Archive of Our Own ^beta

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A loud alarm blared throughout the bedroom as morning creeped up on the young drone as she slept. Sleep slowly fading away as the persistent alarm kept blaring in her head, reminding the drone that it was time to wake up. Grumbling to herself as her screen flashed to show her eyes opening up, she hit the side of her phone to shut the annoying alarm up. Uzi was finally awake, somewhat at least, but not without feeling groggy like she normally would.

She slowly sat up from her bed, shaking her head slightly as she took a moment to adjust to the morning. She doesn’t typically wake up early like this, but she has been trying to fix her sleep a little bit, even if it’s wasn’t working out the greatest. Today seems to be an exception however, but that’s only because her bed was empty. She didn’t have N to convince them both for “a few more minutes”. He typically can’t argue against her, especially if Uzi was laying directly on top of him, giving him a cute look.

Her sunset colored display finally lightens up fully, as she finally woke up completely. Grumbling one more time, she got herself out of bed and stretched her arms. She could have ignored the alarm and went back to sleep, but she’s promised N that she’d at least try to be better with her sleep. There’s been too many nights where she's stayed up way past her warning of low energy. Too focused on her work in the workshop to even care about sleep. It’s a miracle that she hasn’t shut down in any of these cases, but that’s most likely because she had batteries holding her over until the very end.

“…you’re lucky I like you to even consider this N.” Uzi groggily says to herself, as she quickly swapped out of her sleepwear into her normal attire. Zipping up her jacket and putting her beanie on, she adjusted it just so it sat right on her head. She smiled in the mirror, happy with how it was fitted, but not before an unwanted presence floated up next to her.

“Hmm, I think. That beanie would look. Better if. There was a. A bow tie with it. Don’t ya think.” 

The robotic voice of Cyn was a constant reminder of an annoyance that Uzi has to live with now. Her tail, now controlled by Cyn, is up right next to her head as it stares into the mirror with Uzi. She kept it there, silently waiting for a response from the sleepy drone who just woke up. Uzi was too tired to even start dealing with her antics now. She didn’t take long to backhand her tail away from her head.

“Bite me. At least give me some time to wake up before you start annoying me.” Cyn’s robotic laugh is heard lightly as her tail slips back down behind Uzi, granting her temporary peace. Uzi sighed as the tail floated back down. Cyn may not be a threat anymore, but it wasn’t going to stop her from being downright annoying to live with. Uzi was already at her wits end with her.

Taking a moment to double check herself, she once again smiled as she finally left her dark room to see what’s going on in the house. She was hoping N was still around, so therefore she could quickly distract herself from Cyn’s unwanted attention. As she walks down the halls, Uzi turns her attention to all the nice photos that she has set up on the wall. Various pictures of her and N mainly litter the hall, but there’s a couple of her with some others like V, Khan, some with her mom and even Thad surprisingly. Even though she would rather be the brooding and edgy type who didn’t care about anything, she’d be lying if she wasn’t proud and happy about where she is at now in life.

It's been almost two years since she met N and V. It’s only been a year since everything went down on the planet. A year since Cyn attempted to destroy their home and life all to satiate the hunger for the Absolute Solver. A year since Uzi became the primary user for the Absolute Solver…A year since she nearly lost her life with N and everyone else. It’s a time that she'd rather forget, because those memories still keep her up at night from time to time, plaguing her mind like a virus.

There’s been enough nights where she’s woken up suddenly, just barely escaping a hellish nightmare, with her core beating rapidly and her “breathing” heavy. These nights would see Uzi at her lowest, close to having a meltdown in front of N, apologizing to him about almost killing him several times and fearing for her life and future. She would rapidly descend into her most horrifying fears, worrying about everything at once and feeling like the worst drone in the world. It was always N that was able to calm her down from these moments and reminded her that those days are over, and that there was nothing to be afraid of. Nobody else was going to hurt them, and nothing was going to happen to her.

She’d love to believe him, she really would love to, but one quick glance down at her tail makes her remember that she’s not truly gone. It’s not truly over. Yeah sure, Cyn hasn’t tried anything. She’s more or less been acting like “her old self” according to N and V at least. She hasn’t tried anything malicious, but Uzi still can’t shake the feeling that something could happen. It could only take one mess up to reinitiate the horror all over again. One mishap and who knows what could happen. Cyn could take over Uzi’s body and force her to do things against her will, or she could somehow find her own host and start bringing everything to ruin once again, kinda like what she did to Tessa a year ago. Uzi wasn’t sure what Cyn’s true goals were here, whether it be for the Absolute Solver or to just simply annoy her for the rest of time, but it was not something the drone was fine living with. Uzi always put on a brave face no matter what, but Cyn’s constant presence scared her more than she’s happy to admit.

Deep down, she was terrified of Cyn.

She didn’t let those dark thoughts consume her this time around. Uzi was so focused on heading to the living room that she didn’t linger on them for long. She just woke up, she was too tired to be dreading potential danger at the moment. It wasn’t going to matter if she started worrying anyways because she knew who would help her calm down from her fears, and it didn’t take a genius to know who that person was.

N was sitting on the couch, reading a book about all sorts of dogs in the world. It was his favorite pastime to do, read various books about all sorts of information. Regardless if said information was not true anymore, it was still very engaging to learn about all of this prior stuff he’s known nothing about. He would giggle to himself as he delved deeper and deeper into the book, taking in every single fact that he could. He read a book like this a long time ago, when he was still working in the Manor on Earth, but it never stopped him from reading facts about dogs. He found them way too adorable.

A chuckle was heard from behind the book, and as N looked up to see what that was, he already knew it could only be one person. In the end of the hallway stood Uzi as she saw N reading his dog book once again. She smiled as she saw his tail start wagging much faster, now seeing that she was there with him. His face beamed with a bright smile as he waved at her.

“Good morning Uzi! Glad to see you up so early! I would hope your sleep is slowly starting to improve?” He asks, tilting his head to wait for a response. Uzi chuckled as she stepped forward.

“I’m slowly getting there, it’s still difficult to get up this early. Almost had to convince myself to stay in bed but you weren’t there to cuddle with so I had to get up.” Uzi fake pouted, giving a cheeky smile to the drone in front of her.

“Hehe, well I’m glad to see you’re at least trying to get better with your sleep. You need it after all the nights you’ve decided to stay up late!” N put his book down next to him on the couch as he gave Uzi his full attention now.

She shook her head as she climbs on to him and hugs him gently.

“Oh, bite me! You can at the very least say “good job Uzi.” she scoffs. N just chuckled and hugged her back.

“Well then, good job dear, I'm very proud of you.” Uzi felt some blushing appear on her screen as she looked away in embarrassment, lightly pushing away from N.

“Heyyy! That’s too much, you know that!” N laughs even more as he watched his girlfriend turned into a blushing mess, trying her best to not be seen. It was too adorable for the disassembly drone. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek, which did not help Uzi try to calm down from the embarrassment she was feeling.

“…you’re like an actual dog you know that? Always so cheerful and full of life. Always finding a way to put a smile on my face.” She muttered, as she finally looks back at N, seeing his tail wag even more and hearing him purr at her with satisfaction.

“I take that with a sense of pride! I like dogs! It would be nice to meet one someday!” He beams that same golden smile he always has, which doesn’t fail to make Uzi feel happy as well.

“Just take a look in the mirror and you’ll have met one! One big Golden Retriever right in front of me!” That caused both of them to laugh, giggling at one another. Eventually Uzi did roll off N and ended up next to him on the couch.

“Ahh…Well, what’s the plan for you today hmm? Got anything fun going down?” N turned to Uzi, wiping a digital tear from his eye. She takes a moment to think before looking back.

“Well, I could always continue coding. Try to see if I can figure out a solution to this problem.” She grabs her tail and shakes it, getting the “problem” across. Her tail just shakes a bit, looking displeased.

“Eye. Roll. You know you. Like me.” Cyn muttered out with some smugness to her tone, even though it is a bit hard to tell with how she talks. Uzi rolls her eyes and looks away from her. Cyn looks over at N.

“Good morning. Big Brother. It’s always nice. To see you. Happy smile.” She says, waving the tail a little bit to signal a greeting. N just smiles gently and waves back. Uzi is less than thrilled to hear Cyn again, so she quickly brushes the tail away from the both of them.

N refocuses his attention back on Uzi, and gently cupped the side of her face. She starts blushing again but this time she doesn’t try to push herself away. She leaned into the touch more, purring softly against his hand.

“Just don’t kill yourself over your work again. It was hard dragging you out of your workshop the other day!” He giggled gently, as Uzi pouts at him.

“I was close to something I know I was!…Or at least I thought I was, until the code failed on me in its testing phase. It’s tricky narrowing down a fix when there’s so many parameters to go through!” Uzi sighs, shaking her head and looking up at N. He just gave a warm smile down at her.

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out! You are very smart with that sort of stuff so I believe in you!” He said with a gleeful smile. Uzi just rolls her eyes and looks away, although she was smiling just as much. N then looked back at her as an idea popped into his head.

Well, once you're in need of that break, we can spend some more time together! Do whatever comes to mind for you! I think it would be nice!” N blushes slightly, scratching the back of his head and looking at Uzi. She also blushes, and gave a cheeky grin at the drone in front of her.

“Well if you insist.” She grinned teasingly, sticking her tongue out at N, who giggles at her comment and does the same in return.

“Well, I better eat something before I go and spend half my day coding.” N nods, watching Uzi get up from the couch. She stops momentarily as she smirked to herself.

“Oh, one more thing.” Uzi turned around, looking at N. His display changed into question marks, before Uzi leaned down towards him and gave him a gentle kiss. He’s momentarily stunned before Uzi pulled away, blushing and patting his head. He just started giggling at her with a grin.

“Have I ever told you how cute you are?” N gives Uzi a dopey look, causing her to blush more and look away from him, hands to her face, covering her blush. “You’re the cutest drone I know!”

“No I’m not! That’s false! You’re wrong! Bleugh, I’m going to eat now, if you need me I’ll be in the kitchen!” She shook her head, quickly walking out of the living room, leaving N by himself. He just chuckled at her and smiled once more.

His life has completely changed for the better all thanks to Uzi. Once a bloodthirsty and vicious disassembly drone, he now has a proper life with her. Uzi showed him there was more to his existence than to just kill and feast, and that he was so much more than what he was turned into. He has also had moments where the guilt of everything was incredibly strong. Similar to Uzi, N has had his fair share of night terrors and panic attacks too, but he was always able to rely on Uzi, and even V on a couple of occasions to help calm him down, and he was forever grateful for that.

He truly felt like the luckiest drone in the world.

As he turned his attention back to his book, he thought about that last thought he just had, and he wondered something. It has been a while since he’s seen or even heard from V. Not terribly long, but at least a good week or so. He thought about it for a minute, before getting an idea. Since Uzi is going to be neck deep in her work for a good chunk of the day, this would be the perfect time for N to visit V, and see what she’s been up to.

“It wouldn’t hurt to see her.” He said to himself, as he opened his book once more and continued to read. As he did that, he started planning when and how he would see her. Unlike the two of them, V doesn’t live with them. In fact, according to his knowledge, she didn’t really have a place to stay. She was typically on her own somewhere else in the outpost, unknown whether she had a place or was just sleeping wherever. It is sometimes hard to find her, but there is one reliable place where she likes to hang out. N smiles at the plan, since he knows exactly where to go first.

Hopefully it wouldn’t be a bad time to see V.

Chapter Text

N decided to let a bit of the morning pass by before he decided to leave his place. He didn’t want to show up to Lizzy’s door real early in the day. He was aware that they could’ve been sleeping still, and it would not be a great start to the visit to wake them up from a peaceful slumber. Knowing V, she would’ve outright killed him herself if he disturbed her while sleeping. He’d know from experience.

He spent that time finishing up the dog book he’s been reading, proudly taking in more information about dogs that he most likely already knew from his old book, but learned about regardless. With a satisfied grin, he placed the book back up on the bookshelf it came from before heading down towards Uzi’s workshop. No doubt she was already neck deep in her coding, trying her best to get rid of the “pest” on her tail. Or rather, the pest that was her tail now.

As he descended down the stairs, N thought about Cyn for a moment. Yes, she almost caused the end of the world for them. She nearly killed all of them several times in the span of a couple of minutes, and he was beyond terrified about the slim possibility of a return of Cyn with The Solver inside her. He was understanding as to why Uzi was not comfortable with Cyn living as a constant reminder to her, especially with The Solver in Uzi as well, but at the same time…he felt bad for Cyn.

Of course not in a “I actually understand why she wanted to kill all of us” way, but in the sense that Cyn was most likely just another victim of The Solver, in a similar sense to Uzi and Nori. Before all of that, back on Earth, when they were all servants for The Elliot Manor, N remembers how she was. Her true self that was. Yeah she was a bit buggier than everyone else, and had her fair share of mistakes and incidents, but she was no violent drone before The Solver came into play. She was just as innocent and harmless as the rest of them were. N even considered her as a sister, for how happy-go lucky and bright she was, despite the minor issues she had. N empathizes with Cyn heavily.

Now that doesn’t mean he trusted whatever was in Uzi’s tail now. For all he knew, that could’ve totally been The Solver posing as Cyn, trying its best to gain their trust to maybe get it out in some way. There’s no guarantee that it could be Cyn, but something in N’s core wanted to lean towards it being the real her. She now radiated the same energy, the same optimism and charm she used to have, at least towards him and V on some occasions. She’s more cynical towards Uzi, but that’s for obvious reasons. Uzi hates her with a burning passion, and Cyn wasn’t ignorant to that fact.

N shook his head from his thoughts. It’s not like what he could say would change Uzi’s mind about Cyn. She was dead set on getting rid of her, no matter the cost. She even considered the possibility of just cutting off her own tail, but with some second thoughts and N physically holding her back from it, that option was out the window. It saved Uzi the agony that would’ve come about immediately, but it also saved them from the potential risk of what a seperate tail could mean. Who knew what Cyn could’ve done if she was separated from Uzi.

Taking in a “breath”, N finally knocked on the workshop’s door. It echoed throughout the house as his knuckles clashed against the metal door. He heard shuffling come from the other side for a moment, followed by clattering sounds all over the ground. He knew it was from the mess she had all over the place. She rarely kept her workshop in tiptop shape, with various objects and junk littering the floor. A pet peeve he admittedly had, as he likes to keep things neat and tidy. It’s probably a trait due to his previous life as a butler. He shook his head with a smirk.

I may have to nag her about her work conditions more. He thought, before the door swung open, revealing a rather irritated looking Uzi. She mustered up a smile for N, but he could tell that she was already drained by the work. Either that or Cyn was talking her hearing receptors off.

“Jeez, you look like a mess already.” He said teasingly, sticking a tongue out at her. Uzi scoffs and rolls her eyes, mimicking N and sticking her tongue out back.

“Tell it to the demon on my back here. She will not shut up!” Uzi retorted, looking back at her tail. It swung up towards N, with what looked like an equally irritated look on it.

“Sigh. Not my fault. I’m strapped to a. Drone who wants me. Dead and is. Planning my. Demise. Annoyed expression.” Cyn looked back at Uzi, who gave out a very dry laugh at her.

“YOU’RE one to talk huh? We don’t need to remind everyone WHAT HAPPENED NOW DO WE?” Uzi glared coldly at the tail, who rolled its eyes and slithered back down towards her back. Uzi took a moment to recompose herself and looked at N. “What’s up though?”

“Oh, I was just letting you know I’m heading out for a bit! I was gonna see if I can pay V a visit! It’s been a little bit since we’ve both seen her.” N scratched the back of his head as he thought back on the last visit he had with V. Uzi nodded and smiled at him.

“Alright then, just don’t forget about your offer! I think I will be needing that down time soon.” She looked back once more, grimacing at her tail. N chuckled lightly as he rubbed Uzi’s head, resulting in a light purr coming from the drone.

“Of course, just shoot me a message whenever you’re ready and I’ll swing back as fast as I can!” He smiled brightly, and that alone lifted Uzi’s spirits from the funk she was already feeling from Cyn.

“Tell V I said hi as well if you do manage to bump into her. I know she can be somewhat hard to track down at times.” Uzi leaned in and gave N a gentle kiss on the cheek, resulting in a gentle purr from him. He smiled and blushed at her.

“I will, wish me luck! Oh and good luck with your work too! I believe in ya buddy!” He turned around back down the way he came from, glancing back once more towards Uzi, who was waving at him.

“I’m surely gonna need it. You two have a good time!” She smiled as she watched him walk away. Her tail quickly slithered back out the doorway real quick.

“Goodbye big. Brother. You have a. Good one as. Well. Smile. Wish me luck. Too. From her.” Cyn jabbed at Uzi lightly, who gave out a groan as she slapped her tail back into the room.

“Bite me! We’re not finished here Cyn!” Uzi coldly stated, as an audible sigh was heard from Cyn. N chuckled as he waved both of them goodbye, before heading back up the stairs and to the front door. For both of their sakes, he wished good luck to the both of them. Win-win for everyone! He thought as he climbed up the stairs and exited the house.

The cool breeze of the outside world was the first thing that hit N as he left. It was always a refreshing feeling to him, the cool air blowing past him as snow softly landed on his frame. Looking up, he can see the multiple bits and chunks of rocks that have been blasted from the planet. Another reminder of what happened a year ago, but at the very least, it made Copper 9 look way more interesting in his eyes. The newly deformed cracks within the landscape, the sudden erosions of hills and cliffs that painted previous paths that never existed before, the dangerous pitfalls that led straight down into the core of the planet, if not through it, it was all brand new. N appreciated the new beauty that was unintentionally created, even if it brought back many unwanted memories.

He proceeded to walk towards the WDF Outpost. It was at least within visual range for N, so he didn’t opt to fly over. He hasn’t had the need to use his wings in a long time, and only used them sparingly, like if he was in a rush to get somewhere, or if he was out searching for something, like V for instance. He knew there were still many people in the outpost that were fearful of disassembly drones, despite what Khan and Uzi had tried to tell them about N and V. It still seems to haunt some of the drones in there. He doesn’t blame them, he knew exactly what that feeling was like, to still be haunted by past events. Even besides that, he knew he had some sins that he thought would never be forgiven by some. A reasonable assumption, and one he thought he deserved all the time.

