Chapter Text
- "You will continue."
She doesn’t see anything, like her eyes are open but she’s looking into the void. She hears her heartbeat, which isn’t odd to her, because of the program she inherited, but every beat it kind of hurt. It increased in intensity until there was a sudden ping of pain that only lasted five seconds. Her hand ripped into something else. She felt her head slowly getting heavier while her hand moved a beating thing into somewhere else.
- "This will hurt."
Doll shoots up with a stinging pain that forces her visor to flicker into life. She rolls over on her stomach, absentmindedly clawing on the rocky ground. Her mouth was full of oil that she couldn’t spit out so she just kept coughing something up. Doll grabs her stomach with her free hand where the pain’s most intense but all she feels is oil coating her claw-like digits and
and a pretty long gash, maybe two or more inches deep and
well she thought she died but
She vividly remembers being cut open when something got her. Rolled over, she feels hair under her face. Long. Some strands block her sight. Glowing orbs. Circular things. But the stinging pain kept coming back in intervals so Doll had no choice to try and satiate or distract herself from that pain. Biting her fingers got her nothing but surprise at how hard it is to bite through her metal, clawing the ground wasn't enough anymore either.
She lifted her heavy body and clawed for what felt like an hour to the elevator she used, with oil dripping out and painting a trail. She forgot for what, but her head ached too much to remember. Forcing herself up, Doll goes through the gaps broken by the crash of the elevator, digging her claws in the dirt, then dirt, then concrete, then tiles. She’s exposed to more light that blind her (more). The material was familiar to her fingers. Those two-legged figures appeared out from shadows, sharp teeth, now extremely wary of tall metal bodies like hers. Not only did Doll need to defend herself
with aching pain, that she hasn't felt in a while
but she realizes she has never been this hungry.
///
Thad raises his rifle and closes one eye for better focus. When the target highlighted, he immediately shot, missing the white circle by a few inches. He's always precise when he's practicing but in real life, on a shaky WDF combat vehicle, it won’t translate well. Chad does less focus-dependent practices, just shooting every time something gets in view. The constant bullets flying doesn't make him nervous but definitely lets him know how his friend would act in serious situations. He stands there, rifle lowered, until Chad notices him, and unmutes his audio. "Yo, yeah?" When the blonde starts walking up, the other rests his rifle on the glass divider.
"You just like shooting the thing…" Thad messes with him, making Chad roll his eyes. "Sorry that I'm not treating the rifle like a sniper, but I'm smart enough now that I probably can't rely on space and timing to 'get a good shot' or whatever. "
"I'm working on my precision so I can get good headshots!"
"There's other parts of the body, man. And I dunno, what if the target don’t have a head?"
"Well it won't have a head cause of me." Thad points at himself, and Chad just shook his head, muttering something along the lines of 'sure, man'. Chad reads the time on a digital clock in the room, and walks to the exit. Thad follows behind, heading to the armory room that also acts as a locker (each WDF worker has personal guns). "Also the outpost is big. There's a lot of room to focus." Thad idly said while removing the ammo from his rifle to bring home, in case his rifle ever gets taken. His friend doesn't give a motion that he's listening. "I guess… I'm expecting a bunch of targets."
"Oh yeah. I guess I’m just used to there being one problem at a time."
"I don't know about you, but I'm used to three murder drones breaking in."
"You know what I mean."
A lot of people did lose their lives over incompetence in the WDF. Sure they didn't have guns back then, or no real offense, but that’s why as soon as Thad was let in, he got Chad and Uzi to vouch for him for the distribution of rifles and handguns and snipers. And it seems to also inspire Khan for shields and WDF special helmets. Thad always had a suggestion and kept showing them to Chad for feedback before going to Khan. But after the installment of cameras, he just seemed satisfied. Chad, however, joined the WDF because Thad did. Thad wasn't against it. Chad was one of the only drones left after everything that happened, he couldn't afford to see him less. He's more protected this way too, right beside Thad protecting others. It’s not like anything ever happens anyway.
