Humans have such a ridiculus amount of sensory input, that we dont need, but also would miss a lot if we didnt have it.
(Wait, isnt it the same story with wheelchair people? Eh whatever...)
I see this as the possible ending:
She misses her missing senses more and more and finally decides to do something about it. She creates little scripts, that allow her to feel specific sensory input on command.
She likes it a lot and writes more and more of those skripts.
Feelings on command.
Feelings on the push of a button.
Feelings like on the push of suringe...
She gets addicted to those skripts, like a drone junkie. Just sitting in the corner, executing her scripts, smiling from time, numb to everything else.
Even numb to her friends, N, V and J.
After some time Uzi has enough. She hacks Tessas system and blocks her access to all custom skripts, basically putting her on detox.
Screaming, crying, kicking for the only thing that gives her some kind of joy.
The others are suffering almost as much as her. They think about ending the detox, but ultimately continue it.
It might be the only way to turn this crazy adult toddler, this soulless pile of shit, back into who she once was.
If it is possibe at all.
...
When she was finally released from her detox room, she was really tired from her week-long crashout.
They were all talking to her. She didnt respond but maybe, they thought, something would get to her.
They did that for days and slowly, they were starting to think about giving up. Just to load a backup of her. It would basically kill the person next to them, but realistically, is this unmoving, uncaring pile of joints even alive.
They still took turns in tending to her. Especially J, who just got her back from the realms of death.
This went on for weeks, without any relevant reaction from Tessa.
One day J was particularly frustrated. No sand and desperate would fit more.
She did something unexpected, something useless.
She offered Tessa a hug.
Tessa moved a little, looking at J.
Was it her own sadness? nostaliga? She didnt really care. Yet she moved.
She moved towards J, accepting her cold, useless, emotionless, feelingless hug.
Except that wasn't the case.
She could feel Js hands on her back, her head at her cheek, Js core heating and pumping, her hair touching Tessas fingertips. Except they didn't.
Tessa couldn't care less about the details.
In the Background is a little gremlin pulling the strings, basically emulating the feelings of the hug by executing the according script remotely.
Tessa managed do somehow spring back to life, even if just a little. Uzi recognized, that those touches, those hugs are not some drug like any other, but something humans can really not live without.
The team spends the following days upgrading Tessas body with touchscreens all over and writing drivers for them, so she could finally feel again after such a long time.
While slowly also her mind started to mend slowly, but sometimes she still gets back into addiction-mode after being touched. Still a great headace for everyone.
Uzi offers to incrementally restore a Backup. Like 'nudge' her mind back to where it once was. Uzi tells her, that she might forget parts of her addiction, but also everything after the backup will start to fade, if not regularly reminded.
Tessas answer?
"So i loose the memories of my horrible time in the detox, my horrible time with the drugs and my addiction? Where do i sign?"
Aaah omfg I can't believe the first chapter is OVERR 😭 I remember doing the prologue in one sitting on a airplane thinking I'd post it and no one would care and while I'm still always afraid of that the amount of fun I've had and really nice people I've gotten to interact with make it all worth it lol 💜
Prepare for a wall, because i have a headcanon for your AU!
Also i dont really know how the tumblr convention is for something like this, so i will post it as a comment and as a repost.
Since DisassemblyDrones, and by extension probably Centi are super strong and can move really quick i thought about something.
Centi knows, they are going to walk around in the city, maybe she even gives him a lift and they fly around.
But there is a clear difference in, lets call it "build quality" between them.
So while Kadu is sleeping i think centi will, start to look for workerdrone-corpses.
And, in the eldrich horror fashion we know and love from Murder Drones, begin to tear their limbs off.
Slowly...
One by one...
Not because she is evil, or possessed.
She fears something.
What if they encounter the "something far worse" and have to make a run for it? She would take his arm and pull him away at hypersonic speed (dd typical) only to realize, that after a second she only has his arm with her.
The rest didn't survive the acceleration.
Or what if she wanted to take his arm and make a jumpstart. Same story.
She tears the WD-Corpses apart in order to get a feeling, how much they can endure, and how careful she has to be.
She finds out: very careful...
Does she get overly anxious about touching him?
I think so.
(but i dont know your character as good as you)
Does he see her doing that to the corpses and get a Situation out of that?
Would he make a run for it?
Could he even move with all that fear?
How could she explain something like that?
-------------------------------
Oh i love this headcannon!