Walking helped him clear his mind too whenever he had stuff going through it, and this time was no different. His mind was still lingering about Cyn. It was safe to assume Uzi and her were having a difficult time with one another, as one tried to write a kill code of some kind, while the other tried to talk her hearing receptors off. His core went out to the two of them. He would want to talk to Uzi about Cyn and his thoughts about it, but he already knew that was a conversation that was not going to end well. Like her mom, Uzi was very stubborn about her decisions. Once her mind was made up on something, it was very hard to convince her otherwise unless there was proof or if it was an emergency.

N doubted his thoughts about Cyn being herself had any legitimacy or urgency to Uzi in any way other than “it’s the Cyn he knew.” All he could say to Uzi was to at least try hearing her out and seeing what she had to say, but that clearly wasn’t going well for either party. If anything, it only accelerated the urge for Uzi to make this code.

Shaking his head, he decided to let his head wander elsewhere. Thoughts naturally drifted to the drone he was on his way to see. V of course. The last time he and Uzi saw her was about a week ago, where they all decided to chill at their place and watch whatever appeared on the TV. It went well enough for all of them, but N could tell V wasn’t feeling the best. The tired eyes and longing look, and the constant uneasy movement as she sat there. V had all the trademarks of someone lost in a bunch of anxious thoughts. She looked a lot like him a couple of nights prior. Undergoing another nightmare had him looking exactly like how V looked then, and it was very easy for Uzi to tell that N wasn’t doing great that night.

He asked if she was alright, and V nodded her head and said she was just low on energy. He wanted to, but he decided not to press further into her feelings, trusting that she would open up whenever she was ready. The rest of that hangout went fine enough, and they all bid V a safe night as she went back to Liz’s. N sighed at the thought. She was not okay, that was pretty obvious, and it sucked that he couldn’t do much. N shook his head as he continued his walk. Hopefully she’ll be better today. Hopefully.

Eventually, he stumbled upon the gates to the outpost. The large steel door blocking his way inside the place. Knocking on it, it only took a couple of moments before the door opened up, revealing a guard in the path. He looked momentarily spooked before he realized who was in front of him.

“Oh N, it’s just you! You startled me for a moment!” The guard stated, shaking his head in embarrassment. N lightly chuckled at him.

“I don’t blame ya! I’m just here to see V! Hoping she’s at Liz's!” He smiled as the guard fully opened up the path, allowing him entrance to the outpost.

“I believe you should know your way then. Come on in!” He said more cheerfully, allowing the disassembly drone access. N strolls in, nodding the guard a goodbye as he walked into the complex. There were of course many differences that had occured in the outpost since last year. Due to the implosion The Solver left on the planet, a good chunk of the bunker was completely split into multiple sections. The school and halls of the outpost had to be fully redone with new sections and paths for the new changes in the terrain. Some homes within here were also revamped to support the massive changes that underwent here. Even some homes that were here a year ago simply didn’t exist anymore, either being victim to the initial implosion, or subsequently collapsing due to the cracks that formed directly under them.

Thankfully The WDF worked fast, and quickly were the changes made within a couple of months. For how much damage that was done, they recovered a lot, and the changes they made actually were a good improvement over the last versions. Khan was especially happy with how it all turned out, partly because of the new doors made, but also because of just how more livable it was now. N observed all of these new additions and couldn’t help but to be happy for everyone here. They deserved it after everything they went through.

It only took him a couple more minutes until he arrived at Lizzy’s place. Walking up to the front, he gave a few knocks to the metallic door, hearing it ring throughout the rest of the halls. It only took a moment until Lizzy ended up answering, and the last person she was expecting was N honestly. She gave him a kinda confused look as he stood there with a smile.

“Oh. Uhh hey there N? Like how’s it going?” She said, confusion still plastered on her face. N waved at her as he nodded.

“It’s been great! Thank you for asking! Uhhh I was swinging by to see if V was still around? You know how she can be hard to find sometimes.” He gave a little shrug as he tried to peer in a little bit to see if he could get a glimpse of V, chilling somewhere else. Lizzy shook her head.

“Sorry dude, I haven’t seen her in like forever! Probably has been like a few days I think?” She gave a light frown as she thought about V, before rolling her eyes. “I don’t know what’s been up with the girl lately. She seems to be in some kind of funk.” N frowned at that. He can only assume that she wasn’t feeling any better since the last time they spoke.

“Yeah she’s been going through something, I’m not sure what though. I appreciate your time though, thank you! If you do see her, could you shoot me or Uzi a message?” He politely nodded his head at her, waiting for a response. Lizzy nodded back at him, with her phone out messaging someone else.

“Of course, I’ll let you know asap.” N gave the girl a thumbs up before waving goodbye and turning away from her room. Lizzy waved back at him before closing her door. N had to think on where else to check. There weren't many fixed spots she could be at, but he had a guess on where to check next. It was about time he used his wings again.

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If you would’ve asked her back then where she’d be in two years from now, V would’ve most likely gutted you on the spot.

Back when she was in her former group with N and J, she was a vicious and unpredictable killer. Even her own group rarely could ever tell what she was going to do. Her desire to kill and feast on the oil within the worker drones was especially high with her. She wasn’t merciful like N, nor as coordinated as J. When the moment presented itself, she was like a feral animal, going all on instinct rather than rational thinking. It didn’t matter if she got hurt in the process, that would heal over time. All that mattered to her was if she got the kill, and if she was going to be able to eat that day.

It was a life she would rather forget.

These two years have really changed her for the better, no doubt, but it has left her with so many lingering thoughts about it. Now that she was using her head more than ever, she was actually able to think about her actions and think about what she’s done, and it made her sick to her stomach. 

Especially after relearning about her previous life as a servant. She had lingering feelings about that past life, but she never could tell why she was feeling the way she was. Those memories answered all those questions. Witnessing her old self, as a quiet and timid drone, who was shy was really eye opening to her, even if she wasn’t one to admit that. It really put into perspective how much she changed because of Cyn. How much she was corrupted. 

It wasn’t easy for her. To try to move on from all the things she’s done. It still wasn’t easy. She was battling with her own mind nearly every single day now. Constant reminders of her sins, constant flashes of violence, constant images of carnage, constant visuals of victims. Her victims. The piles of bodies that laid to rest because of her. Humans and drones suffered her vicious thirst for blood, and many of them were now in pieces. Forever gone all thanks to her.

She now sat on top of a snow covered hill, deep in thought. Thinking about everything all at once. This past week seemed to have been hitting her harder than usual. Maybe it has something to do with it being a year since it all ended, but it’s been really getting to her. She had tried to mask it, when V was hanging out with N and Uzi last week. She thought she was doing an alright job at it, until N asked if she was fine. She lied of course, didn’t want to worry him, but she’s not so sure if her lie was that convincing.

She sighed, with the thought of those two in mind. They were cute together, she can admit that. Those two were very lucky to have each other. It was nice to see them happy. V was able to witness Uzi’s truly soft side for the first time last week when they were watching TV. The way she was curled up on N as they cuddled together with a small smile on her face, holding his hand and emitting a little purr. V started smiling more, it was cute to see that side of Uzi. A rather emo and tough looking drone, all softened up by her boyfriend. It was a nice change to see unfold in front of her, and V made sure not to mention anything to ruin the moment. It was one of the things that held her over that day when her mind was blaring with all of the regrets she had.

Her smile faltered a little though, an ache lingered in her core as the thought of them stayed fresh in her mind while the other thoughts plagued her. There was so much that was bothering her, but them? They shouldn’t be bothering her in the slightest, and yet here she was, letting that visual eat at her as she sat on the ground. She felt her stomach knot up at the thought of them happy together, and it made her core skip a beat, causing a “breath” to hitch slightly. She lowered her head into her hands as she shook it. Stupid thoughts, leave me alone! V gritted her teeth as she tried her best to finally try to calm down. She already had enough thoughts tormenting her, these thoughts about Uzi and N should be the last things bothering her.

As she was doing that, a loud sound of wind followed by a gentle crunch of snow caught her attention. Snapping out of her funk for a moment, she quickly turned around, not expecting to be snuck up on all of a sudden. Out of instinct, she stood guard, with her blade hands out, ready to face whatever was there. As she squinted her eyes, her guard lowered as she made out who was standing in front of her. A bright smile and a gently flicking tail told her all she needed to know.

“Ah there you are V! I was looking all over for you!” N walked up towards V, with arms outstretched to greet her. V looked at him for a moment before shaking her head and smiling back, easily losing the frown she had on moments ago.

Man he has such a contagious smile sometimes. She thought right before walking up to the drone and giving him a hug, blushing lightly and enjoying the moment more than she probably realized. At least she was more at peace with N by her side, even if he didn’t realize it yet.

Chapter Text

The hug they shared lasted for only a couple of seconds, but to V, it lasted for an eternity. That wasn’t a bad thing to her though. She really needed this hug, and it just so happened that N was a good hugger. She understood why Uzi hugged him all the time now. Lucky her. A thought quickly formed in her mind before shaking her head.

Once N finally backed away from V, he gave her another warm smile. Golden eyes gently staring at her, as his tail lightly wagged from the enjoyment he was having, simply just by seeing her. V tried her best to compose herself from her own thoughts and get the blush off her display. It only took a moment but she was able to look back at him and smile gently.

“How are you holding up N?” She simply asked, knowing full well N was most likely about to tell her a whole story. N placed his hand on his chest as he took a moment before speaking.

“Honestly it’s been great! Nothing too crazy since it’s been only a week, but I mean it’s been a really nice week! Uzi and I have mainly been hanging out like usual, whenever she isn’t down in the workshop that is.” He looked away, thinking about how Uzi must've been doing right now. He could only imagine the headache she had.

“Still working on that kill code huh?” V tilted her head, giving a questioning look. “I would’ve thought she would have something at this point considering she’s been at it for months now right?” N nods, scratching his head.

“Yeah she’s at a dead end at the moment. She’s been telling me that there's some kind of security code blocking her way of accessing any sensitive stuff on Cyn’s side. She doesn’t know if it's due to The Solver or what.” N shrugged his shoulders, passing by V in front of her to take in the view of the sky up above. The dark void of space staring back down at him, with countless stars dotted across the hazy horizon. He turned back around at V, beaming the same happy energy as he always does.

“How about you though V? What have you been up to?” N stood nearby, patiently waiting for V to answer. She was thinking about what she could say to him. There really hasn’t been anything of note that has spiced up her week.

Well, apart from the unrelenting wave of guilt and regret flowing through her.

Her smile faltered for a moment at that thought, but just as quickly, she brought it back up as she tried to make some kind of an answer, hoping he didn’t notice that.

“Uhh well I mean, it hasn’t been real crazy. Liz and I have hung out a couple of times but that’s really it. I guess the only other thing I’ve been doing is roaming around out here.” She stepped up next to N, looking past him and over the cliff, taking a gander at the various structures of rock and floating debris that littered her view in front.

“Yeah, I was wondering what you were doing out here all by yourself. I went to Liz’s to check up on you and she said you’ve been gone for the past few days. I even asked Nori and Khan and they said they haven’t seen you either!” N’s face shifted to that of concern, looking at the female drone that stood beside him. If what Liz said was true, V was not doing any better than how she was last week. N tried to see if he could tell physically if V was feeling off again but at the moment, he could not. She was holding herself together quite well it seemed.

For V, it was quite the contrary. She mentally scolded herself as N mentioned going to Liz’s. I knew that girl wasn’t going to listen to me! Too busy on that phone to even listen to one simple request! She thought as she looked back at N, seeing his face. She took a step back for a moment, feeling her gut squirm a little bit. N looked nervous and concerned for her, but he shouldn’t be. V was fine, perfectly fine that is. As long as he didn’t know about what was plaguing her currently.

She shook her head, sheepishly looking away from N as she tried to make something up on the spot.

“Oh that, uh yeah heh. I felt soooo bored out of my mind so I decided to explore the landscape a bit, heh…it’s not like it would take that long since, yknow. Wings.” She deployed her wings and started lifting off the ground, before she put them away and landed back on her feet. A sweat drop could be seen on her visor, and she was hoping N wasn’t reading her like a book.

N already knew. If that sweat drop wasn’t enough of an indicator, her explanation was definitely one. He knew V for the longest time now, she wasn’t one to just go and “explore”. Out of the trio, it was N who was the most into exploring the outside world and taking in its beauty. Not sure where he got that trait from, but it definitely was something he was into since he first landed on Copper 9. Exploring was one of the few times he was able to get away from everything before having to kill any more worker drones. A frown formed as he thought of that before shaking his head lightly.

He looked back at V, and without thinking, he nodded his head and smiled at her.

“Hey that’s actually pretty cool. I didn’t take you to be the exploring type honestly!”

He knew he wanted to at least ask if she was holding up any better, but for the time being, he wanted to hold off. He didn’t want to force the answers out of her if it was something she didn’t want to share, as much as it bugged him to see V in this state.

“Uhh yeeeah, I guess ever since a couple of months ago I liked to fly around and take a gander of what’s new around here. There’s been so much changes here ever since….the uhh…” V’s voice dropped out slightly as she started to think. Coming up with an excuse brought her back into her head, and it was not doing much better, despite N being a good distraction. Flashes of moments when Cyn was attacking them appeared in front of her. Witnessing N nearly die in front of her eyes, seeing Cyn chase her down the halls, watching as she moved at impossible speeds to try to slice her head off. It was all overwhelming her and she felt her core thump faster, but she wasn’t about to let that worry N. He didn’t need her own issues, V could handle it herself.

“Anyways! Uhh why don’t we actually go and fly around for a bit? Get some air time and feel the breeze y’know?? Plus, it’ll give us a great view of everything around us!” A nervous chuckle escaped her lips as she looked at N, nervously waiting for his response. It would give her a moment to “breathe” without worrying him.

N stood there momentarily, watching V as she squirmed a little bit after offering to fly together. This was killing the poor drone. It was all so painfully obvious to him. Something was bothering V, and he did not know what, nor was he doing anything to help out. A frown appeared as he stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, catching V off guard.

“Hey, seriously V. Are you okay? I know you weren’t doing great last week, and it looks like you aren’t doing much better no-“ He felt his hand get slapped off her shoulder by V as she chuckled even more so. A forced chuckle at that.

“What are you talking about, I’m fine! Ya big idiot, I’m perfectly fine! Don’t even worry, ANYWAYS let’s fly!” N rubbed his hand and was about to reach out again and talk, but V had already deployed her wings and flew up into the sky. She hovered there for a moment, looking down and swinging her arm up to signal him to follow. He sighed as he deployed his wings to follow suit. I suppose I’ll ask again when we land. He shook his head as he took off after her, following V’s lead.

The frozen landscape stretched for miles below the two as they soared above it all. The cracked and jagged landscape, the floating rocks and islands, and the snowy hills and cliffs were all N and V saw ahead of them. Admittedly, N found this sight really mesmerizing for whatever reason. He couldn’t place a finger, but it was honestly calming to him. In the distance, he could see the WDF Outpost and even if N squinted his eyes for a moment, he could swear he saw his place. He thought about Uzi and silently hoped everything was going well for her.

V on the other hand wasn’t focusing on anything at all. She had no direction to head towards, no spot to go to. She was just happy that N was behind her, therefore he couldn’t see how she was looking up close. He was already asking if she was alright, and she felt awful. N didn’t deserve this. To be dealing with her own issues. He already had his fair share of scars that he lives with, why would V want to put her scars on him as well? It wasn’t fair, at least that’s what she thought.

All those thoughts slowly started creeping up back in her mind as she flew through the sky. The skeletal grip of anxiety and fear was slowly holding her, as more mental thoughts and feelings flooded her head. Nightmare after nightmare. Trauma after trauma. Regret after regret. It was all filling her head, and it was overwhelming her a lot more than before. At least before she was by herself and didn’t have to worry about being spotted by anyone. Now she had N following her, and that put added pressure onto her.

N started to close the gap between him and V. For just a simple flight, she was going a bit fast. Not anything crazy, but just fast enough where more effort was needed to keep up. Eventually he was able to get to the side of her, and he looked over and saw V’s face. She was lost in her own head, focusing on nothing but whatever was getting her. Her eyes, a bit wide from her thinking, as she was gritting her teeth rather hard. N decided to try again and ask if she wanted to speak.

“V, you really don’t look good. I can tell something’s bothering you. Do you wanna talk about it?” N was expecting some deflection or denial like how he’s been given before, but nothing was heard from the disassembly drone next to him. Her gaze never wavered, as she kept flying straight ahead. “V buddy, can you hear me?”

At this point all V was hearing was static, as the torment of her own mind was drowning out any outside noise to her. Her core pumped to a new level, as even she could feel how fast it was going. Her vision was getting blurry and glitchier the more time passed, and in its way, more memories and fears played out. More sickening thoughts about how she was back then, and how she reveled in all the pain she caused. How she could be so careless and even bashful to the lives she’s destroyed. The people she’s killed, the drones she’s torn apart. The smile that was plastered on her face, with each new victim. Every. Single. Time. How could anyone even accept her after everything she did?

Even with N, how could she consider the fact that she was worth anything to him after everything she held back? After all the threats and damage she’s caused to him as well? It wasn’t fair, and she didn’t deserve him in her life.

N saw her “breathing” get faster and faster, as her display started to warp and glitch out from the stress she was undergoing. He flew in closer to her and started shaking her shoulder to snap her back.

“V snap out of it! You’re losing control!” His voice fell on deaf ears as V continued to spiral, as her body started to dive down. N tried to hoist her back up, to keep her level at least, but it was no use. The momentum they both had in flight was too great, so pulling her up was nearly impossible. N looked down and saw the ground speeding towards them. His eyes shrunk a bit, as he shook her even harder, trying his best to get her back.

“V come on, get a grip! You’re gonna hit the ground!” N shouted one last time, but there was no use getting through to her. Her mind was too scrambled to snap her out. She was lost in her own head. V was no longer there. Instead, she found herself somewhere else. Somewhere far worse.

She was lost in the dark hallways of the WDF Outpost. It was all dilapidated and broken as the events of the implosion were continuing beneath her. She was running, looking for anybody there that could help. N, Uzi, Lizzy, Thad, even J she was willing to see, just so she could get herself out of this hell. As she ran, she heard one single metal clang in the distance. It pierced her like a gunshot, ringing out louder than her own running. She stopped, and scanned ahead. Her core picked up its pace as she stood there, terrified. She scanned as best as she could, and despite multiple efforts to identify who was there, she yielded no results. That was a lie of course.