They both got their things and closed the lockers. Out of the WDF only gun range, Thad looks down at one of the many tablets that are distributed to WDF workers who volunteer for overnight watch shifts. It's his next one in two days, the whole weekend, though he can always opt out that day if enough drones are there.
"I see snow," Chad mutters, spooking Thad a bit. He doesn't pay attention when using it. "What's with you not liking the cameras?" Thad asked, the dirty blonde other shrugs.
"I dunno, it's just snow? Are you looking for flowers?" Thad shook his head, "It can zoom in more than 500 meters, dude. You could see the dirt specs in the snow when the sun is out, if you zoom in enough."
Chad stops talking now that he's out of rebuttals and looks back down. "You don't like safety?" It wasn't a real question, just to bait him.
"Dude, how badly do you want to find this 'hot thing'?"
The 'hot thing', Thad mentioned. It wasn't an actual hot object. He meant to say red but he didn't want to say red because he didn't want to give any clues into what he’s obsessing with and trying to find. Chad could care less about the color red, he wouldn't have remembered her if he tried hard enough. He only remembers the ones important to him, like Thad and Sam. And he couldn't be mad he didn’t remember, it just made it hard to find somebody to talk about it.
That's why he talks with Uzi. She’s the most reliable drone, right in front of her. And maybe Uzi's mother is third most. Thad went straight to her homeroom after Chad and him walked to the vending machines, at the center of the outpost that’s sort of like a large hub than a city center. He greets Nori and Khan, and with some energy drink in hand, Thad watches as Uzi looks at the cameras (after forcing her to).
"Look, I went through hours of footage. Sped up too. But... same conclusion. I don't even see any flashing red. Except for the communication towers."
"Something wrong with the cameras?" Khan asked, hovering over the two sitting at the dining room table. "Uh- no sir. I just like… making sure nothing pops up."
"Thad, you're more dedicated than how I was back then! With a daughter to protect, I was just as cautious as you." Khan said, was it a good or bad thing? Thad couldn't tell. "You shouldn't be too worried though, next expedition, you can keep looking for those signs you keep talking about in person."
Uzi hands Thad back the tablet. "Yeah, I can't find anything." Thad nods and doesn't push it.
"Well, thanks anyway."
Nori jumps on the table from Khan’s shoulder. "Kid, I would know if something was happening out there. And from all the things I've seen, there should be nothing else." Nori announced it like it's fact, and it probably is. Uzi just nods, "Yeah. There's been nothing since. For now."
"I don't know," Thad insisted, "I just feel like I'm expecting something."
"Well, it’s good to be cautious, Thad. I'm right behind your dedication and wariness. But... try not to make it a habit, alright?" he patted Thad's back.
"Yeah, uh. Sorry for the intrusion." To his apologetic response, Uzi puts her hand on her shoulder, "It's fine, Thad, I like you around."
He's glad it feels like there's more support between the drones he knows, or maybe it's because now he's really paying attention to the support given. He's not used to asking favors that felt personal before, even if it's just asking his god-adjacent friend to look over hours of footage for
well, quite literally for the color red.
But now it's night, and he goes to his homeroom. Opening it, he heard the sound of complaining from the TV, and Lizzy laid on the couch.
"Hey, Liz." She hums and looks up at him for a second, letting him rest his arm on the couch. "Uh. Where's V?" At his question, Lizzy points at the front door, "She's in the new homeroom." The new homeroom was just the room offered to both V and N, same homeroom, two rooms inside, because Nori really did not like either of being at their home, in her daughter's room, and Thad didn't like how much of a bad roommate V is. Somehow, Lizzy respected his wishes. At first she wouldn’t go, but the privacy must’ve won her over.
"Are you sad she's gone?"
Lizzy lifts an eyebrow, "She's right beside us." Right beside but far, they destroyed two homerooms to make it 'bigger' for those two. Realistically, a three homeroom-sized place isn't necessary, but as long as V isn't fighting N for territory, everybody's happy.
