Chapter Text
1
Three days.
It had been three days since the incident at the camp and despite her doing everything to keep herself locked away, Uzi was back in the classroom. It’d been her father’s insistence, saying she couldn’t lock herself up grieving her classmates because that was going to lead some repression damage later on…
She didn’t have the heart to tell him why she really locked herself away.
The sun had still been up when they arrived back at the colony, she was beginning to stir to head inside when N had grabbed her wrist and gave her a warning to pretend to sleep. She of course had questioned it only to have a boiling pain shoot down the back of her hand as it fell into the sunlight.
She didn’t question after that, though it made her core sink down further into her chassis as the two disassembly drones had run interference when her dad charged onto the bus. Saying she had volunteered to stay with them until the sun went down so they wouldn’t be alone.
What was she…?
Freak, monster, demon… her inner voice hissed back. Murderer…
She shook her head as she huddled down further behind the books on her desk. She could feel Lizzy’s eyes on her back, trying to bore a hole through her. Fearful and angry. She couldn’t blame her. Most of the popular girl’s friends had been killed on that trip. Lizzy also nearly met her end there as well.
Darren had been first, he and Rebecca had tried to run out of the cabin, but she'd still caught him. She'd...lost something important to him because of that thing and she'd taken it out on him by ripping his throat out and eating him as he was dying.
Braiden she used her powers and quickly dispatched, clean and simple decapitation…though she did see him light on fire not long after, side effect of her overloading his circuits years ago because he’d bullied her.
Sam she’d hunted down and chased after the initial scare, he'd slammed a magnet against her head and it pissed her off a bit. So much so that she grabbed that same magnet, pressed it against his core until it completely wiped his hard drive. He...wasn't Sam anymore by the time she ripped his core out.
Emily was pounced on from the trees, she was always a nervous little thing with a weak core and Uzi honestly thought the stress on her core was what did her in. Didn’t help her head was removed from her neck not long after.
Rebecca though…
That one still made Uzi shudder convulsively.
Rebecca she had made sure felt pain. The others she was efficient in dispatching, but this one was personal in her frenzy. She had ripped into her first, didn’t kill her but removed her torso from her hips and made her watch as she tore into Darren after his deactivation. She wouldn't stop screaming...so to shut her up, Uzi stuffed half of Darren's core, his soul into her mouth. Rebecca had been right up there with Lizzy in tormenting her. Constantly picking on the purple eyed drone because of her height, her hobbies, and very much made sure that she had no friends. Then at the camp…her hitting on N despite the fact she was dating Darren…trying to isolate Uzi even more than before…
Her vision flickered with static as her hand gripped the desk harder. A low rumble went through her chest as the piece of furniture gave a soft groan of protest. Why did she get so upset…they were just friends, right? But then again, that’s what Rebecca always did when someone tried to be friendly…the popular girl would be alllll buddy buddy with them before spreading lies and making them hate the poor goth girl…making her even more of an outcast.
Just thinking about it pissed her off…
Warning: Internal Temperature Increasing.
She flinched at the warning, releasing the desk and putting her head on her arms taking steadying breaths to cool off.
Couldn’t afford it…not again.
“Uzi, please no sleeping in class…” the teacher sighed, “Documentary movie time is not recharge time.”
“Bite me,” Uzi’s eyes flicked up to the older drone’s as the words hissed out.
But she did turn her head to the screen to watch the old human documentary. Something about cats…big ones. She watched as the big tawny creature stalked towards its prey, she’d seen that before. N and V both had that grace when they were hunting. She’d…
“New body, same horrors, huh Cyn?”
Uzi jolted, violently reminded of that night as V stalked towards her with blades extended.
Warning: Internal Temperature Increasing.
“Stop it stop it stop it calm down!” Uzi panicked, putting her head in her hands.
They felt like ice.
Hurts. Hurts! Hurts! Pain! hissed from her voicebox, so quietly that it would be a miracle if she'd been heard.
The monotone narrator’s voice continued on the screen.