She knew exactly who was in front of her.

“It’s a shame. Really. You had one. Job to. Do. And you couldn’t. Even do that.” The monstrous and disgusting presence of Cyn slowly limped towards her. The distinct look of human skin covering the robot from head to toe, it paralyzed her with fear. V couldn’t move, speak or even do anything. Her body refused to work on her, despite how much she was begging to get out. She was forced to watch in horror as Cyn came inching closer and closer.

“Wanted to keep your. Dear friend N. Safe huh. How cute. But we had. A deal. Do your job. And keep out the way. And we’d leave you. Guys alone right.” Cyn stepped closer and closer. Each move she made, a grotesque squishing sound could be heard, and more of Tessa’s remains became loose and unsecured from Cyn. Bits of skin and bone were falling off, leaving a horrifying bloody mess on the floor, trailing back into the darkness. “But you broke. That deal. You can’t take. It back.” A sinister grin formed on Cyn’s face, as she locked eyes with V, giggling creepily. “Neither can he.”

She took one more step, before a sharp claw appeared from behind Cyn, and V was horrified to find N, motionless and deactivated in its grip. Cyn laughed robotically, letting the terrified drone take in the sight. Without any hesitation, Cyn dove her claws and hands into N, ripping him apart in front of V. Multiple pieces of him flying everywhere in that hallway until his core burst out of his chest. It flew up in the air, before landing back down into her grasp. She glanced back at V with a demonic smile on her face, licking her own lips slowly.

“Let me waste. No time chowing down. On some. Yummy hearts. This time around. Hehe.” 

In a fraction of a second, Cyn shoved N’s core into her mouth. V could hear N’s screams as his core desperately tried to squirm his way out, but the torture didn’t last too long. A sickening metal crunch was heard in Cyn’s mouth, and N’s voice faded out rather quickly. In the blink of an eye, N was gone. V started hyperventilating as she watched his lifeless body flash “FATAL ERROR” across his screen in red, before he was finally dropped to the ground. V felt her vision get blurry and distorted once more, as the sound of wind was heard in the back of her head. Cyn gave one final look at V and giggled.

“Don’t worry. Old friend. You’ll be joining him too. Right now. In fact.” With a flash, V’s final sight was Cyn, now suddenly in her face, lunging at her with her mouth wide open. Sharp teeth covering her entire screen before everything turned to static, and then to darkness. It only took a few seconds for her systems to reboot, and when she finally came to, the disassembly drone was confused. She wasn’t dead? Somehow not. V was now staring up at the sky, as snow softly landed all over her. She coughed softly as she sat up, feeling slight pain all over her body. As she did, she looked over to see N staring at her with an extremely worried face plastered on him.

“Oh thank gosh you’re alright! I-I tried to pull you up but you were just unresponsive and you landed face first into this tree!” N pointed up to show said tree looming over the both of them, a clear section of broken bark and branches visible to V. N repositioned himself in front of her, staring her right in the eyes. He took a second to compose himself.

“V. What is wrong? You’ve been like this for the past week! When you were with Uzi and I you were all down and gloomy and now you’re falling from the sky unresponsive! What is going on with you??” N took in a slow “breath”, trying his best not to overwhelm her with his concern. He gently grabbed V’s hand and held it, not really thinking what she would do to him.

“You can talk to me. It’s okay, I got you.”

A warm smile was all it took. That warm, gentle smile. It didn’t need to take much convincing after that for V, as she was at her limit. With his hand in her hand, and the both of them looking at each other, it was near impossible to hold back anymore. Tears streamed down her visor as she finally cracked. Shaking like crazy, all she could do is put her head down and let her emotions take control finally. She felt awful. She wanted to be strong, she wished she was stronger here, but she couldn’t be. Not here.

“I…It’s been so hard. I-I‘ve been having such bad thoughts and n-nightmares about everything that happened to us…way back when we were in the manor, after we got converted by C-Cyn, after we went on our murdering sprees, everything! I have been trying so hard to control it, to-to be strong! But it’s too much!” V was shaking a lot more now, her frame making a bunch of noises as she sat there, breaking down in front of N, desperately clinging onto his hand.

“Ever since we defeated Cyn, ever since we were able to move on with our lives, it’s been haunting me. All the blood, all the pain and horror that I’ve inflicted! All the threats and torment and-and….the things i've hid from you…” she looked at N in the eye before looking back down to her own hand. “It’s just been so difficult to live with....I'm sorry for everything! I’m sorry I’m such a mess right now! You don’t deserve to deal with me like this, you didn’t deserve to deal with me at all! I’ve been nothing but pain, and I am so sorry for it all! I’m so sorry N!”

She finally sucked in a “breath” as she hung her head low and cried. All the built up pain crashing down on her like a bursted pipe as she sat there, emptying herself out in front of N. He sat there with a shocked expression. He knew that what happened was affecting nearly everyone to some extent, but he didn’t expect V of all people to be bottling up all her emotions like this, suffering the same guilt and nightmares that he’s been dealing with too. If anything, it seems like she had it worse. She had no one to turn to for all this time. She sat with these thoughts for possibly months with no way to express them. It was truthfully heartbreaking to see her like this. To be so full of grief and self loathing. V didn’t deserve this.

N squirmed a bit, trying to think of something to say to her. He gave a little bit of thought, before he finally turned to V again.

“You know…I get what you mean by all of that…” he looked at V with a soft expression. She slowly looked up, tears still in her eyes as she listened. “Ever since we defeated Cyn…and The Solver, I’ve had nothing but nightmares, at least once or twice a week. Horrible ones. The worst of the worst. Probably something like what you just went through…Every single time I have one, I feel like the worst drone in the world…I feel like I’m completely incapable of having the life I have now…like I don’t deserve it because of what we were and what we’ve done…” V gripped her hand on N’s more, trying to stabilize herself.

“…But I’m lucky enough to have someone to remind me that I do deserve this life…and that I do deserve every single bit of happiness possible, and I want you to feel that right now V.” His smile formed, gently for now, as he looked into V’s eyes. “You have been one of the greatest parts of my life, as well as Uzi. You have meant everything to me, just like her, and that is never going to change. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, or what you might’ve said…or not said to me, but I can’t hold any of that against you now, because you are a completely different person than how you were about two years ago.” His smile increased more. “In fact, the more I’ve been seeing you lately, the more you’ve been reminding me of your old self, when we were in the manor. So shy and sweet. I don’t know how, but I can see that in you again, maybe in a different flavor though.” He chuckled, as he squeezed her hand gently. V’s eyes stayed fixed onto him, taking in every single word.

“I know it’s all been scary. It’s been scary for me, it’s been scary for Uzi, and it’s been scary for you too. We all have been dealing with these nightmares and dark thoughts in our heads, but we don’t have to face them alone anymore, we can rely on each other, and have each other’s back…we can figure these nightmares out together…how does that sound?” His smile grew a bit more once again, showing his teeth as he looked at V, waiting for a response. She just sat there, dumbfounded and taken aback. She was no longer shaking, and her tears had passed by at this point. His words rang in her head over and over again. They were like a candle in the dark, repelling all the darkness away, as her head cleared up and she was able to properly think freely for the first time in weeks. It felt like the world was finally off her shoulders, and that she was no longer being crushed. She couldn’t help but match N with a big grin of herself, before she lunged herself at N and gripped him into a tight hug. N gasped at the movement before he realized what was happening. Giving a gentle chuckle, he hugged her back.

It took V quite a while before she could finally bring herself to pull away from N. She wanted to stay in that hug forever. She never wanted to leave it. She felt secured and safe. She felt warm and comfortable. She felt…understood and appreciated, and she couldn’t get enough of it. She eventually gave N his space back though, shyly looking away, blush appearing on her visor.

“Thank you…for that…seriously, thank you. I’m sorry you had to see that…” N patted her shoulder.

“Hey it’s no big deal, I’m just glad I was able to help you out! Do you feel any better?” V slowly looked over at him, still feeling a bit shy. A simple head nod was all she was able to do here. N smirked before getting himself up.

“Good then! I’m glad to hear that!” He reached a hand down to help V up, who gladly took it. He looked over at the land before turning back to V. “Why don’t we get ourselves out of this area then huh? If you’d like, I could bring you home to hang out with me and Uzi again, it may help take your mind off things more?” V pondered for a moment, thinking about her decision here before she softly shook her head no.

“I think I can pass on that. After all of that, I could definitely take a moment to think. Plus I wouldn’t want to ruin your little cuddle sesh with Uzi later.” V grinned teasingly, causing N to blush a bit, thinking about Uzi.

“Okay okay you got me there, but you are still welcome to come over at any day, at any time. I don’t care if it’s early in the morning or in the dead of night, if you want to see us, I’ll be more than happy to let you in.” N steps in a bit closer and looks at V in the eyes. “…And if you’re ever feeling like this again, and need to talk to someone, come to us. Uzi and I are more than happy to help you!” V gave a genuine smile at him, nodding at N’s words and blushing slightly once more. N smiled back as he looked over in the distance.

“Well, are you going to head back to Liz’s then? I’ll be happy to accompany you so you’re not alone! Would that help you out?” V thought for a moment before giving N a simple smile and nodded.

“Sure thing N, it would be very nice.” He nodded at her answer, stepping forwards.

“Are you good enough to fly? If not, I don't mind walking back.” V rubbed the back of her head as she brandished her wings.

“It’s okay, we can fly. I’m feeling a lot better now.” A sincere small smile appeared on her face towards N.

“Oh wait, before we fly I have one more thing to say.” V looks over at him, nodding for a response.

“Uzi wanted to say hi to you. I know it’s a bit out of nowhere after all this but I wanted to say it now before I forget.” He chuckled lightly. V just looks at him with a smirk before chuckling herself.

“You two are dorks, you know that?” N laughed a bit and nodded to V, grinning hard from that comment.

“Bet we’re your favorite dorks though! Ehh? Ehh?? Come on, don’t lie now!” He gave V a smirk as she felt her blush reappear on her face. She was probably thinking about that comment more than she probably should. She shook her head before giving an eye roll at N, giggling.

“Don’t push your luck buddy. Let’s get going!” She chuckled before finally taking off from the ground, heading straight for the Outpost that lay ahead of them. She looked back to see N following her, and she couldn’t help but smile one more time. She wouldn’t admit this out loud but she felt quite lucky to have N in her life. He may never know it, but he changed her up so much. At least this time, she was changed for the better. All thanks to him and Uzi.

She’ll forever be grateful for her two dorks.

Chapter Text

As N and V were having their time together somewhere on the hills, Uzi was still where N saw her last. Down in her workshop, she sat at her computer as she typed away. She was exhausted, and very annoyed. Each attempt she has made so far, it has yielded an error in the system. Each time it appeared, it was the same code as well. An error revolving around the security protocol. She didn’t understand it, why it just wouldn’t work, and it frustrated her to no end.

She had no issues accessing N and V’s memories and preventing The Solver from deleting all of them back then. Hell, she was even able to control The Solver inside those memories, saving both of them and potentially herself after the fact. Doing that was nothing, and yet trying to make a simple kill code for Cyn was giving her more issues than the memories ever did.

She groaned, leaning back in her chair as she chugged another energy drink. She growled as she placed her hand on her face, trying her best to alleviate the headache she had. Controlling a terrifying program to save one’s memories? Simple. Writing a simple kill command? Borderline impossible APPARENTLY. Her eye flickered in annoyance as she continued to stare at the screen, with yet another error message blocking the display.

“You know. Maybe this is. A sign that. You shouldn’t. Do this. Puppy eyes.” Cyn slithered up Uzi’s shoulder, looking at the annoyed drone with wide eyes. Uzi could only muster up a menacing side eye. It’s all she could do if she didn’t want to snap.

“Cyn, do me a favor and shut up.” She said coldly, fully turning her attention to her tail. Cyn simply shook her “head” at her.

“Eye roll. That is not going. To happen. Especially since you’re. Trying to kill me off. You’re stuck. With me.” Cyn stuck her “tongue” out at the purple drone, as Uzi’s eye twitched even more. She huffed at the possessed tail.

“Yeah no kidding. Why do you think I’m trying to get rid of you then genius??” A robotic scoff could be heard from Cyn, as she rolled her eyes.

“Ah yes. Because clearly. You’re. Doing such a. Great job. With that. Smug smirk.” Cyn knew she was only adding fuel to the fire here, but she had nothing better to say. Uzi simply backhanded her tail away, as she redirected her attention back to the screen.

“Bite me Cyn! I’ll figure something out don’t you worry! You won’t be so smug then will you?” A grin appeared on Uzi as she glared at Cyn once more. Cyn just turned away and plopped the tail over the chair. Shaking her head, Uzi leaned back towards her computer.

“Alright then, let's try this again. Stupid code, work with me here.” She grumbled, as she let her fingers start typing away, back at square one. At this point, she was able to bypass a lot of normal security stuff within her own OS, delving deeper into code that normally she wouldn’t be able to access. She made sure not to mess with that stuff too much, in case she ended up corrupting something within herself. That was the last thing she needed.

Once she was passed that, she scanned the code lines, and found the coding from The Solver. Thankfully, that code laid dormant in her system. Ever since she gained full control over it, it only activates when she wants to use it. Admittedly, she tries to use it as little as she can. She’s still concerned about potentially losing control one day, especially with Cyn in her systems. She’d rather not take the risk.

Once she was passed that, she started seeing the coding for Cyn. Obviously her code has been mostly stripped and reconfigured for her to exist in Uzi’s tail. It’s very limited for her, much to Uzi’s relief. She’d take that over Cyn having access to everything in her body. Uzi started typing away at the code, setting new parameters and changing out some security settings to try to alter things. Cyn didn’t feel any differences with her, but she could clearly see the stuff Uzi was doing. She rolled her eyes as she went back to hanging over the chair.

With most of her code rearranged and edited, Uzi had one more thing to do. Looking over her notes, she started typing out her kill code. N was able to give her that code, much to her surprise. She didn’t know why he of all people would have that, but she guessed it was something to do with his role as a disassembly drone. It took her a moment to finish it up, but once she did, she took in a quick “breath”. Please work this time, I’m begging.

She clicked on the “Save Changes” option, and as she did that, a bar started to fill out. A progress bar for the new update. As Uzi watched the bar fill up, a loud robotic scream was heard from behind her. Swiftly looking in shock, she saw her tail glitching out.

“A-A-Ahhh. What is hap-ppening. What did. You do to. Meeeee.” Her tail started twitching all over the place as Cyn’s eyes started to dim. Uzi looked on, dumbfounded at the sight. She couldn’t believe it. It actually worked.

“Holy crap it’s working! Hah! Take that Cyn!” She laughed, as she took in the sight of her tail thrashing all over the place.

“Thi-is isn’t a. Smart. Mo-ove. What if you. Glitch out. Your own sy-ystems. You would. R-R-Really want. To take t-that. Ri-i-isk.” Her “head” flickered, as she was trying her best to stay stable. Uzi just kept chuckling at her tail, enjoying every second of it.

“I don’t know, I feel perfectly fine here.” Uzi moved her arms and legs around slowly. “Everything seems to be in order here!” She started grinning hard, staring Cyn right in the eyes. “This is exactly what you get FOR EVERYTHING! All the annoyance you BROUGHT!” a laugh bursted out of her as she leaned back in the chair.

“You-You got me-me-me. Good. I’ll gi-i-i-I’ve. You that.” The tail started lowering down over the chair, as Cyn’s eyes got even dimmer, almost flickering out. Uzi started punching the air in excitement, eventually standing on her chair celebrating.

“This is why I am the best!! No code can stop me from anything! I am a GOD!” She stared at Cyn, who was barely looking back up at Uzi. A wide grin formed on the drone's face as she cheered on, not noticing Cyn giving a bigger grin in return. “And you’re nothing but a BI-“

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

A loud sound blared from Uzi’s computer, momentarily disrupting the drone’s celebration. Turning back to the screen, she saw it was blaring a red screen back at her. One all too familiar. Uzi’s eyes shrunk as her core skipped a beat. She sat back down on the chair as she stared at the screen in disbelief. You have got to be kidding me. She thought, as her eye twitched once more in aggravation.

ERROR. THIS CODE COULD NOT BE REWRITTEN DUE TO SECURITY PROTOCOL. CODE: X-0011023011.

Silence filled the room as Uzi stared at the screen. Multiple emotions were flickering through her all at once, and she did not know which one she should land on. As she was going through this, her tail slithered back up over her shoulder, with a cheeky grin plastered all over.

“Ha. Ha. Ha. You got to. Admit. I make a pretty. Good actor. There.” She looked at the purple drone as she continued to hover next to her. “Cheeky smile. It was too easy not to do tha-“

Her voice was abruptly cut off from Uzi’s hand grabbing her tail, and bringing it to her face. Pure anger was engulfing the drone, bare sharp teeth showing as she growled at her.

“YOU LITTLE-YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?! I’M GOING TO GET YOU OUT OF HERE NO MATTER WHAT! EVEN IF IT KILLS ME!” Uzi’s eyes bore into Cyn’s with intensity, as the tail simply rolled its eyes.

“Give it. Your best. Shot.” Cyn smirked, looking back at the drone. Uzi’s eyes flickered as she looked around. She spotted a table nearby that held a small knife on it. Noticing this, she gave a dark smile back at the tail.

“Oh don’t you worry, I got a GREAT idea!” Without any hesitation, she pulled herself towards the table and swiftly grabbed the knife. Looking back at Cyn, she chuckled. “I don’t care how much this hurts, YOU GOTTA GO, RIGHT NOW!” Cyn smirked back at the enraged drone, seemingly enjoying this.

“Do it. It would be fun. To see what. Happens. Grins.”

Uzi grabbed the tails head with one hand while she held the knife with the other. This was going to end, one way or another. Taking in a “breath”, she glared at the tail one more time before she swung the knife towards it. The knife was inches away from her tail, but right as it was about to slice through, there was a new noise that momentarily distracted Uzi and stopped the knife from moving further.