Thad nods along, "Yeah… This place would be cramped for a murder drone."
She looks at him a little longer before sitting up, picking up her phone out of habit. "Uhhhh. So... What did you mean by that? Like, she's not gone-gone, you know that right?" Thad shrugs again, not wanting to press the conversation. Lizzy gets up now, the drama show evolving to background noise.
"You know, I've seen how you've been acting. I'm not dumb." Thad bit his tongue before he could make an immediate comeback, "What do you mean?"
"Acting all sad. You don't even look happy talking to Ashley and Beth." Because they were just Rebecca and Emily.
"I thought you'd like Tim," Sam,
"and Darnell," it's obvious.
"and-"
Thad stops her, "I'm glad you think of me, Liz. But I am only a few months into this WDF thing. It's natural that I'd change a bit, don’t you think?"
"Really?? Is feeling like a mini working husband coming back to your mini housewife changing you?"
"Liz, you have homework." Thad rolls his eyes. It wasn't literal, just reminding her that they're still in school. It has been months after prom, just one more year of 'the school after high school' before they end up working in some role. "And you don't even cook, you just buy takeout!"
"You changed!! Do I have to spell it out?? And I even know how to fix it! I'm literally giving you friends like offering you your natural habitat!"
"And I really appreciate it, Liz. Genuinely. I made sure I haven't changed up about sports, because I know you love to cheer for me."
Lizzy furrows her eyebrows, shoving him away before sitting down. "Don't push it." He puts up his hands in surrender.
"But" Lizzy lies back on the couch, "if you need to, like, find something, or... whatever, I'll help."
"Find?"
"Duh."
Thad was standing in a way where only the side of Lizzy's face was visible. He couldn't read any changes in her expression. Lizzy and Chad don't usually talk to each other due to Chad's... stress on his masculinity annoying Lizzy.
"Find... what?"
"Some spark? I don't know! Find a new hobby, something new."
He really can't get around 'new' when it comes to personal things. The same drones, new personalities are fine, but new drones, same personalities are so different he doesn't know how Lizzy can handle it. Maybe being popular for her isn't the same for him.
"You're acting like a mom," he muttered. Lizzy really did not like that one, she shot up and threw a shoe at him, which he dodged, smiling.
///
At night though, sleep is short. Thad suddenly woke up, not even from an alert, just during midnight, in pajamas with his CPU slowly rendering the area around him. He gets up and checks the time, 2 AM. Time is slower on this planet, by 5 hours compared to Earth despite how fast the sun and moon(s) come up, so it isn't weird to wake up at any time sometimes. He's rested enough, and getting up, he decides to take a shower early.
Walking in the dark homeroom, making sure not to wake up his roommate, he enters the bathroom and turns on the shower. It's no longer water. It's been contaminated with chemicals for so long that it's basically diluted degreaser. He looks in the mirror, in the dark, his green glowing eyes occasionally flickering out of slight exhaustion.
He's made it this far, but his friends haven't.
He doesn't know if it's weak of him to think like this, everybody's moved on, even the parents of his friends have new children. But having friends was his personality, his objective, and his achieved goal. He's popular today, Lizzy adapted quick and Chad only considered a few drones his actual friends. Still, Lizzy's proximity to Thad and his sport skill naturally lead him to become popular.
He didn't even have to say anything. So how can he view this popularity as some achievement?
He steps in the shower and washes himself of dirt and grime. He covers his hair, wigs don't do well in degreaser, so waits till he’s done washing up to dry brush his hair. Drones just keep their hair dry, nothing is really necessary for it. The whole shower, he didn't have any words in his head; the dark, while engaging in something mentally benefitable, calms his mind to the point where he isn't sure if he's doing it manually or not. He puts back on his pajamas and walks out to Lizzy's room to check if she's asleep.
He needs to because she doesn't like when he goes out to the doors.