“Some big cats are known for toying with their prey before killing and eating them. Reports of male lions carrying young antelopes and grooming them have come from dozens of sources. This is not a nurturing and confused mother role, experts have said, this is merely play for them. And the young fawn will end up being consumed when the lion is bored.”
“...D-Does it at least have pictures?”
“It doesn’t …I checked.”
Warning! High Internal Temperature!
Oil levels at 25%.
Oil Required Immediately!
Uzi’s breaths came out in panicked gasps. Her screen flickered and shook as she dove for her bag. She didn’t care. Have them see her do this horrible thing or risk killing them all.
And that was when she realized the bag wasn’t there. She’d left it at home when her father all but dragged her in this morning.
“No, no, no, no!” she panicked.
A Hi Temp caution flared on her vision clear on her faceplate. It was swiftly replaced by the strange triangle glyph called the Absolute Solver. The lights immediately shattered and the projector burst into a flurry of sparks. Uzi could hear the others cry out as the room was pitched into darkness. She saw their panicked lights shimmering in a rainbow in the blackness. She could hear the oil pulsing…
HOTHOTHOTHOTHOTNEEDMORESWEETCOOLHELPMEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE!
Hurts! Hurts! Pain!
“Nope. Nope. Nope. Not going there!” she immediately got up from her seat and bolted out the classroom door.
Her core burned, she felt like her insides were melting as she ran. She needed to cool down. She needed, unfortunately, to get to some oil before she turned again. But where to? Doll’s house was likely cleaned out by now…N and V were taking what they could from there because of the former’s insistence they not hunt. Home seemed more likely…she still had some stashed away from when she had raided it herself. Back when she didn’t exactly need it but still kept herself cooled down. Not to mention…N and V had the key to Doll’s place.
Home it was, then.
The door to her room flew open and slammed shut with a violet glow as the Solver glyph locked it behind her.
“Where is it, where did I put it!? Come on, come on, come on…” her body was terribly hot, it didn’t matter how much she used the Solver now, she needed to find that stash and she needed it now .
Papers were flung in every direction. Crazed ramblings, old newspaper clippings, even some of N’s drawings that she had kept. It all fell around her like an odd snow.
Warning! Internal Temperature Reaching Critical Levels.
“I KNOW THAT!” Uzi shrieked, grabbing at a box hidden under her bed.
She let out a relieved sigh, only for it to devolve into a cry of anger. The box was empty.
“No, no, no, no !” she panicked, “Where could it have gone!? Did I get rid of them!? There’s no way…”
A flash of blue light caught her eye and she faced the small golden cockroach that had followed her from the camp.
: )
Maybe it knew where she put it. It had been giving little hints and stuff as of late whenever she’d misplaced something.
“Oil supply,” she shuddered as a sharp pain stabbed through her chassis.
The little bug chirped, skittering towards the desk.
Here . Flashed up in holographic display.
Uzi stumbled forwards, another pain ripping through her systems as pressure focused on her back. Something scrabbling against her casing and fighting to break free.
“No, no you stay…” she hissed as she grabbed the box.
There was a loud crack and pain exploded in her back. She gave a howl as she collapsed to her knees. Oil spattered around her, blisteringly hot as a wing tore through her back. The other one followed mere seconds later. Pressure at her lower back was beginning to build now. She grit her teeth, sharpening every second as she ripped open the box. A Worker Arm lay inside and Uzi didn’t hesitate as more alarms went off over her visor. Her teeth bit down hard into the metal casing and the oil spilled out of the wound.
Oil levels at 19%
Oil levels at 22%
Temperature Stabilizing .
Hurts...hurts...pain...hurts...A sob broke out of her voice box as she continued to drain the arm of oil. By the time she was done her levels had come to about 30% and her temperature still read “high”. Her wings folded around her as she buried her head in her hands.
“...That was it, wasn’t it?” she asked, “No more…”
Sorry. The blue message box flashed as the little bug ran up her wing and down it’s ribbing, ending up nestling next to her neck.