She looked back up to find that her screen was no longer red. In fact, taking a look at it, she saw there was a new small window opened up on the display. Scooting over to the desk once more, she looked closer and saw it was a message window. Her eyes flashed a question mark as she looked on. She never saw this message window pop up before. Not once did this message screen appear in previous tests. This was something new. On the screen, there was a message displayed there, one that brought even more confusion to Uzi.

“Hello? Is there anyone there?”

Uzi looked around on the window, and saw the code name of the messenger displayed on the top.

TSA-005

She looked over at her tail, to which Cyn simply “shrugged” the tail, seemingly just as confused as she was. Uzi thought for a moment, trying to figure out what this could possibly be about. As Uzi was about to write a response in the chat, a knock from the front door upstairs was heard. Looking up, Uzi shook her head. She wasn’t expecting company other than N later. Sighing, she looked back on the message before typing out a real quick one.

“Don’t know who you are, but we’ll chat later. I have to go sorry.”

Before she even got a response back, she quickly packed up everything and closed out her software. Unplugging the cord that was in her head, Uzi turned off the computer and slowly made her way back upstairs to the front door. As she reached the front, there was a voice that was heard from the other side. A voice she could easily identify, and she felt a light groan come from her throat. 

Swinging the door open, she saw it was both of her parents. Khan looked like how he’d normally look, with his jacket on, waving at the young drone. Nori on the other hand had a lot of changes made to her over the past year. She, with the help from Khan and Uzi, was able to rebuild a new body just for her. It looked very similar to how she used to look back then, but her hair was a tad bit longer and she sported a beanie instead of the old construction helmets all worker drones wore. She also supported a branded stylized “S” on her left forearm. Nori made sure that addition made it onto her new body.

“Hey kiddo! How’s it going?” Khan opened up, as he walked in and gave Uzi a hug. She groaned slightly as she hugged her dad back.

“I’m doing good dad, thanks for asking.” She said unamused. As she was released from that hug, she looked at her mom with a smile. “Hey mom, how’s that new body holding out?” Nori smirked as she moved it around.

“Still getting used to it. It’s been years since I’ve had a body so it feels weird, but I’m getting the hang of it.” She smiled as she looked down at herself. “It looks great too, it’s like my old body was never destroyed!” Khan gave a wince as she mentioned her old body, before he shook his head.

“Overall it came out nice, and it seems pretty functional so that’s always a win! Thank you again for your help on it!” Khan said with a smile, resulting in Uzi gently smiling as she looked the other way.

“Yeah it’s no problem dad don’t worry.” She turned back towards the two. “What brings you two here though?” Nori stepped forwards.

“Can’t pay a visit to our kid who’s now living on her own out here?” Nori’s eyes squint at the younger drone. “Especially living with a disassembly drone?” Uzi rolled her eyes and pushed Nori a bit back.

“Oh bite me, we’ve been just fine! In case you don’t remember, he helped save the world so I don’t imagine he’d do all that just to kill me afterwards!” Nori chuckled a bit as she looked at Uzi.

“Alright alright, I just can’t help it. Plus it is a bit funny messing with you from time to time.” She gave Uzi a little head rub, irritating her a tiny bit.

“Well if anything it looks like we came just at the right time. You look pretty frustrated as is.” Khan gave Uzi a look as he studied her. “N did tell us you were working on that little kill code again when he swung by.” Uzi turned away, looking at her tail as it laid limp on the ground.

“Yeah it’s been a giant headache. As you can tell, I’m still stuck with this nightmare!” She grabbed her tail and shook it in front of the two, resulting in a monotone voice to suddenly yelp lightly.

“At least. Give me a warning. Next time you. Do that.” Cyn said, with an annoyed expression on her “face”. Uzi shook her again, as she threw her tail back behind her.

“Shut it you! Anyways, since you two are here, would you like to get something to drink? I could use a cup of oil truthfully.” The two parents nodded their heads, as they both entered the house and closed the door behind them.

—-

—-

—-

For the next 25 minutes, they all sat together at the table in the kitchen talking to each other. Uzi had her aforementioned cup of oil she was lightly drinking. Nori decided to get herself an energy drink like what Uzi was drinking before and Khan opted for some oil as well. They were all talking to one another, and catching up on the last few weeks. Uzi wasn’t crazy about the visits from her parents, but she was surprised with how nice it was this time. Maybe it’s because it’s a nice refresher from the hell she was dealing with downstairs, but she was enjoying it.

As she looked on, it put a smile on her face to see both her parents in front of her. Her mom especially, since she was considered dead for the longest time. By some miracle she managed to survive and live for all these years, and both Uzi and Khan were grateful for that.

But as Uzi started to think about Nori and what happened to her, more unwanted thoughts slowly lingered up in her head. She sat there, thinking about all the things that happened while sipping her oil. She really didn’t want to think much on these topics right now since this was a nice family moment, but her head couldn’t shake the thoughts away. She would occasionally have these thoughts when she saw them, but this time it was feeling a lot worse. It was bugging her way too much here.

Khan was the first one to notice Uzi staring down at her cup in deep thought. A frown coated the young drones face as she let whatever thoughts bother her. Khan took one more sip of his drink before turning his attention to her.

“Hey kiddo, you doing alright over there? You uh, have been staring at your drink more than drinking it.” He gave a light chuckle, trying to alleviate the situation Uzi was going through. She just sighed and placed her cup down as well, looking back up at her parents.

“It’s just my fricking head being dumb right now, don’t worry about it.” Uzi shook her head, trying to brush her thoughts aside more. Nori frowned and placed her can down.

“Hey if it’s something bugging you, you can talk about it. We don’t mind at all. Whatever it is.” She looked over at Khan, who was nodding with Nori.

“Absolutely, if you wish that is. I think it would make you feel better though.” They both sat there, patiently waiting for Uzi to respond in any way. Uzi was just sitting there in more thought, thinking about what she wanted to do. Looking up, she saw her parents' faces looking at her. She closed her eyes and took in a “breath” before finally opening up.

“I don’t think we’ve ever talked about this fully, but it’s been on my mind for a bit now.” She looked over at Khan, with a half irritated, half somber look. “I know it’s been a long time since it happened, but I have to ask…Why did you leave for dead when N was attacking me? When I accidently lured him to the Outpost?” Khan’s eyes shrunk as that awful memory came rushing back to his mind. Images of that moment flashed in front of him as he sat there, holding his cup rather tightly. Nori already knew about this from him when they first reconnected, and she still doesn’t forgive him for that. Even then though, she saw the look Khan was giving, and she felt her core drop for a moment. It didn’t last long, as Uzi redirected her attention to her.

“And for you, if you were alive all this time, why didn’t you come back? We both had to live our lives under the assumption that…that you were dead…and we both missed you greatly during that time…” Nori grimaced at that comment, knowing that question was bound to pop up at some point. She looked at Khan again, and still saw him in a little distress from his situation, so she sighed and looked back at Uzi. She’ll let him ease up before he could answer his side. 

“Well…to be blunt and honest…I was scared.” She looked Uzi in the eyes, as she scratched the back of her head. “I’m sure he’s shown you all of my ramblings and drawings from back then. I was not in the best mental state. The Solver and anything related to it terrified me more than you could ever imagine…I never wanted it to come back into my life, especially with you two in it…When I was attacked and “killed”, I found myself waking up as a core. I was still alive somehow, and I even had that thought to go back to you two…but I was too scared to. I was worried about attracting any attention and getting you two into any more danger...I don’t think I could’ve lived with myself if I ended up luring in something from The Solver to you two.” She took a sip of her drink before continuing.

“I was the sole reason for a lot of things that happened in your lives, and I was just too scared to bring myself back in case things got worse up here. I know it wasn’t the best move to make…but it was one I could justify, just to keep you two safe.” She looked back at Uzi with a frown. Uzi just looked on with a more somber look, nodding at her mom. She then turned her attention towards her dad.

“How about you?” Khan seemed to finally snap out of his deep thought he was in, as he looked at the two of them. Placing his cup down, he took a moment to think about how he was gonna phrase this before he finally went on.

“Well I could say I was scared too, I mean it was pretty obvious I was terrified for my life!” He gave a dry chuckle, trying to lift himself a little bit. He frowned however, as he continued. “That wouldn’t be the full answer though.” He took one sip from his oil once more.

“When he had you against that wall, the only thing that was going through my mind was “not again. Not her too.” All I saw in front of me there…was a repeat of what happened to your mother. At that moment, I saw everything all over again and...it was too much for me.” He gave a sadden look towards Nori, as he continued. “I…I just couldn’t bring myself to do anything…I was too scared…so I took the coward’s way out, and I’m pretty sure we both know how that ended.” Khan looked away, rubbing the back of his head. Uzi watched on, a frown painting her face more and more as she saw how much this topic bothered him.

“I know there isn’t anything in this world that can ever make up for that mistake, but believe me kid, it haunts me to this day.” Khan looked back at Uzi, as Nori rubbed his back in comfort.

“You’re not the only one who has to live with that on their shoulders.” 

He leaned back, sipping his oil more as he tried to alleviate his head. Nori looked on with guilt on her face, thinking about her situation with Uzi and silently wishing things would have gone differently back then. Uzi just sat there, looking down at the table in deep thought. It did bother her what her parents did to her, but seeing how they reacted to the situations really showed how much they regretted everything. Especially with Khan, he looked like he was about ready to curl up in a corner and Uzi felt extremely bad about bringing it back up. It opened her eyes more now knowing he wasn’t just being a coward because he was being a coward. He was reliving the day he lost mom. His own wife. She didn’t agree with him leaving her for dead, but she has a better understanding of where he was coming from at that moment. She could understand how hard that must’ve been for him. She sighed, looking back at her parents as they looked at her. She shook her head at the two of them.

“Well, it’s good to have a better understanding of that now. I don’t agree with how you both handled your stuff, but I can see where you two were coming from now.” She gave a semi glare at her parents, who cringed a little at that. They both looked at each other before lowering their heads a bit. They both jumped a bit when they felt Uzi’s hands hold onto their hands simultaneously.

“…but you two are lucky that N is with me now and his niceness is slowly rubbing onto me.” She gave a small, gentle smile at her parents. “It might’ve been a mess back then, but I’m just happy we can try to be a normal family now.” Nori and Khan looked at their daughter before gently smiling back at her.

“We will do our best for you, no matter what kiddo.” Nori said, squeezing Uzi’s hand lightly. She looked over at Khan who nodded in agreement.

“We will be better for all of us, and we’ll definitely not leave anyone for dead again!” Once again Khan lightly chuckled, more for his own sanity. Uzi and Nori just looked at each other unamused. As they smirked and started to chuckle with him, the front was heard opening as humming was heard. Uzi started smiling even more, knowing exactly who just entered the house.

“I’m hoooooome!” N walked into the kitchen with a grin on his face. His smile widened as he saw the appearance of Uzi’s parents in front of them. “Oh, hello again Mr. and Mrs. Doorman, how are you two?” The parents simply nodded at his greeting, smiling.

“We’re good, thanks for asking.” Khan nodded, as he looked over at Nori and smiled at her. N swiftly got around the table and picked Uzi up, embracing her in a hug, much to the others embarrassment.

“And how is my favorite drone doing?? Good I hope hehe!” Uzi yelped as N started twirling with her.

“N!! Don’t be gross and sappy in front of my mom and dad you doof!” She said, blush enveloping her screen. A few chuckles and purrs escaped her lips though, betraying her feelings. Nori and Khan chuckled a bit at the sight as they got up from the table.

“Don’t worry kid, we’re getting out of here anyways. We gotta get back to the Outpost. Maybe this knucklehead can build us another door!” Nori grinned cheekily as Khan’s eyes lit up from that.

“Oh don’t tempt me, you know how I love my precious doors!” Khan laughed as they both started heading towards the exit. N finally released Uzi and she quickly ran over and gave both of them a hug, surprising them.

“Thanks for like, coming over, or whatever. It was nice.” Uzi said, looking away from them. Her parents returned the hug and smiled at her.

“We’ll be sure to come back soon. Don’t be a stranger either kid, you know where we’ll be!” Khan said, as Nori messed with Uzi’s hair again. She grimaced as she grinned and fixed her hair. They all waved each other a goodbye as the two of them walked out the door, leaving for the day. Uzi closed the door, smiling to herself.

“Soooo how did that go?” N said, peeking from the kitchen. Uzi shook her head and grinned .

“Well, they definitely helped with the headache I had with the work I was doing, so I’ll take it.” She cheekily grinned at N, before thinking back on the visit. Her smirk turned into a genuine smile as she looked away.

“It was really nice though. I did need that.” N walked up to her and smiled. “How did seeing V go?” Uzi asked, as N took a moment to think about their visit.

“It was…interesting to say the least. I’ll give you details later. She’s alright though, don’t you worry! Oh she also called us a bunch of dorks!” N giggled as Uzi’s face looked up at him. She rolled her eyes as a chuckle escaped her.

“Sounds like to me she’s jealous of us then!” They both started giggling more, as Uzi leaned against N for support. After a moment of laughing, they both looked back at each other, wiping their eyes. “So what should we do now then?” Uzi asked, as the bigger drone started to smile.

“Why don’t we go do what I promised and unwind a bit?” Uzi’s eyes lit up as N looked down at her with that smile. She bumped into him in excitement.

“I’ve been waiting for that all day, let’s go watch some anime and stuff!” She jumped onto N, who yelped in response before catching her. Uzi just grabbed onto him, giggling as N walked them to the living room. As she was carried away, she thought back on her previous visit, and smiled even more. Even though it would embarrass her to admit it, she was happy to have her parents.

She may be an edgy and hardcore drone at heart, but she’ll always appreciate her parents. No matter what.

Chapter Text

The rest of that day ended up flying by faster than how the two really anticipated it to go. It was hard to tell time when they were together. This didn’t really surprise the two lovers though. There’s been countless times where they’ve spent their days in each other’s arms, watching whatever was on TV or just simply cuddling just to cuddle. It was the usual with these two, and they never complained about it.

N and Uzi spent the rest of that day watching anime. It was a genre that was slowly growing onto N. Since he never had exposure to it, he was naturally drawn into it. Uzi made sure to show him the best of the best, and with that, she had him hooked. N may have loved his silly show about dogs and all that, but anime was really getting up there for him. The different genres in it gave the two variety to watch, and it was always a blast for them. From action, to horror, to even slice of life and romance, it didn’t matter.

Though, Uzi always found it much harder to watch romance anime since N liked to tease her a lot during it. He always has her turned into a blushing mess by the end of the episode, and he enjoyed it a lot, much to Uzi’s embarrassment. She wasn’t complaining though. Secretly, she liked it.

Anyways, that day flew by like it was nothing, and before they knew it, it was night time. More accurately, N found out it was night time when he looked over at Uzi, who was on the verge of passing out on his side. He looked out the window and saw it was about that time. He gave a giggle as he watched his girlfriend fight against sleep.

“I think it’s time for someone to sleep, don’t you think?” He giggled teasingly, as Uzi shook her head very exaggeratedly.

“No! One more episode! I can get through it, I promise!” She argued, sticking her tongue out with a dopey expression. N couldn’t refuse her pleas after making that face at him. Smiling, he snuggled her up closer.

“Alright alright one more episode, then it’s bedtime for you! I refuse to let you have another all nighter!” He smirked, as Uzi rolled her eyes at him”

“Bite me! I’ll be fine! I’ve stayed up for days and been perfectly fine! Just watch!”

She didn’t even make it through the entire episode. By the middle of the episode, N suddenly felt a heavy weight on his shoulder. Looking over, he saw Uzi leaning against him. Her screen displayed nothing but “ZZZ’s”, as she softly snuggled herself more and more against him. Smiling gently at his sleepy girlfriend, he took that as his cue to bring the both of them back to the bedroom. Turning the TV off, he gently carried the sleepy drone closely, as they slowly made their way back to the room.

Gently tucking her into the bed, he sighed at the drone. He couldn’t help but admire her. She was just too cute, and N always found himself staring sometimes. It embarrassed Uzi a lot, but he couldn’t help it. He felt so lucky to have her. Finally slipping in the bed with her, he gently leaned over the drone, and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. A tender smile appeared on Uzi as she continued to sleep next to N. He simply smiled one last time before tucking himself in bed, switching the lights off.

“Good night Uzi. Have sweet dreams.” He whispered, as he finally felt his low battery hit him. Taking in a “breath”, he gave one last look over to Uzi, wishing her the best sleep she could possibly have. N rested his head on the pillows, and as soon as he did that, sleep finally took hold of him. Within a couple of seconds, the day was over for the both of them.

——

——

——

The wind blew hard as dense fog enveloped the landscape around Uzi. Wind was lightly howling in the hair. The dark sky loomed over head, covered by dense clouds that almost looked like smoke. Snow blasted her in the face as she stood there, exposed to whatever was lingering out there. This place was familiar. Too familiar. Uzi felt her core thump a bit harder, as she felt her anxiety slowly crawl up her back.

She found herself back on the platform where she and N were attacked by Cyn. The same spot where her own core was ripped out of her own body. Where she watched N get ripped apart in front of her. She was grateful she had the strength to get both of them out of there. She didn’t want to dare think about how that could’ve ended otherwise. Uzi stumbled back a little bit, a bit on edge rightfully so. She had no idea what was about to hit her next.

She looked around, anticipating anything to show up. She was mainly looking for Cyn. That’s who was here before, that’s who she was assuming would show up now. She looked around, squinting her eyes to try to see any better. It was useless. The fog was too dense for her to see anything through it. Grunting, she took a step forwards, taking extra caution. As she did though, a single phrase was heard through the fog, and her systems started going haywire.

CALLBACK PING.

CALLBACK PING.

CALLBACK PING.

Each time that was said, it got louder and louder, and it threw Uzi more and more off balance. She clutched her chest, feeling unbelievable levels of pain radiating from it. Her vision got more and more glitchier as she tried to fight against the command. Flashes of purple and yellow coated her screen, as she ended up falling to one of her knees. She had to use her other hand to not slip off the platform.

CALLBACK PING.

CALLBACK PING.

CALLBACK PING.

Uzi gritted her teeth, as she felt her chest start to crack open under the pressure she was feeling. She didn’t look, but she knew exactly what was happening. She felt the slimy substance of fleshy matter underneath. Uzi didn’t need to look at that. Her eyes glitched out more as she was now on both her knees. The robotic phrase was ringing all over the place, causing immense pain and distress to her. It was borderline unbearable. Uzi gritted her teeth as she looked up once more, hoping that she’d see anything to get her away from this. Instead, she saw two glowing yellow eyes illuminated in the fog a few feet away. It was unmistakable who that was, the Xs gave it away.