He's been doing it more frequently now he has access to them. He can't close or open them, that's still Khan's primary job and Uzi isn’t dumb enough to do Thad's dumb favors, or she doesn't want to get in trouble with her dad. Either way, he walks down the same direction he's gone hundreds of times. When he got there, it was nothing out of the ordinary. Thad hears the other WDF workers at the front door, probably playing cards. Some things never change. He stayed there for a bit, looking at the exterior of the third door. He didn't know what he was looking for, only that he was trying to kill time before he felt he needed to go back to the homeroom.
But, nothing. And he accepts that.
Walking backwards, he doesn’t look away at the ceiling’s wires and pipes, large vents and whatever else. Thad remembers how the murder drones would always utilize those vents. But the most they could do is put dividers between every meter or so. And even if the threat of murder drones slowly become nonexistent, or at least more predictable on who to blame, it does make him feel happier that less drones will receive a fate like others.
And then he hears a creak. Maybe almost a thud, that sounds like slowly putting pressure onto something.
It came from the ceiling. But he just stood there as he heard it fade out and move forwards. It happens a little too quickly for him to process, and he just looks down the hallways it went: the residency area. Before he could take too many steps forward, he sees Chad with a rifle, in a more casual outfit than the pajamas Thad had on. Thad stares confused, shaking his head, "Uh. What are you up to?" Chad lowers his rifle, a little surprised since he was here originally a while ago. Because of his whisper, he decides to match it. "Heard a noise, man. In the vents. So I got my gun. Like we were told to do?"
"You heard a noise so you got your gun… Chad, are you sure you're not just trigger happy?" He didn't mean to not mention that he heard it too, it was just that it seems like he very quickly resorted to violence. Besides, taking their personal guns out of the lockers is pretty tedious.
"I'm not, chill." Chad shrugs, hoisting the rifle on his side, and Thad gets closer to him. The blonde pats his hand on his friend's shoulder, "Well, morning, I guess. I woke up suddenly, if you're wondering. And just wanted to stroll around."
"Lizzy keeping you up at night?"
Thad huffs, "We… no, Chad."
"What? I'm just asking about your roommate."
His friend claims it as a false alarm, offering the two to walk together at the residency, but Thad refuses, and tells Chad to put away his gun while he leaves. Which he does. Thad goes back to walking, his bed waiting for him. But while walking, he hears the thuds again. He pauses and actively tries to detect where the noise is headed, and looking around, Thad notices he’s in the area where Doll's family 'resides'. Her room isn't taped with caution tape anymore, clear, but locked. Thad went up to the door, looking through the glass, noticing how many bugs Uzi was able to exterminate. Uzi only, because she felt bad about Doll's death, and only saw it fit to preserve Doll's home.
Thad put his hand on the door handle, where one puts their hand in and pulls for it to slide open automatically. He wants in. Uzi taught him how to break into homerooms when she broke into one in front of him. She gave him a copy of the card she uses, not a key but specifically made herself to slide through where the lock of a door is and trigger it to open. Khan has installed new doors once he found out Uzi was doing this, but Doll's door is the old model. It's perfect, the opportunity is right there and the quieting thuds are beckoning him to do it. He walks away, then jogs to his homeroom, grabbing that same long card from his room. He returns back. Hastily. Thad swipes at the door as quiet as possible, two times before it opens.
But it was full of red. Those same eyes that he's been missing, staring at him from the dark. It isn't eye level to him strangely, it’s much higher. He hears its breathing, which is a little unnatural for drones, but he couldn't notice because he can’t even speak. It has its hands on the desk for support, its legs failing to find the stand naturally. It stands over the two bodies of those dead adults, but he isn't sure if it’s planning to eat them. And just as him and Chad predicted, the vent cover is on the floor.
Those eyes are piercing his optics.
Thad's body, facing away from the hallway lights, is just darkness, not easy to identify who it is. But his hollowed out green eyes still gave a glow. And it caused the figure to squint theirs. He doesn't even notice its backing up and hiding behind stray furniture.
