrapped around her.

Her lavender and flushed gaze fell onto her crotch. Uzi swallowed and undid the belt, button, and zipper. Her hand was diving into her panties faster than she could blink.

The Worker Drone’s other hand slapped back to her mouth to stifle her moans and pleased hums. Uzi shifted to turn onto her side and let her back face the door. The blanket covered enough that it would look odd, but not too questionable.

Uzi closed her optics shut tight and let her hand do all the work. She kept out somewhat of an audial in case someone came by, but she focused mostly on easing her cycle.

‘And I wouldn’t even need to do this if that stupid Apex Drone didn’t get so nosy and close!’ Uzi wanted to growl out, though only a stifled moan did.

Hopefully N will at least not be  too much of an absolute asshole and stick to merely teasing her every now and then. But if he does, her Thermal Runaway cycles are going to get exponentially harder to deal with from now on. Uzi can just feel it.