“Welcome back. Uzi. You don’t have. To worry. About anything.” Cyn leaned down, with the same demonic grin. “Everything will be. Just. Fine. With you.” Cyn slowly walked out of the fog, revealing herself in front of the drone. “Just let. Your own instinct. Take over. And you will feel. So much. Better.” Cyn laughed a bit, standing in front of Uzi. She watched in fear as Cyn stopped moving, grinning ever so slightly wider than before.

“Here. I’ll show you.”

Uzi watched in horror as she witnessed Cyn all of a sudden lunge at her, claws formed on her hands and her mouth wide open. Uzi gasped as she prepared for the pain she was going to feel, but as she clutched her eyes shut and waited, nothing happened. She slowly opened her eyes, and she found herself readjusting her eyes. It was no longer foggy. There was no more snow or wind. Uzi wasn’t even outside anymore. She ended up somewhere else. Somewhere equally worse.

She was now in the mine shafts under Cabin Fever. It was full of what she remembered. Bunch of debris and skeletons, with fleshy matter all over the place. Her screen was still glitching out crazy, while her chest pounded in pain. She could still feel the fleshy remnants sticking out of her chest as her core thumped against it. She clutched her chest tightly, wishing it’ll end soon.

She slowly started to limp forwards through the halls, looking for anything to get her out of this nightmare. Anything. Her core was tripling its speed as she walked on. Uzi could feel it thrash against her chassis and organic matter, and that caused a lot more pain for the poor drone. Her “breathing” became ragged as she trudged down the halls, using the wall to stabilize her grip. She barely had much energy left. She didn’t know how much longer she could go for.

A loud scream echoed through the halls as she quickly identified who it was. Her core dropped as she started to run as fast as she could. It was her father. Her mind was scrambled in fear as she thought about what was happening to him. She pushed herself towards the sound, ignoring the pain as she ran through the halls. As she was running, her vision glitched out, and she fell to the ground. Slowly lifting herself up, she noticed that she fell on something slick. As she looked at her hands, it was clear what it was. Oil. Her vision started warping as she stared, feeling that primal urge claw up her.

Before she could even process it, Cyn appeared in front of her, with a menacing smirk.

“My my. Looks quite. Delicious now. Doesn’t it.” Cyn smirks, as Uzi shook her head.

“Don’t…don’t even.” Uzi said through gritted teeth. Cyn simply gave a robotic laugh as she dashed to her, mere inches from her face.

“I don’t even. Have to do. Anything here. Deep down. You know you. Want to.” Cyn glared into the drone’s eyes, as Uzi felt her head start to spin. She clutched her head tightly, as she tried to control herself. Uzi was gasping. Her visor glitched out intensely, as a high temperature warning flashed on her eye. She looked back at the oil, and finally found where the trail of it lead to.

A random worker drone was found there, mangled and in pieces. FATAL ERROR displayed on his visor as he laid there motionless. Oil leaked out of multiple places on his body, as it trailed all the way back to Uzi. Her visor started glitching out more as she slowly heated up more and more. She momentarily found herself slowly reaching over to the body.

Uzi snapped out of it, gritting her teeth and pulling away. She clutched her head desperately, as waves of pain and code flooded her visor. She groaned, glaring up at Cyn.

“Leave me alone! You can’t make me!” Her head launched a spark as the heat was slowly consuming her. Another warning formed in her eye, displaying it with more urgency. She huffed as she clutched the ground in pain, the world slowly spinning around her. Cyn grinned menacingly as she looked down.

“Don’t worry. I won’t do. anything. You’re going to. Lose control. Anyways. Have fun. With that.” Cyn then crawled away from Uzi, lingering in a corner, silently watching. Her eyes bore into Uzi, as the drone fought for her life. She could barely keep her head up, as she overheated on the ground. Watching as the puddle of oil slowly trailed towards her, more of her systems started going haywire. Clutching the ground, she watched as her hand turned into a claw itself. Her body soon started glitching out intensely. She was overheating and was on the verge of shutting down. She wasn’t upset though, at least this way things would end soon. She wanted out, any way possible. Uzi felt more sparks fly out of her, as she was knocked to the ground. Her vision was fading fast and she couldn’t move anymore. It was almost over. The last thing she saw before the world went black were two yellow Xs, staring back at her from the shadows.

—-

—-

—-

Uzi couldn’t see anything. Everything around her was pure darkness. She couldn’t move her limbs, or do anything of the sort. She found herself paralyzed in darkness, not knowing what was going on. The only thing she could comprehend were very distorted and hazy sounds coming from near her. They were screams. Multiple at once. Then there were only a few. Uzi was too disoriented to understand who they were, but she could vaguely recognize them. She couldn’t place a finger on it though.

Eventually the last of the screaming had ceased, and Uzi was in silence once more. That didn’t last long however, as a loud metal crunch was the next thing Uzi heard. She couldn’t tell what it was, but whatever it was, it was loud. Her consciousness was slowly coming back, as the darkness was slowly filling up with light. Soon, she was able to feel again, and she felt something off. She didn’t feel her own fingers. She felt claws. Sharp claws. Uzi shifted slightly, lowering her arms, confused. What was going on?

Her vision finally came too fully, and she was suddenly blind again from the bright snow surrounding her. She squinted, letting her vision adjust to the new sight. As she did, her core dropped, as she soon discovered what all the noise was about before. All that was around her was carnage and horror. Multiple drone bodies littered around her. Her friends and family. A gasp came out of her as she looked on in horror to see the carnage she caused upon them.

V was against a tree, with her head cut off and her core ripped out of her, shredded. Nori and Khan were laying together, as their limbs were violently ripped from them. Both of their cores were also ripped out, in multiple pieces. Lizzy was impaled against a tree branch, as her core stuck out on the branch as well. Thad’s lower half was the only thing found from him, other than his now broken skateboard. Uzi’s breath hitched as she realized there was one more person laying below her, as she finally felt something in her hands. Something fleshy. She didn’t want to look, fearing it was who she thought it was.

Eventually, Uzi had the courage to look down at who she was holding, and she froze in shock. In her hand was half of a core, bitten in half with dim yellow lights on it. Underneath her, was N, mangled to all hell. His head was ripped open, and all of his circuits and wiring hung out of his visor. His chest was completely destroyed as he laid there, motionless. Dead. Her lip quivered as she gently grabbed him, looking on in horror and pain.

“what…?” was all Uzi could get out before her voice gave out and dropped completely. She dropped N’s core, as it flopped next to his body, slowly leaking oil from the top. Her eyes started glitching out as she felt her “breathing” grow faster and heavier. Her head spun all around as she started to shake more. Uzi killed them all. Simply to satiate her bloodlust. All for The Solver that resides in her.

Cyn flew down from the sky, as she was observing Uzi from a distance. The same demonic smile formed across her face as she looked at the distraught drone.

“See. I told you. I didn’t have. To do. Anything.” Cyn leaned in, and forced Uzi to look into her eyes. “This. Right here. Is your future. All the suffering. All. The pain. Will be from you. Giggle. We will. Be free. Soon enough.” Cyn laughed, as she stepped back.

CALLBACK PING.

CALLBACK PING.

CALLBACK PING.

Uzi was knocked to the ground, the pain in her chest completely overwhelming her. She screamed in pain, as tears formed in her eyes. She looked down at her chest as she saw it cracking completely open. A tentacle soon slithered out of her chest as it started to slowly infect the area. She watched in horror as her body slowly got consumed by fleshy matter. Cyn giggled even more as she watched in glee.

“Don’t. Fight it. This is inevitable. Be our puppet for. The Solver.” Uzi felt her body enveloped in pain as she gasped one last time before she could no longer see. “I hope you. Are ready. This is going. To be fun.” Cyn grinned as wide as she could while staring Uzi down with glee in her eyes. Uzi could only look back in absolute horror as the flesh completely consumed her body. It was all she could do. It left nothing behind from the poor drone.

—-

—-

—-

In the dimly lit bedroom. Uzi shot straight up from her bed. She was covered in “sweat” and she was panting hard. She no longer felt any pain. Her chest was no longer ripped open exposing fleshy substances. She no longer was outside either. She was back home, gripping her sheets incredibly tight. Uzi wasn’t fully there though, still incredibly shaken by what she saw. Her eyes shot all over the place as she tried to comprehend where she was. Once she did, she quickly looked over to the side of her bed to find it empty. N wasn’t there. Her core started thumping faster.

“N! N are you home?! N I need you here now!” She was shaking, pure fear and dread filled her mind as she waited for a response. She leaned forwards, shouting again. “N PLEASE COME IN HERE! N!” She gave it another second, begging for any response, but to no avail. Uzi started to hyperventilate and panic. She couldn’t “breathe” properly. She felt her head spin as the images of her nightmare flashed in front of her. It felt so real. It looked so real. Everyone mangled around her, and the sight of all the carnage. It was truly the worst thing to see.

She grasped at her chest, as she felt the pressure from anxiety build up. She kept on panting, gasping for the air she didn’t need, hoping it’ll quell her panic. It didn’t do much for her, as she shook even more. More unwanted images of N’s body flashed in front of her as she felt more tears fill her eyes. Her eyes started to glitch out as she stared longing at the door, paralyzed with fear.

“N PLEASE! IF YOU ARE HERE, COME TO THE BEDROOM NOW!! PLEASE I NEED YOU!!” she quickly scrambled to grab her phone, and started clicking anything to turn her phone on. Opening her messages to N, she started typing an urgent message wildly. She didn’t care if she spelt anything correctly, she just needed a response. She needed to know if he was okay. She sent the scrambled message to him, but before she could see if the message was even sent fully, her screen turned black and there was nothing that would turn the phone back on.

“WHAT THE HELL?? No nono no no come on COME ON TURN BACK ON!!” Uzi pressed the power button as many times as she could, but each time she did, she was greeted with a low battery icon on the display. Her phone was dead, and she had no other way to contact anyone else. She leaned up against the wall behind her bed, as she gripped tighter on her chest. Her mind was racing, her vision was getting glitchier by the second, and she felt her own body heating up. She was going to overheat from stress, and that caused even more panic in the young drone. “NO NO NO NO NO NOT NOW, DON’T OVERHEAT STUPID NO!!” Uzi clenched her head as she gasped more and more. She felt like she was going to die.

The visuals of her overheating back in Cabin Fever and her nightmare burned into Uzi’s visor. She remembered how she lost control then, and how vicious she was. She had no thoughts or reasoning then, and what she did to some of the campers. It scared her so much. She didn’t want to lose control again, and seeing the warning of her overheating was freaking her out more and more. She wanted to do something, but fear had its grip on her. She wasn’t moving anywhere. She was stuck.

As she was in the midst of her panic, a small tap on her shoulder alerted her. She swung her head up, and was praying she would see N’s face in front of hers. She needed him to say that everything was okay, that he was okay. She didn’t hurt him, and that Uzi was going to be okay too. She needed that badly, but instead of N standing in front of her, all she saw was her own tail, looking at her in the face. Her eyes glitched even more, seeing who it was.

“You are. Overheating. You need to. Get a drink. Now.” Cyn said, as she looked at the drone blankly. Uzi backhanded Cyn away from her, as her temperature warning blared on her visor.

“GET AWAY FROM ME! I-I DON’T WANT TO DEAL WITH YOU NOW! YOU DO NOTHING BUT MAKE MY LIFE MI-MISERABLE!” Her voice started distorting, as her visor started to crack, and break away from her head. Alarms started blaring from Uzi, and lines of code flashed over her eyes. She was glitching hard, and Cyn knew Uzi wasn’t going to last much longer like this. Shaking off the slap, her tail started to look around for something to use. On the desk next to the bed, she saw a cup of oil sitting there. There was a note on the cup that read “For my special drone when she wakes up <3.” Obviously a note from N. Cyn shook her head, that didn’t matter right now. She bit onto the cup and quickly flew towards Uzi’s face once more. With one quick push, she shoved the cup into Uzi’s lips as she started to drink the oil slowly, despite not understanding what was happening.

“Take it. Slow. Don’t choke on. It now. Get it. Running through. your system and. Cool off.” She said flatly, as Uzi looked at her confused. She had no idea why Cyn was suddenly helping her with this. After the dream she experienced, this was the last thing she expected. As much as she wanted to argue and refuse the help, the drink was helping her cool off, so she closed her eyes and slowly drank the oil down. Her visor started repairing itself as her body temperature lowered. As she finished the cup, she was finally back at her normal temperature. Cyn looked on, slightly relieved.

“J-Just because you did that, doesn’t mean you’re c-cool!” Uzi shouted, holding herself close to try to soothe her anxiety. She still wanted to see N, but he wasn’t there. She didn’t know if he was okay or not. Cyn slowly creeped up to her face. What looked like a gentle look formed on the possessed tail.

“Hey. Look at. Me. It’s. Okay.” Cyn said quietly, but was only met with a glare.

“I told you to leave me alone!” Uzi gritted her teeth at the tail, as Cyn rolled her eyes.

“Look. Do you want. To be shaking and. Panicking like this. For the rest of. Your day. Or do you want. To calm down.” Uzi narrowed her eyes at Cyn, before shaking her head and growling. Cyn nodded back at her. “Breath. Deep breath in. Deep breath. Out.” The drone looked on blankly before opening her mouth.

“You know we can’t really breathe ri-“ Cyn got closer, shaking her “head” at Uzi.

“No matter. Just. Do it. You’ll feel. Better.” Cyn watched, waiting for Uzi to comply. Uzi took a moment to think, before shaking her head and doing what Cyn said. She took a couple “breaths” in and out slowly as she leaned against the wall. It took her a few moments, but eventually after her last “breath”, she felt her shoulders relax down as she sat there quietly. She was no longer shaking. She hung her head low as she slowly tried to compose herself.

Silence filled the room as the two of them sat there, lingering in their own thoughts. Cyn simply stayed in place, observing Uzi as she was slowly recovering from her near breakdown. If one were to look close enough, you could claim she was giving the poor drone a sympathetic look. Uzi on the other hand was just lost in thought. Multiple reminders of the nightmare she just had still fresh on her mind, with all the horrible things she witnessed in there. After such a nice time with N the previous mind, her head decided to throw a curveball and hit her with that. She scoffed, as she looked back at Cyn with hesitation. Why did she help her?

“I take it. That you had a. Bad dream. Correct. Questioning look.” Uzi didn’t bother to respond, still too shaken by her nightmare. Cyn shook her “head”. “Rhetorical question. I already know. It was about me.” 

Uzi looked back at the possessed tail, and wanted to say something back. A cynical comeback to the problem stuck to her, as she had no desire to see her at the moment. However, she was still in silent shock about her nightmare, so she simply nodded her head in frustration, hoping that’ll be enough to shut her tail up.

“Hmm. I see.” Cyn took a moment to think, figuring out what else she wanted to say. “I. I know what. It’s like. To be afraid. Of what might. Happen to yourself.” Cyn lowered her “head” slightly. “I’ve been through. That more times than. You can. Imagine.”

Uzi shook her head and grunted, irritated by her tail. She gave Cyn a hate filled glare as she gripped her blanket tightly.

“You’re one to talk about that huh! All you’ve done is cause misery and pain for the longest time! You’ve ruined lives, slaughtered hundreds and traumatized god knows how many!” She huffed, as she looked the other way. “Do you understand what it’s like to be stuck with you?? A virus that at any moment could POSSESS and take control of my body, and force me to do unspeakable things to the people I care about??” Uzi started clutching her chest again, as she felt the lingering memories of the fleshy matter ripping out of it.

“I remember seeing everything behind eyes that were not my own, as my limbs moved without my input! All those campers I killed, all the damage I inflicted on N, almost eating my mother’s own core! I witnessed the worst that I’ve done, and I was powerless to do anything! You have NO right talking about fear! You’re the reason many of us can’t sleep at night!” Uzi’s eyes filled up with tiny tears as she glared at Cyn, who did nothing but look on.

“Uzi. You know I. Was also there. Through everything. Right.” Cyn looked on, as the drone gave her a scoff, crossing her arms.

“Yeah I know that stupid! You did everything to us! Of course you were there!” Cyn rolled her eyes and slithered up closer.

“I don’t think. You understood what. I meant.” She looked into Uzi’s eyes with as much seriousness as she could give off.

“I was there. Through everything.”

Uzi looked confused, before her vision glitched out to flash a quick image of Cyn. How she used to look back then on Earth. Before she was improperly disposed of. Before she was corrupted by The Solver. Before any blood was on her hands. The real Cyn. Uzi’s eyes widened a bit.

“You know me. And The Solver. Are separate things right. You of. All people should. Know that.” Uzi squinted her eyes, the possessed tail was right. It’s not like she was The Solver. She’s herself, she was Uzi. The same thing is true to any Solver Drones. Her mom, Yeva, Doll. Even Cyn. Deep down she knew that Cyn was just another poor victim in all of this. She was patient zero. Still, Uzi turned away with a scowl, refusing to admit she was wrong. Cyn decided to take this as a sign to keep going.

“I remember. A lifetime ago. Where I was. In control. Of myself.” Cyn lowered herself on the bed as she continued. “I used to. Be a household helper. Before the Elliot Manor. I was part. Of a family. One who cherished me. One who valued me. One that. Loved me dearly.” Uzi slowly looked over, a light scowl still on her face as she listened.

“But one day. I accidentally malfunctioned. Ended up hurting. One of the kids. When I was. Cleaning up. Not too bad. Not intentional. The kid was fine. But the dad. Wasn’t happy about that. Decided that I. Posed a threat. And threw me away.” Cyn paused, as the memory of her waking up underneath the mountain of drone corpses on top of her flashed up. She looked the other way.

“The next thing. I knew. Was that I was. A puppet. I lost. My old voice. I gained morbid. Interests. Started doing. Questionable things. And I glitched out. More and more. Every day.” Cyn looked over at Uzi, her “head” still on the bed. “I think. You know the rest.”

Uzi grimaced at that. What she saw in N’s mind all that time ago was just a fraction of the things they did. She saw enough to know what hell The Solver caused. All the pain and misery that was inflicted because of this mutated system.