The red light above the door suddenly turns on, detecting a presence. "Thad?"
Thad turns back to see Chad with the rifle, a few meters away from him. He felt himself virtually exhale. He doesn’t know how’d it go down if anybody else caught him. "Dude, you didn't put your gun away?!"
"No! I heard something, and my hearing's pretty good, man!"
"That’s- no, it's not!"
Thad look back for a second, even though he doesn’t want to. And only sees the faint white body of that murder drone in the darkness of the homeroom. When he looks back, Chad’s squinting his eyes in the homeroom. "What're we looking for?"
"Got sidetracked."
"Nobody lives here, dude. It's basically a gravesite."
"It... is, yeah."
Chad stands there for a bit. Thad could see the internal thought process in him, wondering if this is worth wasting his time that could be used for recharging instead. "Maybe you should go back and put the gun-"
The sudden heavy thud catches both of their attention. They both look back to see the legs and tail of a murder drone going back inside the vents. The sudden heavy thud catches both of their attention. They both look back to see the legs and tail of a murder drone going back inside the vents. Chad doesn't even take time to say 'I told you so' and quickly points his gun up to put led in whatever was hit. Some of the bullets hit through, but most either missed or couldn't puncture wherever they hit. "Damn!" Chad motions Thad to follow, and they both start running to the doors.
Chad pulls out his radio, that he also kept on him, "Yo! Something's in the vents! I think it's coming to the doors, so open the second and third ones!" Thad couldn't focus on what he was saying, only that he hasn't seen red optics in so long. Nobody else had them strangely, even orange eyes aren't very common. But red, that primary color, made him disassociate so quickly. Or maybe because he was just face to face with an unidentified murder machine. Reaching the doors, they were open, just as Chad directed the guys to do, except the first was also. It was just a form of incompetence to orders that the WDF still held. At least the threat can just leave instead of feeling cornered. . Thad was about to talk, but Chad just cocked back his rifle and pointed up at the ceiling again.
"I'm gonna get it down!"
"You're gonna shoot at the ceiling?!"
The dirty blondie looks at Thad with an obvious glare, "There's not a lot of important shit in there anyway!"
This is probably the most nervous he's been today, apart from being meters away from a goddamn murder drone. Who was hunched in a way that it looked like she was in the middle of eating something. It just made him delusional, and hopeful. And he wanted to say something, but Chad would never understand. A few of the other men did the same, with their more hefty rifles, and shot up every time they heard the thuds of movement. Eventually, one of the vents' covers crumbled under the frantic pressure and out fell a murder drone. The same model as V, and... that other Uzi fought, but there was long purple hair, remnants of a red and some other color that's dull and dirty on her clothes, and those eyes that look even more visible than in that lit doorway.
It must be her.
At the corner of his eyes, Thad sees Chad raise his rifle, the other men in the group not shooting, as orders from Khan told him not to shoot any murder drones, because nobody knew there was a fourth one. Yet Khan never thought he needed to tell the two boys this. Thad doesn't think before grabbing the muzzle of the gun and jerking it to the side, causing Chad's bullet to barely miss the disassembly's face.
Thad looks at her, her eyes now hollow too, as if now she remembers. If he could process and think in this moment, he would've been happy that she remembers him. But just her presence, and his longing, now in front of him, makes him freeze. Chad looks at him, both with surprise and realization. Because the cold weather outside is making her burning metal steam. She’s overheating. She must've come for all the spilled oil in that room. Suddenly, wings sprout from her back, and she squats before taking flight. The wind knockback from the action made all the WDF workers fall on their backs. Knocking the wind out of the younger boys.
A little later, Thad’s restart screen loads up, bringing him back to consciousness. The WDF men get up first, helping each other stand, but Thad remains on the floor. Chad is already standing, looking down at Thad with an unreadable expression on his face.
"That's the 'hot thing', isn't it." Chad asks accusatory. Thad just looks to the side, refusing to answer.