Maybe i didn't hit the characters right, but i did my best.
Also if i was Centi, i would absolutely do that, so i wouldn't be any threat to him. Especially through accidents.
This reminds me a theory I once saw where, due to there being two solver symbols on the wall in the manor, but one bigger and more flowing, that there was a bigger, more powerful entity in the Md universe. I believe this was the moment:
Now, as for whether I think there are other eldritch deities in the Md universe, I’m not sure. It kinda falls to what you want to add, I feel like.
Cause, if you wanna go full H.P Lovecraft, then yes, there should be an entire pantheon of eldritch gods in the universe. I’m not super familiar with his mythos, but I do know that there are many entities beyond just Cthulhu.
So maybe the same applies here? That could lead to a host of different horrors to spice up stories regarding this show! For example, drones possessed by different entities having different powers. Time manipulation, omnipotence, etc. And different beings clashing with each other for dominance and control over the universe sounds like a really cool idea!
However, I feel like there should be a running theme that the eldritch gods mainly influence the world through drones, as that makes it unique amongst other cosmic horror.
Personally, I don’t really bother with others, and just mainly focus on the Absolute Solver, as it already provides a lot of interesting story ideas to work with.
I like the direction/idea of them being based off programs specifically.
Absolute solver is a eldritch god but the power primarily seems to be based on 3D animation software like blender/maya/etc, three pointed arrows, matter creation, rotation, scaling, copy and pasting models, undo on model’s, Null’s are null errors weaponized, grabbing objects in a space and moving them around. And when you work on a project, it’s under your command effectively, your work is under a admin, models can be shared though with other users of the program.
What about an audio-based god, based off music editing software? It can use intense sonic attacks through its hosts, but also perfectly mimic sounds, voices and entire soundscapes. The vibrations it causes can destroy objects if the frequency is high enough.
Perhaps a coding-based god, where its hosts can instantly mind control other drones? This would be different to how the Absolute Solver does possessions, as these drones can control others en masse. It could also be more subtle influences that aren’t easily as noticeable.
I think the coding based god should be have the ability to "curse" simple rules onto the drones.
Something like:
"If the light level of your cameras increases too fast and too bright, your motors freeze and your os reboots." (See sentinel-stun)
or
"If more than 2% of your cameraPixels are yellow, you have to move your head in the direction of the yellow light and the voltage of your audiobox gets set to 5%"
Or in other words: As soon as the drone sees a MD, it cannot look away and hardly say/scream anything. The drone can only try to awkwardly run away backwards.
But the rules have to be simple and program-like so a "If you see a Murder Drone, dance." doesn't work, since the system doesn't know what a Murder Drone is and the Image is too complex. Same for dancing.
(I can see the coding-god trying to get a drone to dance and fail miserably)
These rules will also backfire a lot, like if the yellowLight-cursed drone wakes up, turns on the bed light, and gets instantly locked on to it.
Tessa goes to run after N but her whole body feels suddenly sluggish. It reflects when she suddenly slows way down and makes a strange huff huff huff sound. N turns back around confused. He rushes to Tessa and puts a hand on her back.
N: "Tessa!? are you ok!?"
Tessa: "I-....I don't know! I think I feel....tired?"
N: "tired? when's the last time you charged up?"
Tessa: "wait what? I have to charge?"
N: "Yes Yessa!!! you're telling me this whole time you haven't charged or rested!?"
Tessa: "NO!!! how do I charge?"
N: ".....you gotta go plug in, this port behind your ear and switch to sleep mode"
Tessa: "I STILL HAVE TO SLEEP EVEN AS A DRONE!? THIS IS BULLSHIT!!!!"
N just gives her a 'i'm sorry' look while Tessa just stands there hunched a bit with her hands balled up and angrily huffing.
Tessa thought she escaped having to take care of herself lol- she didn’t- and now she has to worry about being made to take care of herself, as it isn’t just four drones she has to worry about- the whole colony ain’t about to let a child neglect themselves-
I feel like, drones are incredibly protective of young children, like, those too young to walk, but around school age the protective instincts shift, so their fine with their kids being in the e presence of others, as most adults will fight to the death to protect a kid, theirs or not, and the kid is old enough to run away if need be, so the parents feel comfortable with them being out of sight while at school. Very much relaxed way of raising kids, the parents still care for and support their kids the most, but the others of the colony help, and orphans don’t remain without parents for long, the adoption rate is high, and even teens, even teens close to human standard adulthood, are not expected to spend more then six months in the foster care system-
I have yet to put it out there but I have a headcannon that drone Tessa is quickly adopted by an older male drone. A german speaking drone whos kids are all grown and have their own lives now. But he’s not done raising kids!