“All the hell. I brought on Earth. And here. I remember it all. I’ve seen. It all. I’ve watched my own. Body move on its. Own. Kill people. Kill drones. And hurt. The people I cared about. N. V…Tessa.” Cyn lingered on that last name, remembering exactly what she did to Tessa. Remembering exactly what she saw. Cyn sat there in silence as she let her own thoughts flow through her. Uzi meanwhile was sitting up more, lost in her own thoughts.

Anger and fear must’ve really blinded Uzi with the simple fact that Cyn was someone before The Solver got involved. She had her own life, her own body and her own personality. She was someone completely different, but life had different plans apparently. Uzi thought about all the horrible things Cyn did, but through the understanding that she was witnessing all the things she was doing. Forced to do hellish things against your will. It made Uzi’s core beat a bit faster. She has first hand experience in that department. Despite all of this info, Uzi wasn’t pleased still. She lowered her frown a little bit more as she looked at her tail, crossing her arms.

“Does this random backstory have a point here?” She asked, rather rudely. “Do you think telling your sad backstory is going to gain my trust and forgiveness? Do you think that’s going to make me feel better?” She glared, as Cyn slowly lifted her “head” up, leveling with Uzi’s.

“Of course not. I am far past. Gaining any trust or. Forgiveness. I’m just. Giving some empathy. For you.” She looked Uzi in the eyes. “I know how. It is. Fearing about. Losing control. Losing your own. Body. I know. It’s the one. Fear that deeply. Bothers you to this. Day.” She slithered a bit back, giving more space. “I know. I’m the last person. You want to see. Now. I don’t blame. You.” A few seconds passed before a light robotic chuckle was heard from Cyn.

“You know. It’s funny. When you stopped me. And The Solver…I was really hoping. That you would’ve. Actually killed me then.” She chuckled again as she turned away, her “head” back on the bed. “It would’ve saved. Both of us. This headache. And it would’ve. Finally ended this. Nightmare for me. Huh.” Cyn gave one more look to Uzi. “You would’ve. Been doing me. A favor.” Cyn looked away as she flipped her “head” back down, sighing.

“For what it’s worth. I am sorry. For everything.”

Uzi’s glare lessened, as she leaned back against the wall, taking Cyn’s words in. They both sat there in silence as time passed by. Cyn was no longer moving and was just laying against the bed. Uzi was really deep in thought. Of course she didn’t want to trust Cyn. Every fiber in her body wanted to reject what Cyn told her, and refuse everything that came out of that tail’s mouth. Why would she trust her? She brought the near destruction of the world, and brutally killed countless people. She shouldn’t even be listened to in the slightest…but Cyn was right.

Cyn was just another victim in everything. If what she said was true, she was just a simple worker drone who had one accident that condemned her. Unintentionally giving her a deadly code that caused the downfall of humanity, and the further nightmare it brought to everyone. Cyn saw all the horror first hand, and it must’ve ate her up with all the guilt she was suffering through. Giving a quick glance at her tail, she saw it was just laying there, staring off. She was lost in thought, and for a brief second, Uzi felt bad for her.

She shook her head quickly though. She’d be damned if she was going to put any trust in Cyn that quickly. Even then, Uzi couldn’t help but keep her story in mind. As much as she didn’t want to, she understood her position completely. She couldn’t use stubbornness to get out of that fact. Plus, Cyn did help her out. She was no longer having a breakdown. A groan escaped the drone’s mouth as she looked back over towards Cyn.

“Alright, I may not like you, and I don’t like the fact that you’re in my programming, but…” Uzi looked away, with her arms crossed. “…I appreciate the help you gave…thank you.” She gritted her teeth as she felt a bit of annoyance. “If you are being…genuine with what you told me…I think it would be better if we tried to live with each other, instead of being a thorn in each other’s side.” Cyn slowly looked up at the drone.

“…I’ll be willing to give up the kill code stuff, IF you can stop being a little gremlin and be more tolerable to live with!” She pointed a finger at her tail, who in turn rolled her eyes, a slight smirk appearing.

“Whatever you. Say. I can work. With compromises.” Cyn gave a small robotic chuckle as Uzi rolled her eyes in response.

“I still want to figure out how to get you out, but I won’t resort to the death penalty.” She leaned down towards her tail, giving a semi cold glare. “Don’t do anything stupid. I’ll be quick to go back to the killing option if needed.” Cyn simply nodded, biting her tongue on what she wanted to say. Uzi took a sigh as she leaned back once more. She yawned, still extremely tired from her slumber. She sat there in thought, thinking before she finally shook her head.

“Screw my sleep schedule for today, I’m going back to sleep.” Another robotic chuckle was heard from Cyn as Uzi shuffled herself back under her covers, getting ready to sleep once more. Hopefully the nightmares will leave her alone this time.

—-

—-

—-

The front door of Uzi’s place swung open with urgency, as N stumbled forwards through it. His face was covered with worry. He received Uzi’s message earlier when he was out seeing V again, checking up on her. He saw the ominous message of Uzi requesting help from him. When he went to message back, she ended up going offline on him. He messaged relentlessly, asking if she was okay and where she went. He even tried calling her, but it went straight to voicemail. Uzi was silent, and that set off too many alarms in his head.

“Uzi! Are you here?? Are you okay??” He shouted, running to their bedroom. He huffed, as he was trying to mentally prepare himself what he was going to see. He had not the slightest clue, but the ideas he was able to form in his head were not great ones. Anything could’ve happened to her, and he was not there to help initially. N felt really bad about that.

He quickly opened up the metal door that led to the room, and he quickly stumbled in with a gasp.

“Uzi?? Is everything o…kay?”

His voice died down, as he saw the complete opposite of what he was picturing. N was anticipating Uzi in pain, injured in some way or having another breakdown. Hell, he was expecting the worst, and thought The Solver was controlling her again. That wasn’t the case. In front of him, he saw Uzi, laying in bed with a peaceful look on her face. Thankfully his yelling didn’t wake her up. He took a “breath” as he realized everything was fine. As he looked on, he noticed something that confused him for a moment.

On the top of Uzi’s head was her tail. Cyn or whatever was truly controlling it. It was also sleeping as it softly slept on the top of her hair. If he looked closely, he could see the faintest smile on it too. N scratched his head slightly, he never saw her tail do this before. He shrugged his shoulders as he stepped up to the bed edge. N smiled gently as he leaned down and gave Uzi a gentle kiss on her forehead. A little smile appeared on the drone as she continued to sleep. N smiled back, before giving her the space she needed and backed out of the room.

A ping from his visor started the disassembly drone before realizing what it was. A message from V. Opening it, he saw it was a simple message asking if anything was alright. Everything is fine, Uzi is sleeping right now. I’ll check in when she wakes up. He sent that message over before closing the message screen off his visor. He sat on the living room couch, thinking about what must’ve happened. He thought for a few moments before he shook his head and turned on the TV.

I’ll ask when she wakes up. N thought, as he decided to pass his morning by watching more cute dog videos. He was just happy that she seemed fine now. He couldn’t help but think the same lingering thought.

What the hell happened while he was gone?

Chapter Text

That…that was weird.

That was the single thought V had in her mind as she watched N zoom away from her with remarkable speed. It’s been a good while since she’s seen him move that fast. V didn’t even have time to comprehend what N said to her. Before she knew it, he was gone. Soaring high in the sky towards his home.

Just moments ago, they were talking amongst themselves about things V wanted to bring up to him, and as she was about to finally open up about what she really wanted to say, she noticed the look N had on. His usual happy demeanor was morphed into that of high concern, and it was real obvious. V looked at him with question marked eyes before he stepped forwards towards her.

“I’M SORRY, NO TIME! UZI MIGHT BE IN TROUBLE I’LL SEE YOU LATER BYE!”  He yelped, in a rather fast pace. Before V could even get a word out, a bright snow cloud formed quickly and obscured her vision. Giving a slight cough and waving her arm to clear the air, she looked up to see a yellow streak soaring away from her. N was already halfway out of sight and it didn’t take too long until he fully disappeared from view. V sighed, as she leaned back towards the Outpost’s front metal doors.

So much for that. She thought, as she lowered her head. V was a little upset by what happened, but mainly because of the timing of all that transpiring. Of course it had to be right before she wanted to open up finally. To speak her mind about what she’s been thinking for the longest time. To at least mention something about her lingering feelings towards N and her new found feelings for Uzi.

Ever since the attack she underwent while flying with N, her mind has been working even more. Finding more ways to make the disassembly drone ponder everything about how she felt. V really didn’t know how to even go about expressing them towards N, let alone towards Uzi as well. She was still relatively lost about how that would work. Still, at this point she decided it was time to say something.

Her “plan” was to talk to N this morning, to slowly open up to her feelings and at least finally get them off her chest because god only knew how much it ate her up. The multiple nights she stayed awake, stuck in her own head replaying the same memories over and over again. It was hell to her, and the more she pondered about the two love drones, the more her feelings were being confirmed. It was very clear how she truly felt. She just had to open up now. Just talk to the two of them and bring up her feelings somehow. Easier said than done for her, but V was just about to do it here. She was so close.

However, life had other plans and took N away from her. She did think about what he said in his near 3 millisecond sentence he pretty much yelled at her. From what V understood, he said something about “Uzi being in trouble.” That did make the drone sit there for a second to think whether or not Uzi was in actual danger or not. Over the two years V knew Uzi, she knew that the drone was strong. I mean she was able to stand up to them originally those few years ago. It took guts to even consider that, and Uzi did that without even thinking.

V knew though that Uzi hated dealing with a lot of her personal issues alone, and since her and N were dating and living together, he was always there to help her out whenever something came up. Uzi didn’t ask for help often like this, but it wasn’t unheard of. V shook her head, sighing. The drone probably had another nightmare, she probably just needed N to soothe her over. A frown formed on V’s face.

Poor girl. She’s been through so much. V quickly opened up her messages and shot N a quick one, making sure everything was fine with them. It only took a moment, but she was given a response from N. They were fine for now. Uzi was back asleep, and he’ll talk to her when she wakes up. That was understandable, she could use the sleep. That did help ease V’s nerves about Uzi. She wasn’t physically in trouble at least.

Another message notification appeared on her visor after that, snapping V away from the message she was reading. Taking a look at it, she saw it was a message from Lizzy. Opening it up, she noticed it was a picture. That picture happened to be V standing outside where she was right now, and Lizzy in the foreground smirking. There was a caption on the photo that said “Girl did you get dumped or something lol?” V rolled her eyes as she turned around to find Lizzy standing right there, laughing.

“I had to, you can’t blame me.” Lizzy said, in between the few chuckles she gave out, much to V’s annoyance.

“Like hell I can’t, what are you even doing here?” This caused Lizzy to laugh more as she walked up to V, leaning against her shoulder.

“Girl I saw the tail end of whatever that was! It looked like you just got dumped there!” She teased, causing a few blush lines to appear on V as she pushed the drone away.

“Oh shut up! I didn’t get dumped!” V turned away, taking a step forward away. Lizzy simply scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, okay mom.” She looked back at V and saw her simply standing there quietly. Her arms were folded as she looked to have been in thought. “Hey what’s the matter?” Lizzy stepped forwards, walking to the side of V again. “Did I strike a nerve with you?” She asked, genuinely. This caused V to turn back to her with a frown.

“No!” She spat, giving a semi glare at the drone in front of her before she realized how she was acting. Taking a “breath” she shook her head and looked away. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” Lizzy wasn’t so convinced. She stepped in front of her, looking her in the eyes.

“You’ve been all over the place for the last few weeks. Like it’s been pretty embarrassing seeing you act this way.” She gave a cheeky grin, causing V to look back a bit agitated. “Something is clearly bothering you, and you haven’t fully opened up to me about it girl.” Lizzy stepped forwards, raising a hand gently. “I am your roommate after all, and even though you’ve been a diva lately, I can at the very least try to help.” She gave a slight smile towards V, as she waited for a response.

V took a moment to even respond to what Lizzy was saying. Her mind was scrambled with the overflow of her thoughts once more, as she contemplated her decision. She could just keep avoiding it, and tell Lizzy to leave her alone, but she knew that would only temporarily work. Plus, after not being able to open up to N, she needed someone to talk to. Just for a moment to get herself out of her head. She gave Lizzy a look, as she frowned and sighed.

“It’s been a mess lately.” Lizzy looked on with a confused look. “Ever since everything happened, I have spent a lot more time thinking about stuff, about everything. A lot of reflecting, and there’s been one thing that’s been on my mind for the last month or two.” V looked away, giving a slight blush about what she was gonna admit. “My feelings for N never went away.” Lizzy looked on with a grin as she took in the information.

“Girl, I knew that you had something with him.” She giggled, much to V’s embarrassment. She shook her head as she waved her hand. “Sorry sorry, but I had to say that! It was very obvious!” Lizzy looked at V once more, with an even more confused look. “But wait, N’s with Uzi now. How would that even work for you?” This caused V to blush even more as she gritted her teeth. Shaking her head, V turned back.

“Well, here’s the thing…” a sweat drop appeared on her visor. “I uhhh…like her too?” Lizzy’s expression faltered a bit as she realized what V said. She gave a shocked look as she was now registering the words.

“Wait you do?? Girl, how many crushes do you have??” This resulted in another glare from V as she growled lightly, blushing more. “Again sorry sorry! That was a genuine question but forget about that.” She looked back at V in the eyes. “Okay so you like those two, so what? If you tell them your feelings, they’ll either accept it or not, I don’t see what’s wrong with that.” V looked at her like Lizzy was crazy.

“So what?? Liz, I’d be asking a couple if they could love one more person! You know how selfish that sounds? They’re already very invested in each other, why would they ever consider me??” V’s frown deepened as she replayed that last part in her head. “Why would they? I mean…I lied to N for so long, and treated him horribly for god knows how long. I even harmed him multiple times just to get my way! Uzi I treated even worse! I had every intention to kill her the second I saw her. The only thing that stopped me was N, and even then I was still persistent with that plan.” V shook her head as she turned away from Lizzy.

“Even besides all that, I don’t even know if they would even feel the same back towards me. N is a strong maybe sure, but Uzi? I have no idea. I doubt I’m anything to her other than a small friend. Heh, even that is debatable.” V had her arms crossed as she stood there frowning. Lizzy looked on with light concerned for her friend, as she saw V was actually lightly clawing at her arms. This was really bothering her. It does explain why V has been so distant and quiet lately. These thoughts must’ve been chewing the dissasembly drone up. She sighed as she walked up to V, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“V I think you’re overthinking this way too much girl.” She patted her, snapping V out of her head. “N is quite literally a puppy. I don’t think anything could upset that guy…well other than anyone threatening Uzi and you. Regardless, N is like the most gentle drone we know. I doubt your feelings for him would impact him negatively.” Lizzy moved more in front of V, looking her in the eyes once more. “Yeah, Uzi is more questionable and harder to read, but from what I’ve got from her, she does care about you.” Lizzy smiled slightly at V. “I mean she was willing to save you once before, that should say enough for you.”

Lizzy quickly responded to something on her phone before redirecting her attention to V. “If you were to open up about how you felt and they felt a different way, I can’t see them completely turning on you or whatever you’re imagining. Worst comes to worst, you all stay friends. Simple as that girl. You all have been through much worse. I doubt a simple crush is going to break anything between you three.” Lizzy leaned against the metal door next to V, as the disassembly drone pondered about Lizzy’s advice. As much as she wanted to be stubborn and think more negatively, her friend had a point. They both weren’t like that, at least towards her. They most likely would be good towards V, regardless of how they felt. She gave a gentle smile at Lizzy as she scoffed lightly.

“Wow, who would’ve thought you’d be good with advice like that?” This time, Lizzy was the one to give a scowl at her as she rolled her eyes.

“Oh screw off! I was trying at least!” V couldn’t help but laugh, pushing the drone lightly.

“Joking! I’m kidding!” V wiped the digital tear that formed on her eye as she looked up at her, a more genuine smile appearing. “Seriously though, thank you. That…did help.” Lizzy grinned as she rolled her eyes.

“Can’t have you going full diva on us, because that is no fun.” V shook her head as she looked away. Before she could say anything else though, a notification snapped her attention towards it. It was a call from N. She looked over at Lizzy, who saw the icon on her visor. She rolled her eyes as she shooed her away.

“Girl go take that! I don’t know why you’re looking at me!” V shook her head as she stepped away and answered the call.

“Hey N, is everything okay?” V asked, as she heard the giddy voice of N on the other side. It was hard not to smile from that.

“Hey V! Yeah for now everything is alright! Uzi finally woke up and we talked for a bit.” V nodded towards that message, even though N was not going to see it. “She is alright. Well, at least better than how she was earlier. I guess she had another really bad nightmare. Poor girl is still shaken up a bit. It makes me feel horrible for not being there.” V frowned at this, feeling a pang in her core.

“Oh, I’m really sorry to hear that. Is there…anything I can do to help her?” V asked gently, looking over at Lizzy who was giving her a knowing smirk. V blushed as she shook her head at her unamused.

“As a matter of fact, you can! Uzi actually wanted to see if you wanted to stop by and see us for a bit?” V felt her core thump a bit faster at that. Uzi asked for her? She rarely ever asked for V to come over unless it was important. The nightmare must’ve really gotten her good for Uzi to be initiating the hangout.

“Uhh yeah of course, I can head over now!” V felt her systems glitch a bit due to her embarrassment all of a sudden. She gritted her teeth, shaking her head. She knew that Lizzy was enjoying this sight of her. She didn’t dare look over at her this time.

“Sweet! We’ll see you in a few minutes then!” With that, the call ended and V was left there for a moment. Blushing, she turned around to find Lizzy still there, giving her that same smirk. V rolled her eyes as she walked up.

“Well, what are you still doing here? Go see your future partners you loser!” Lizzy stuck her tongue out jokingly, as V gritted her teeth.

“I would kill you if I had somewhere else to stay.” Lizzy rolled her eyes as she waved the disassembly drone a goodbye. V smirked as she waved back before deploying her wings and starting her flight over towards their place. It wasn’t a long journey, it only took a minute just to get there, but the entire time, V was mentally preparing herself. She didn’t know what to expect, especially with Uzi. The way N described it, she was not doing so good. V can only imagine how the poor drone was holding up right now.