This wasn’t good. Because there was no more in that stash, there was nothing to cool her down. She couldn’t exactly walk out of here, too many other Workers that she’d hurt. And if she stayed…she ran the risk of hurting her dad.
Maybe…maybe sleep would help. It’d potentially cool her down a bit since none of her systems would be online. That was a good idea, yeah…
She struggled to her feet, shaky as she tried to get used to the new weight on her back. She then stumbled to her bed, clawing her way up to the mattress and laying down. The sheets felt like ice, a welcome comfort to her burning self.
And with that she shut down as her head hit the pillow.
Startup Sequence WD Unit: UZ1 001-001-002
Oil Level: 19%
Charge Level: 100%
Internal Temperature: High
Absolute_Solver String= True
. . .
Exiting Sleep Mode.
Message Logs.
Msg From WD Unit:TH4D 001-001-001. Unread: 4
Msg From WD Unit:KH4N 001-001-001 Unread: 15.
Msg From DD Unit: SD N 001-001-001 Unread: 140.
Uzi’s eyes flickered weakly as she huddled against her bed. Her wings wrapped around her to shut the light, which was already starting to hurt her eyes, out. Another message popped up in the corner of her vision.
Msg From DD Unit: SD V 001-003-001 Unread: 1.
Since when did V ever message her? N, Thad and her father she expected…but V ? Out of curiosity, she opened the text.
DD Unit: SD V 001-003-001: Answer N right now, freak, or I’ll rip those doors down and kill you myself .
With a shudder, Uzi opened N’s messages. V was not kidding. She would tear those doors open if N didn’t get an answer. And she’d also kill a lot of Workers to tear her way to Uzi. Another message pinged up on her display from him…and she opened it immediately.
DD Unit: SD N 001-001-001: r u ok?
Most of the messages from him were along those lines. Some longer, some shorter. She gave a quick response…and then curled up again with her arms and tail encircling her legs as another round of sobbing broke from her.
Meanwhile, in the Spire, N was pacing. He wasn’t able to go outside yet, the sun had just risen so even trying to go near the bunker was a mistake. His tail flicked in annoyance as he plopped down into the snow. Uzi had been gone for a week . She hadn’t answered any of his texts and he was starting to worry again. Lizzy and Thad both had braved the ice storm and made their way to the Spire. Lizzy was currently up at V’s little nest, pestering the Disassembler though N knew V just said that because she didn’t want to lose her ‘Murder Goddess’ reputation. Thad was currently waiting for his girlfriend to be ready to go, working on homework as he waited.
N still wasn’t Thad’s biggest fan after what he did to Uzi a few months ago, he still liked the green eyed Worker don’t get him wrong…but that moment where Uzi had come into the Spire torn up because the other Worker had, politely mind you, turned her affections down…
Let’s just say it had been the first time in a long time that Uzi and V had seen the infamous X flash on his visor. It wasn’t the fact that he had a small crush on Uzi…it was more the fact that he was not happy that someone had hurt his best friend.
They’d cleared it all up not long after that thankfully.
But, what worried N was that neither Thad nor Lizzy had seen Uzi in about four days. Something was wrong. A low whine left his chassis as he stared out the entryway of the Spire towards the bunker. He knew it’d be impossible to get in. Ever since the Camp Incident, V and N both were barred entry to the colony. V had taken the blame for the dead Workers, which surprised both N and Uzi. Having done that, the parents were afraid she’d get hungry again and kill more of them. They had extended that fear towards N as well and to be safe had barred him from entering as well.
“Maybe I should try to contact her again…” he thought as he quickly made up a message to send to her.
DD Unit: SD N 001-001-001: r u ok?
N leaned back in the snow, welcoming the coolness that kept his warm self from overheating. A few seconds passed and he perked up as he saw a message flash across his visor.
Msg From WD Unit: UZ1 001-001-002 Unread: 1
“Uzi!” he breathed, opening up the message instantly as he sat bolt upright…though his joy at hearing from his best friend suddenly puffed out like the spark in the corpses of the Spire.
WD Unit: UZ1 001-001-002: No.