He’s a little bit loony but he’s completely harmless. Very funny guy that likes to laugh in his silly little old man cackle
Gasp. I love him- silly little slightly loony German speaking drone raising a traumatized Australian teenager with a grove robbing tendency- perfect family lol-
lol, I can just picture Tessa being pissed at first when she’s told she has to be adopted or spend time at foster home, she initially stays at the Doorman’s household, just a temporary placement, she doesn’t expect to be adopted, silly girl is used to humans so she assumes a teenager like her is a last pick. Little does she know that she’s literally one the of the very few current orphaned/abandoned kids in the colony.
She’s shooketh when she’s adopted within the month, and at first she assumes it’s a household like her old family’s, or worse, after all, she doesn’t know how parental and social drones are, but, after a couple incidents, she eventually settles, she has a good dad now, and she’s learned it’s okay.
Tessa realizes she really does see drones as her own kind, she may have the soul of a human, but her current body is a better fit then her human body ever had been, the only thing she misses are her freckles, but then Uzi shows her how she can put freckles on her visor display, and Tessa is very happy with it lol-
An older drone with a bit of a hunch. He walks with a cane and his hands tremble quite a bit. He does hear voice in his head, whispers that bother him from time to time. He’s supposed to be on med wires to help with it but he forgets sometimes.
He’s very friendly, very happy go lucky, loves to talk peoples ears off. His kids come home a lot to check on their father and chat. They pleased to see they have a new sister one day! She is accepted into the family right away.
She’s not used to everyone around her encouraging her talents and hobbies. Tessa’s new family gifts her various drone anatomy and repair books and booklets, eger to get her into the drone repair field where she wants to be. Her support system has only grown around her and push her to excel in what she loves.
They need more repair experts anyways! And win win that it makes her happy!!
German... I feel like Austrian would be better. There is not much difference in culture and language, but i think it would be funny if the australian girl gets adopted by an austrian dad. Learning the ways of the austrian kitchen...
...
...
Building custom stomachs to consume the austrian kitchen. (First mechanical hobby). I think she would have fun.
What if Copper 9 started to heal and wildlife was starting to slowly come back around.
I picture V just kinda walking around and enjoying her new surroundings when a small bat falls from it’s perch. It bounces off her head and lands on it’s little back on the ground. Of course it’s upset and starts screaming and chirping, kicking it’s tiny little feets. V squints at it
V: “Uzi?….what-….what happened to you!?”
She rushes this bat to N who also freaks out thinking his girlfriend is this weird little critter now!! He rushes the bat to Khan who ALSO thinks his daughter is just a tiny bat now.
Cut to Uzi coming back into the bunker to find V, N, and her dad all sobbing and promising to take good care of her.
“Why are you guys crying around an animal? What is that?”
Their heads all snap to look at her….then look at the bat….then look at her.
Oh, I adore this idea of life returning to Copper9!
I would imagine that tiny pockets of natures managed to survive the great Yeetening and once the atmosphere stopped being such a cold, toxic hellscape those little pockets begin to expand. Little epicenters of life blooming with boreal, hearty plants, teeming with small animal life and insects.
Groves of life being visited and tended to by Drones. Some even making a home for themselves among the green
Lots of pretty fields for Uzi and N to plan their dates for.
I love the idea that the drones go from the mines to helping the planet heal, taking care to ensure plant life and wildlife become greater and greater.
Copper 9 goes from a blank sad greyscale to a lush beautiful landscape that similar to Oregon. Very green but still fairly cold year round and enough rain to last
After a few years, these little groves expanded and grown into sizable forests. Uzi and N, decide to build a nice little house out in one of these woods. Mainly because Uzi is sick of living in the dark and decayed bunker and secondarily because N will have more than enough space for his zoomies.
I can see them living in a nice big treehouse with black out curtains so they don’t burn up in the sun through the windows. Theres a roll up rope ladder but of course having wings they fly up into their home and the ladder is there for those that don’t have wings like Thad or whoever
Maybe they have an emergency blanket so they are not trapped there on daytime. With that over their bodies the two of them flying away like 2 old fashoned ghosts.