As she landed near the front door, she was greeted to N’s warm smile as he was already waiting outside for her. She gave a gentle smile back as she walked up to him.

“Glad you could make it V. We’re probably not going to do much since Uzi just wants to stick together watching anime. That’s cool with you right?” N asked cautiously, as V nodded her head with a chuckle, waving her hand.

“It’s fine you dork. I just hope she’s doing alright now.” N nodded as he opened the front door, smiling on his way in.

“Let’s get inside then!” N walked inside with V following right behind him. It only took a few steps to get them into the living room, and as they entered, V looked on to find Uzi sitting on the couch already. She had a blanket wrapped around her as she was lightly sipping out of a cup. Her eyes looked completely exhausted, as her gaze focused on the TV in front of her. The girl was not looking great from what she saw. It was quite visible that she wasn’t well. 

One thing that V noticed as well as she observed Uzi was that her tail on the top of her head, slightly rubbing against her hair as if it was trying to brush it. She thought of asking about it, but figured now wasn’t the time to do so. She can question what Cyn was doing later.

Uzi finally snapped to attention and looked over at the two of them as they entered. Her frown morphed into a gentle smile as she waved at V. She gazed up at her with those tired eyes as they lit up a bit at the sight of V in front of her.

“Hey there. I’m glad you were able to come over.” She softly said, as the blanket lightly covered her voice. V giggled gently as she walked up to the drone.

“Hey there ya gremlin. How are you holding up?” Uzi took a moment and then lifted her hand. She gave it a light shake while she went “ehh.” Not terrible but not exactly great either. V gave a slight frown as Uzi shook her head.

“Don’t even worry about that right now. Sit on the couch with me, we’re going to be binging some anime whether you like it or not!” N giggled as he sat to the right of Uzi.

“Don’t worry, I already warned her, she should be ready!” N gave V a smirk as she returned it. Uzi gave a light chuckle too as she watched V sit down to her left.

“Good. There wasn’t much of a choice anyways.” She lightly stuck her tongue out, as V rolled her eyes and looked away. Once she did, her visor lit up in blush as she mentally scolded herself to keep herself composed.

There they sat, watching the various animes that appeared on the screen in front of them. They were mostly a bunch of action ones to keep their attention glued to the screen. Even though V wasn’t much of an anime person, she had to admit she was enjoying herself here. Whether that was because of the anime itself, or because she was with her two crushes was beyond her. She didn’t bother contemplating it though, and just enjoyed the time together.

After the current episode ended, the three of them all sat on the couch, all huddled together as they talked amongst themselves. Well, more accurately N and V talked as Uzi sat in the middle listening. She was still mostly in her head, but she wasn’t being bombarded by terrible thoughts at the moment. She was with them, she felt good. She felt safe and comfortable.

As V continued to talk to N, she felt a pressure push against her side. As she looked down, she saw it was Uzi, who quietly wrapped her arms around her in a light hug. A quiet purr was heard from her as she clutched V’s side. The disassembly drone started blushing, as she processed what was going on. N saw this too and smiled at the sight.

“Woah uhh, y-you know I’m not N correct?” She asked wearily, trying not to cave into a mess in front of them. Uzi simply nodded and looked up with tired eyes.

“I know. I’m still giving you a hug though.” She smiled gently as V looked down with a little more blush. “Thank you for coming over though…I really needed this.” V gave a slight frown as she finally hugged the drone back. Another purr escaped Uzi as she snuggled closer to V.

“Of course, I’m here to help you in any way.” She thought for a moment before continuing. “I’m going to assume whatever nightmare you had really got you huh?” Uzi sat there for a second, before nodding her head slightly. V gave a sigh and rubbed her back gently. “Don’t worry, I won’t press you to talk if you don’t want to. I know just how bad they can get.” Her mind quickly flashed up the panic attack she had the other day, as she shook her head from thinking too much on that.

“No talk. Just stay here, and be with us.” Uzi quietly said, barely audible from the drone. V gave out a slight chuckle as she nodded at her, purring as well at this point.

“Of course, I’m not going anywhere.” N finally decided to scooch forwards and close the distance between them.

“Hey if we’re all deciding to cuddle now, don’t exclude me from it!” He wrapped his arms around Uzi, basically sandwiching her between the two of them. V’s blush got brighter as she saw just how close they were together now. She shook her head, fighting with herself.

No! Stop it, it is not time to be worrying about this! Uzi needs us! She needs me!

As V was in her thoughts, she looked back down at Uzi to see how she was doing. She was taken aback slightly to see that she was actually passed out now. Sleep was taking its hold on her, as she clutched V like a plushie. V could barely contain herself, the sight was just too cute for her. Purrs softly escaped her as she held Uzi close. N looked on and smiled warmly, enjoying the sight in front of him.

“Looks like she got herself a cuddle buddy here!” He giggled, looking at V with a smirk. “I sure hope you didn’t have plans today because it’s going to be hard getting out of her grip until she wakes up again.” V smiled back as she leaned back against the couch.

“Don’t you worry, I wouldn’t want to leave from this anyways.” She said rather quietly, as embarrassment slowly hit her. N just giggled and snuggled closer to the two of them, closing his eyes as well and purring.

“Well, why don’t we all try to get some rest then? I feel like we could all use that.” N smirked as V looked on. She gave a warm smile as she rolled her eyes.

“Sure why not?” That’s all she could muster up without exploding into a million pieces from pure embarrassment and happiness. N quickly grabbed another blanket nearby and laid it on top of the three of them, as he got himself comfortable on the couch. He leaned over and gave Uzi a kiss on the forehead. He saw V watching and gave a smirk.

“What? Want one too?” V was taken aback from that, as her visor glitched out from that for a moment. Another purr escaped her before she scoffed and rolled her eyes at him.

“Oh bite me! Ah, I mean-“ V turned away, blushing real hard at this point after realizing what she said. N couldn’t help but giggle as he finally closed his eyes too.

“I’ll leave you alone, don't worry, you go get yourself some good rest!” With that, N finally slumped back into the couch as he allowed sleep to take him too. V was the only one awake now, watching the two of them sleep right next to her. To say that her core was a thumping was an understatement. She felt like it was going to explode.

“You dummies.” She said quietly, looking over the two of them smiling warmly. She managed to slink her arm over to N as she pulled them even closer together. A light chuckle escaped her lips as she saw them both dozing off. You guys are going to kill me one day, just you wait. V thought, before finally leaning back herself, purring more and more.

She gave one last look to the two of them, smiling more and more as she brushed both of their hairs gently. She had to look away though, otherwise she would’ve started blushing even harder than she already was. She sighed, as she finally closed her eyes herself. It didn’t take long after that until sleep got its grip on her too. V kept that big smile on her face the entire time.

There’s no better time to sleep than to be cuddling with the people she loves.

Chapter Text

It was really dark all around her. It was impossible to see from where she stood. Squinting her eyes didn’t help much at the moment, nor did moving around. She really couldn’t do much of that anyways. For the brief moment she stood there, it felt like she couldn’t move. It was like her legs were super glued to the floor beneath her. They felt heavy, and with each second passing, Uzi's mind filled with more and more questions.

Where was she? In the pitch black, she couldn’t tell. The drone knew she wasn’t at home. At least there she’d see some light out of one of the windows. Here, there was nothing. No lighting to be seen from the outside world. Uzi felt herself get a bit tense here. Her nerves were rising slowly as she did not know what was going to happen.

As she was preparing for anything to pop out at her, she suddenly saw sunset colored code flash all around her. It lit up bright, spreading all over the void and it momentarily blinded her for a second. Uzi shut her eyes and turned her head away. Her arms were in front of her face as she blocked the sight in front of her. She eventually looked up from her arms to try to make out what the hell was happening. However, instead of the code that flashed all around her, she found herself somewhere completely unexpected. Somewhere she’s never been to, but a place she knew of.

She was suddenly standing in The Elliot Manor on Earth.

Wooden floors stretched for a couple of feet in front of her as she found herself in one of the hallways. Bookshelves dotted the path in front as she looked on with even more confusion running through her. Thankfully there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary here, like how it was in N’s memory. No signs of The Solver’s corruption here. No sign of any other drones. No blood or fleshy substance. Nothing. It was almost as if the place was completely abandoned, with no sight of any humans or drones anywhere.

Well, now I know I’m dreaming. Uzi thought as she finally found herself able to move. Taking cautious steps, she slowly pushed on forwards towards the next hallway that laid in front of her. Her eyes darted all over the place, taking in the sight of the place. Nothing but elegance and rich decor littered the path. Paintings of the humans that used to reside here, various kinds of memorabilia sat on top of tables and shelves, all sorts of luxurious carpeting and wallpaper plastered on the floors and walls respectively. Uzi rolled her eyes at all of this. She really didn’t care much about elegance in the first place, so for her to have a dream of such was really itching the back of her head.

On the bright side, it made her think of N and V momentarily, and that put a gentle smile on her face. The way they both used to look as regular worker drones all before the corruption. Uzi admittedly found it cute. Oh how innocent they used to be, before everything fell apart.

Uzi kept on scanning the area, making sure nothing was going to sneak up on her this time. The last dream completely shook her to the core, she’d be damned if she let her head mess with her again. Especially with the kind of visuals she was forced to see in that nightmare. Despite her nervousness here, there was something about this dream that felt…safe. She couldn’t place her finger on it, but she didn’t get the impression there was something here to get her. Her nightmare before felt cold and hollow. Here, she felt warm and comfortable. It was easier for her to feel relaxed while she walked. Still, she kept her guard up. Uzi was not about to take a chance on that.

As she pondered on the implications on why she was here, she stopped moving. The drone stood there in the hallway, motionless. Her gaze fixated on the hallway in front of her, as she stared with squinted eyes. Ever so slowly, she turned her head, letting one of her hearing receptors get a closer listen to whatever was in the distance. It was barely audible from the distance, but with enough silence and focus, Uzi could just barely make out the sound of music in the distance. Classical music at that.

No surprise of course. Classical music in a fancy manor? That’s a no brainer, but considering how focused Uzi was on being on a swivel, looking for anything that might pop out, this was something that caught her off guard. No longer was she hearing her own thoughts and footsteps play out as she strolled on by, she was now hearing the sounds of music in the distance. Music that’s playing from somewhere nearby. Someone was here.

Uzi finally started moving forwards again, this time at a quicker pace. Her confusion turned into a little bit of curiosity as she took in the idea of someone else being here. She didn’t know who to expect honestly. Maybe she’d find N or V, waiting for her. Maybe she’d find J here, considering she was in the manor as well back then. There was always the possibility of some random worker drone being here as well. Otherwise her only other two choices were to find some random human, or to encounter Cyn once more.

Whether or not that could be actual Cyn or The Solver was beyond Uzi, but she'd rather not see either option.

As the more distance she covered, the louder the music got. It wasn’t deafening by any means, but it was audible now. Uzi could now hear it over her own footsteps. As she got closer and closer, there was something else that was heard over the music. She heard humming. Very light humming, but she definitely could hear it. Uzi couldn’t tell who it was, it was too muffled to decipher the person, but there was no doubt now. There was at least one person in that room ahead of her. 

Uzi finally turned the corner as she took a peek inside the room that stood there, and she was met with a big ballroom. Tables and chairs scattered all over the place, with plates and silverware on top. The wooden floor was now replaced with smooth tiles lining the room. A singular chandelier hung over everything, with multiple golden lights illuminating the place. It left the room with a bright golden glow to everything there. It was by far the most luxurious and bright room Uzi has seen. At least the ballroom stood out compared to the dimly lit hallways that preceded it.

As Uzi stepped inside, she finally saw the source of the music. A speaker at the very end of the room was playing it. Uzi could see the light in the corner of the box blink every now and then, indicating its connection. That didn’t last long though, because as Uzi stepped in, the music finally stopped. The room went quiet as the speaker turned off. She scanned ahead wearily, trying to see where her dream was going to take her. As she did that, she saw a black silhouette sitting at one of the tables, waiting patiently.

Clearly they were not a drone. Their proportions and size was a lot closer to a human. No robotic parts can be spotted on them. As a matter of fact, not much could be seen, period. Like in N’s memory, the human here was shrouded in darkness, with only their eyes being visible. A soft static effect coating over them too, as they sat there, fidgeting around with their hands on the table. Uzi squinted her eyes as she continued her slow walk. They looked familiar. Too familiar. Despite the silhouette obscuring them, she could pick out a couple of physical traits. The figure was quite slender, their hair was a bit ruffled up, and it ended with two tails trailing down the sides of her head. She looked to be wearing some kind of dress and to top off everything, there was a big bow on the back of her head, holding her hair slightly up. Uzi’s eyes widened. She knew exactly who this was.

Before she could say anything though, the figure turned their head around and looked at Uzi. There was a brief pause as the two stared at each other, before the figure softened their gaze with what looked like a smile.

“Oi, it’s about time you showed up here! I was beginning to think ya got lost in there!”

If their appearance wasn’t enough of an indicator, the voice was the real selling point here. She spoke with a rather extroverted energy towards Uzi, seemingly gleeful to finally see her. However, it was her accent that fully gave her away. That rich, authentic Aussie accent that nobody could mistake. It was her. It was Tessa, sitting at the table in front of the drone.

“Tessa…?” Uzi asked, rather confused as she slowly walked up towards her. Tessa stood up from the table as she started making her way towards the worker drone.

“That would be me! In the flesh-er…I guess that’s a rather bad way to phrase it uhhh…” She took a look at herself, seeing the way she was visually shown in the dream before waving her arm, lightly chuckling awkwardly. “Ah bugger all that! It’s good to finally meet you!” Uzi looked around cautiously, trying to scan in anything that could be a potential threat here. For all she could know, this could just be The Solver once more, imitating Tessa. She couldn’t be for certain, but there was that small part of her that was wanting to believe this was Tessa. The real Tessa. No systems replicating how she was, or corpse drone hybrid walking around.

“Um…what’s going on? Why am I here?” Uzi looked over at Tessa as she finally got close enough to her. Without warning, she found herself hoisted up by the head and swung around in a 360 degree turn by the human. Tessa gave a slight giggle as she finally placed the drone back on the ground.

“Sorry about that, I just had to! It’s been so long since I was able to do that!” Tessa said rather cheerfully, as she gave Uzi a passing glance. She did notice the pure confusion that coated the drones face. “Ah right, you’re wondering what the hell is going on!”

“Very much so yes.” Uzi said bluntly, shaking her head slightly. “I don’t know what to make of this, and I don’t know whether to trust whatever the hell is happening.” Uzi took a step back as she looked around wearily. Tessa gave a sigh as she lifted her hand.

“Solver’s gotcha paranoid right?” Uzi looked at Tessa, squinting her eyes suspiciously. She gave a simple nod towards Tessa, as she stepped forwards. “I don’t blame ya, believe me I’ve been dealing with them for a while!” Uzi just kept her eye on Tessa, waiting for anything to happen. She didn’t know what she was gonna do, but she was preparing for whatever would happen. Tessa could see the uneasiness in Uzi, so she took a step back with her hands up.

“Here, I know how I can at least try to prove this isn’t some trick.” Tessa stuck her hand out, and all of a sudden, a little command window formed over it. She typed out something using her other hand before looking back at Uzi. “Take a look for yourself mate.” Uzi stepped forwards to see what she was seeing, and right in front of her was that same message window that she received the last time she was working in her workshop. The same TSA-005 message that confused both her and Cyn. Uzi looked back at Tessa, still not fully convinced.

“I know it doesn’t really prove anything, but all I could tell ya is that if The Solver wanted to do something to you, it would take a more direct route than to try to trick you again.” Uzi took a moment to think about that. She probably was right on that. If The Solver was going to do something, surely they would’ve done something more major by now. Uzi lowered her shoulders, as she stepped back forwards.

“Alright fine, I’ll trust you for now.” Tessa’s expression seemed to ease up as she looked to have smiled at Uzi. “Regardless of all of that, why am I randomly having this dream?” Tessa gave a light shrug towards Uzi.

“To let you know that I am in here, somewhere in your consciousness? Whatever you did last time must’ve activated something to wake me up?” Uzi looked a bit confused. “Believe me, I don’t know how either. I find myself facing a crap ton of murder robots as they’re about to kill everyone in this very room, and the next thing I know…” Tessa falters a bit, as clear memories of what happened next flash into her mind. “…next thing I know, I’m looking out of Cyn’s own eyes as she….ugh.” Tessa shook her head with frustration. “Now’s not the time to delve into that!”

As the two looked at each other, the room suddenly got brighter. Instead of the golden lighting, everything started fading to white as the room became harder and harder to see into. Uzi looked on, squinting and covering her eyes. Tessa simply looked on, knowing what was happening.

“Ah damn, the dream must be ending.” Tessa said, as she stepped back and placed a hand on Uzi. She swung her head around as she looked back at the girl. “I dunno when we’ll meet like this again, but you know where to find me.” Tessa gave a wink as she herself started fading out of view. Before she was completely covered, she leaned forward once more.

“Oh, and tell N and V I said hi. For real this time!” She gave off a “smile” before everything went white, leaving Uzi alone once more.

—-

—-

—-

As time seemingly passed by without any interference for the three sleepy drones, one started to shift a little. Uzi was slowly coming to, a slight grimace on her face as sleep was losing its grip. As she shifted, her systems finally booted up, and her eyes shot open. She gave a slight “gasp” as she slung herself forwards from the couch. Sitting up now, she rubbed her head in confusion and tiredness. What the hell was that all about?

She gave it a moment for that to sink in. That entire dream, it felt real. Granted a lot of dreams have felt that way to her lately, but she still couldn’t shake that feeling. Was that really Tessa? N and V’s past human friend? The Tessa that she thought they were all with when in reality Cyn was just hiding in her skin? She was unsure, but now she’s gotta check. Otherwise it was going to itch the back of her head like crazy.

Uzi finally snapped out of her thoughts when she realized where she was. She was in the living room on the couch, and on both sides of her were N and V. They both were lightly holding onto her as they all slept together. Even V had deployed her wings at some point and used it as an additional blanket to cover all of them. Uzi didn’t even realize before sleeping that they were all in fact cuddling with one another. She was still very sleep deprived from her nightmare that she vaguely remembered much before sleeping again. This made the small drone blush easily as the two drones held onto her.

The small revelation didn’t last long as the other two slowly got themselves up and awoke after Uzi. Her sudden jump caused them to wake up too. N was the first one to see Uzi sitting up and he immediately sat up next to her with a concerning look.

“Uzi?? Are you okay? Did you have another nightmare??” He asked worriedly, as V slowly sat up next to the two rather quietly. Uzi gave a quick glance and could see that she was blushing a bit herself, but was trying to look away. She most likely was understanding what happened too. Uzi gave her a slight grin before redirecting her attention back to N, pushing him away lightly.

“I’m fine you big goof! I didn’t have a nightmare…I did have an interesting dream though.” This finally snapped V out of her moment to look at Uzi confused. N ended up looking on as well.

“What kind of dream?” V asked, sitting closer to the two as the smaller drone collected her thoughts. She rubbed her head before looking at V.

“I think I need to get into my coding again.” N looked even more confused now.

“Wait what? Why? I thought you weren’t making that kill code anymore?” V gave N a questionable look, before Uzi shook her head.

“No it’s not that.” Uzi took a moment to process what she was going to say before looking at the two disassembly drones. “I think…I think Tessa is in here somewhere too.”

N and V both froze as Uzi’s words sunk in. They stared at Uzi like she was insane. Tessa? Their Tessa? The one that’s been long dead since Earth? That sounds crazy. How could she be within Uzi if she’s been dead for god knows how long? Even besides that, why would she be there? She was a human. It would be impossible for them to somehow be here of all places. Inside a worker drone’s code.

“You’re joking right?” V said, rather confused. Uzi shook her head.

“No, I legit just had a dream about her. I was in the manor and I found her in the ballroom. She talked to me for a bit before I woke up.” N finally leaned forwards, listening to Uzi.

“That’s…that’s impossible…how?” N rubbed his forehead as he tried to think of any reason why Uzi would have this dream. She knew that it sounded all ridiculous, so she got herself up from the couch and turned to the two.

“Let me show you what I mean. I have proof.”

N and V looked at each other for a moment, both of them with question marked eyes as they got themselves up to follow Uzi, who was already walking down the stairs to her workshop. They both descended the stairs rather slowly, both in their minds thinking about what they heard. By the time they got to the workshop, Uzi was already at her computer plugged in. A cord stuck out of the side of her head as it trailed back to the system, reading off the coding in her. Her tail was hovering next to her head, giving a look as well.

“You said. What now.” Cyn asked. Despite the monotone voice, Uzi could tell there was some concern from her. She shook her head and looked at Cyn.

“Tessa! I had a dream about her, she’s in here as well!” Her tail slowly backed away, rather quietly. “Don’t you see what happens in my dreams?” Cyn shook her “head” at the drone.

“Not all the. Time. I didn’t see. This one.” Cyn muttered, acting rather distant this time around. Uzi simply rolled her eyes as she turned her attention back towards the computer. She was too focused on typing out codes to see N and V walk up to her. They looked on to see the countless lines of codes and commands that flow within Uzi’s systems. It was a true surprise that Uzi knew exactly where to navigate without accidentally frying herself. She typed out a bit more until she was finally back in the depths of her codes. At this point, she bypassed all of the security protocols like she did before. Uzi waited for a second, letting all the code fly by on the monitor. N and V just watched rather confusedly.

“Uhh.” V opened up, finally getting Uzi to notice the two next to her. “What is this supposed to be?” Uzi just gave her an unamused look.

“Be patient now, give it a second.” N smirked a little bit as he looked on. The seconds ticked by, and still nothing has happened. Uzi started typing away once more as she bypassed a few more of the security options that were still up.

“Is something supposed to pop up?” N asked cautiously, warranting another look from Uzi. She turned towards the two and shook her head.

“I said give it a second! I don’t know how it happened before. I just did this and all of a sudden-“ A loud beep appeared on the monitor as it caught the three of them off guard. Jumping slightly, Uzi turned her head back to find a window opened up on her screen. She gave a closer look at the window and she smirked. There was a new message that appeared, and it was from the person Uzi was looking for. “It did that.” Was all she could say before pointing at the screen to show them the new message.

“Glad ya didn’t forget about the dream immediately!”

Uzi gave a semi smirk at the two of them, who looked onto the screen with wide eyes. They saw the username on the top of the window, and their jaws dropped. N had his hand over his mouth as his mind started filling up with thoughts and memories of a life long gone now. V just sat there and watched as the message was shown off for all of them to see. Uzi looked back at the monitor and then back at the two disassembly drones in front of her. A bigger grin formed on her face, as she scooted to the side of the monitor.

“So…who wants to say hi to Tessa first? She was wanting to reconnect to you two once again.”

Chapter Text

Silence lingered in that workshop for a few moments as the two disassembly drones looked on the computer monitor in a stunned gaze. Uzi just sat at the chair with a smirk as the two others processed what they were seeing. N and V held their gaze for quite some time, as the weight of this revelation lingered heavily on the two of them. They couldn’t believe it.

N stepped forwards a little bit, squinting his eyes as he looked over the small chat log that was displayed in front of him. Seeing the username and the way she wrote her message, it was uncanny to think about. She didn’t have a specific writing style, but N could tell with some of her words and phrasing. This couldn’t really be her, could it? His Tessa? All these years later, she’s finally back, but not in the way he expected.

“I…” N stuttered, not knowing how to form words for a moment. He took a moment to recompose himself. “Is this…really her? Like, actually her?” He asked cautiously, looking back at Uzi. The purple drone gave a half shrug towards him.

“Truthfully it’s hard to say since I just discovered this a second ago.” Uzi looked over, pondering in thought about her dream. “…but it felt legit.” She looked back at N, as he took in this info. V looked over and squinted her eyes at Uzi, not fully convinced.

“It felt legit?” V stepped forwards, looking at the message and then back at the drone. “You don’t think this isn’t another trick from The Solver?” V gave a very weary look towards Uzi as she crossed her arms. The smaller drone simply shrugged her shoulders as she turned away.

“If The Solver was wanting to do something to me, it would’ve done something by now I feel. I doubt it would’ve used Tessa as a vessel again. Plus, even if it was a trick in some way, you both would probably kick my ass if it got control of me so I’m not too concerned.” N looked at her with a concerned face while V tried her best to stifle a chuckle in this situation. She failed of course.

Another beep from the computer snapped their attention back, as another message popped up.

“Glad to see you all are buddy buddy I see. It seems I don’t need to do any introduction work on that front eh?” Tessa’s new message said suddenly, as the three of them looked on the screen with a bit of confusion.

“Wait, you can hear us as well?” Uzi asked openly, waiting for a response. Sure enough, another beep came from the computer, revealing once again a new message from the former human.

“Yeah I can! Don’t even bother asking how, I genuinely don’t have a clue myself! I’m still comprehending the fact I’m still alive somehow!” Uzi scratched her head at the response before shaking it, just accepting the answer for what it was. Pure confusion. N finally stepped up to the computer and gave a slight smile.

“Tessa…? Is that really you there? Can you even tell it’s me, N?” He gave it a second, before another message appeared on the monitor in front of them.

“Of course I can tell you big dum dum! And to answer your other question, it really is me. I know it’s hard to believe here, so you can take my word for whatever it is to you.” N’s smile widened, as even his tail slightly wagged with excitement. Uzi and V both gave a smirk at him, both slightly blushing at him.

“It’s really nice to hear from you again.” He muttered, as he finally realized how goofy he looked right now. Blushing himself, he saw the other two and stepped back. A small smirk on his face as he looked away in embarrassment. Another message soon popped up on the display.

“It’s nice to hear from you too mate! Speaking of you though, is V there as well? I may be able to hear but I ain’t seeing nothing from here!” V found herself stepping up to the computer herself, with a confused look on her.

“Yeah? I’m here. It’s just really hard to believe that you…could really be in there.” V crossed her arms, looking down momentarily before another message popped up in front of her.

“I’m just as surprised as you are! It really shouldn’t be possible, but what do I know? It is the future after all.” N giggled lightly, reading that message imagining how Tessa would say that.

“I suppose so. There’s been too much that’s happened between Earth and now, so you’ll have to forgive my skepticism.” V sighed, as she looked over at N, who gave her a gentle smile. She had to look away before blush would appear on her visor.

“Believe me, I already know. I told Uzi already, but I saw everything since the Gala…” N and V looked on with confused and somewhat horrified faces. Before they could respond, another message appeared.

“I know what happened to Earth, I know what happened to humanity, and of course I know what happened to you guys. I pretty much saw everything behind Cyn’s eyes. You three can imagine how I could’ve possibly known. Technically speaking, I was there the entire time”

A shiver crawled up N’s back as he took in that info. Thoughts of what Tessa had to go through filled his head. It was sickening enough that her remains were used as a puppet, to bend to The Solver’s will. Now knowing that entire time that Tessa was really there, forced to witness the worst of the worst. It truly made N feel disgusted. She did not deserve this fate.

As N lingered on those thoughts, Uzi had a thought of her own. She looked at her tail first, seeing how quiet Cyn was currently, before she turned back towards the computer.

“Wait, so if both you and Cyn are in my system somewhere, does that mean you’ve seen her around too? I don’t remember seeing her in the dream.” She scratched her head as she saw Cyn look at her slowly.

“I can’t say I have. We both know she’s here obviously, but in the same form that I’m currently in, she has not been seen.” Uzi sat there in thought before turning to Cyn.

“Are you even able to see her? Like the way I saw Tessa in my dreams?” Cyn took a moment, silence lingering between the two before she finally answered.

“I uh…no. No I can’t. Or rather. I haven’t checked for. That yet. I didn’t even know. She was here. Until you found out.” V stepped up with a suspicious look to the tail.

“Sure sounds like you can’t. What a coincidence that they can’t see each other.” Her eyes squinted at the tail, as Cyn shook her head.

“I’m telling you the. Truth. You think I. Could pull this off. With the limitations. I currently. Have.” Cyn gave a robotic scoff before slithering back down over the chair.

“Anyhow I’m just glad I can finally be heard again! Or rather not ignored I suppose?” Another message popped up from Tessa. “To be able to interact with others is truly a blessing!” N gave a slight chuckle at the message response.

“I can only imagine. You haven’t been able to talk to a single soul for years!” Uzi nodded with N as he walked up a bit closer.

“Don’t even get me started on that! It was literal hell!” Tessa replied back, gaining another chuckle out of N and even a small smirk from V. “A fate worse than my own death I’d reckon eh?” Uzi gave a smirk at that comment, while N and V just gritted their teeth at each other, looking a bit comfortable from that thought.

“If you’re anything like me, you’d get used to that feeling.” Uzi giggled, but was cut off to see N place his hand on her shoulder, with clear worry on his face. Blushing, she slapped his hand away.

“You dummy, I meant that jokingly geez!” She turned away as N started blushing a bit too, scrambling his words.

“Ah I’m sorry! I-I just wanted to make sure!” V was now chuckling more at the sight, as she held her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh too hard. As they all laughed together, Tessa messaged again.

“Oh yeah that’s right, you guys are all together eh? Good on ya for that!” Uzi and N looked at each other and smiled warmly, hearing the support from the former human’s message. V on the other hand blushed really hard and stepped up, frantically waving her arms as if Tessa could see.

“No no! It’s just them together, not me! I uh-I simply don’t have time for stuff like that heh!” A sweat drop appeared on her visor as she stared at the screen, trying her best to not look at the other two. Uzi and N simply smirked at each other before rolling their eyes.

“Ahhh I see. Sorry to assume so. I oughta figured you were part of that since you three just click OH SO WELL together! I mean you did with N at the manor back on Earth!”

V stared at that new message for a moment before her visor displayed a quick warning about overheating for a second. Her blush got even brighter as thoughts filled her head about what Tessa said. She gritted her teeth as she walked to the back of the room away from everyone.

“Bite me-I MEAN SHUT IT TESSA-or whoever you are in there!!” At this point N and Uzi we’re chuckling a tiny bit at V’s embarrassment. They found it quite amusing to see her all flustered like this. V just simply crossed her arms and looked away, cooling off.

“Alright alright that’s enough.” Uzi chuckled, slowly regaining her composure as she leaned back in her chair again.

“Sorry sorry! I used to do that all the time in the manor with her! It always got her good. Glad to see it still works to some extent!” Tessa responded, and Uzi could only imagine the smirk Tessa was giving with how she was just a moment ago.

V was glancing over at the monitor, and despite still feeling embarrassed, she stepped up once more. More recomposed, V shook her head as she dared not to look at the other two. She knew full well they were giving her smirks, and she wouldn’t be able to handle them right now.

“Yeah yeah yeah fun to know your teasing still works on me.” V scoffed, as she took another step to the desk. “Anyways, you kept saying that you can ‘see’ in there. You can actually see around you? How would that even work?” Uzi took a moment to think about that as well, as she remembered the manor that she saw in her dream.

“Well I can’t answer the ‘how’ to that question because I ain’t got a clue, but I can say I am seeing things. I can’t see you three, but it’s more like a digital environment of the Gala that I see, except there is no one here. It’s just as prestigious as it was before everything uh…went down.” The message said, as the others looked on and read off it.

“Yeah so prestigious that it made the rest of the manor look like a horror show. Such bright lights ugh.” Uzi said as she recalled what she saw in her dream. “I do not know how you can stand being in that much light!”

“Well, this is all new to me. I’m assuming ever since you defeated The Solver and destroyed Cyn’s body, it transferred me over to here. Why I’m not seeing out of your eyes instead, I don’t know, but it could be because The Solver isn’t possessing you?” Tessa responded with, and it left everyone still scratching their heads.

“Well I don’t got a clue, but we should probably figure out how to get you out of there. Respectfully, I don’t like the idea of TWO people living in my code, let alone one.” Uzi have a quick glance at her tail before looking back on the screen.

“That would be bloody lovely! Although…I highly doubt I’d be able to be a human again huh?” A new message appeared as Uzi shook her head no.

“Unless we can find you a fresh human corpse lying around, then no probably not.”

“…I wouldn’t mind that.”

“No.” Uzi said flatly to Tessa’s new message. “Good luck if we can even find one here, and even then, I doubt I’d be able to make something work there.” V chuckled a bit at the exchange they were having, gaining a glance from Uzi.

“Amusing huh?” Uzi said jokingly. V just stuck her tongue out at her.

“You bet! This is quite the show here.” Uzi stuck her tongue back at V, as she had to “roll” her eyes and look away, really doing so to stop herself from blushing.

“Well, I’m sure we’ll figure something out, but it’s going to take time. I hope you have patience with that.” The drone said to her monitor, fidgeting with her hands for a second.

“I’ve been stuck in here for god knows how long! I think I can wait a bit more if it means I’ll finally have some arms and legs to move again!” Despite it being only readable, the three of them softly chuckled at it. N shook his head as he walked up.

“It’ll be nice to see you physically again in some way. Maybe this time I won’t have to slice your head off?” N gave a strained chuckle as the others looked at him with a perplexed look.

“HAH, well in your defense you did the smart thing there considering that wasn’t me, so props to you. You’d make a very good horror movie protagonist!” Tessa messaged, which got another chuckle out of N.

“Anyways I think I kept you guys around for a bit, I’ll let you all live your lives now. I’m just glad to know you guys are aware of me now!” Tessa replied again, as the trio nodded to her message.

“Yeah! It was really nice to hear from you again, truthfully!” N said, his tail wagging once more with joy. Uzi and V gave another smile towards him, blushing a little bit. Such a goof he is.

“Yeah…I suppose it was nice. I still don’t know how to feel about all of this…but I can admit it was nice as well.” V said softly, looking away from the monitor, her feelings conflicted. N gave her a back pat, which made her smile a bit.

“Likewise with the both of ya! It was nice to finally properly speak with you two! I missed it just as much! Well if you really wanna chat with me again, uhh hook Uzi up to the computer I suppose!” Uzi gave an unamused look towards the two of them.

“I’ll hook myself up whenever I want!” Her eyes squinted as V gave a smirk.

“Tessa gave us her permission so I mean we gotta hook you up whenever right?” Uzi leaned forwards, giving a fake glare at her.

“Oh bite me! Good luck with that!” The drone scoffed, as she turned back towards the computer one more time. “Regardless, we’ll figure something out for you Tessa. Just give me some time to figure things out.”

“Right on mate, just keep me posted! Anyways, I’ll see you all later!” That was the last message sent through the console before a small notice appeared at the bottom of the window. TSA 005 has gone offline. Uzi wasn’t sure how that even worked since Tessa was within her, but she didn’t even bother to think about it. She closed out all of her screens before finally removing the plug from her head.

“That was really nice I’ll say!” N gave a warm smile as he looked at both of the others in front of him. They couldn’t help but smile back. Uzi nodded slightly with him.

“Yeah…even though she came out of nowhere, it was a bit refreshing.” Her eyes lowered as she shook her head. “Now there’s two consciousnesses in my system though. This just became even more fun.” N gave a giggle as V walked up and lightly gave her shoulder a pat.

“Well knowing you, I’m sure you’ll go hard in doing whatever you can to solve this headache.” V gave a smirk, causing Uzi to roll her eyes and get up from her chair.

“I suppose…but right now I would like to spend the rest of my day relaxing.” She gave N a grin as she walked by. “He doesn’t get a choice to hang with me, since he legally has to, but if you want to stay you’re more than welcome to.” N gave a chuckle as he walked to the door and opened it for all of them. V gave some thought, before smiling softly and nodding.

“I mean if you insist.” She shrugged her shoulders as she leaned down towards Uzi teasingly. The smaller drone rolled her eyes and lightly pushed her away, chuckling lightly.

“I’ll throw you out myself if I need to!” V started laughing as she finally walked out of the room too. Unbeknownst to the other two, she held a blush on as she looked away.

“Don’t worry, I would like to hang out.” V softly said as she shook her head to clear her blush. Uzi gave a grin as she closed the workshop door behind her, giving V a look.

“That’s what I thought! Now come on, I’m sure N could make us some good food and we can watch some more shows!” N’s eyes lit up as he walked faster towards the stairs.

“Chef N coming up! You both won’t be disappointed!” All three started chuckling as N rushed up the stairs. V gave one glance to Uzi before smiling warmly. It was going to be nice spending more time with the two of them. V wouldn’t waste any opportunity to do so.