I think it's important that when making a No Solver AU or a Human AU, that Cyn is still a little unsettling.
She and N have a tea party and somehow in turns into her giving him a pretend but accurate live autopsy.
They're coloring and when N looks over her shoulder, she detailing plans for world domination.
Big Sister J ticks her off and suddenly everything is going wrong in the worst way.
Big Sister V broke her promise and she wakes up in the middle of the night and sees Cyn at her bedside staring at her - she turns on her night lamp and Cyn is no where to be found.
J and V confront N about this and he always tells them that Cyn was with him - N always believes he's telling the truth, Cyn's perfect alibi.
Tessa is helping Cyn get dressed and she always wants to dress exactly like Big Sister Tessa, even down to imitating her hair and freckles.
N gets a girlfriend and Cyn is sticking to her like glue - if she starts trying to get Uzi to dress like her and Tessa, well Cyn just wants Uzi to know that she likes her.
And make sure that the creepiness is ten percent of her personality so that the other ninety percent is just her being sweet or silly - it's actually half her personality but shh, we don't talk about that.
~
P.S. - Cyn also has detailed crayon drawings of how to turn N, V, and J into Disassemblers - there's a separate page of something special just for Tessa and Uzi.
Just a Little Something about the Post ep.8 Battle | Personal Headcanons | Murder Drones
Nori in Tsundere mode, trying to hide from her family.
N in no more secrets mode, zeroing in on her location, scooping her up to take her back to her family.
Nori screaming every violent threat she knows at him.
N: I've heard, seen and remembered worse :)
Khan fussing over Uzi.
N: UZI! I FOUND YOUR MOM! :D
Uzi: oh, yeah. Hey dad, we uh, we found mom.
Nori frozen in terror, positive that Khan will reject her.
Khan: you mean to tell me that this incredibly attractive, hot, attractive, beautiful and attractive creature is my wife.
*Double Fist pump*: YES!
Immediately scoops up Nori and kisses her.
Cue sloppy Khori makeout session.
(~*~) -- (~*~) -- (~*~) -- (~*~) -- (~*~)
While N and Uzi are awkwardly made audience to the 100% canon Khori makeout session.
V moved off to the side after Khan came over to check on Uzi.
Thad: Veeeeeeeee! *crashes into her to hug her, doesn't even budge her, weeping happy tears that she's alive*
V *pats him on the head then sees Sparky role up with the bus*: hey losers our ride's here.
V walks to to bus, Thad is still holding on to her.
Lizzy passes a chasms as she walks to the bus since Sparky isn't chasing her at the moment.
In the chasm, she sees her dad (the teacher).
Lizzy *deadpan*: are you coming home or ...
Teacher: depends, what are the Doormans doing?
Lizzy looks over to see that Uzi and N are goofing around while Khan and Nori are still kissing.
Lizzy *still deadpan*: do I have to say it?
Teacher: hm ...
Lizzy *checking over her third replacement phone*: mom will be upset if your not home by dinner.
Teacher: *sigh*
The Teacher climbs out of the chasm, sees that Sparky is driving the Bus, blinks once then joins the rest of the group on the Bus while trying to ignore everything.
(~*~) -- (~*~) -- (~*~) -- (~*~) -- (~*~)
After the final battle, N and V went to live in the Bunker on the off chance that J was still around and would likely head to the spire.
Until N and V got their own apartment in the Outpost, they were living with the Doormans.
That first night Uzi, N and V had a sleepover in the living room.
V using the rafters above the couch while N and Uzi slept together on the couch, tails intertwined.
Sparky slept next to the couch.
P.S. Khan and Nori slept in their bedroom together for the first time since Uzi was a pill
For Your Sake - Prologue: 002 Nori Doorman | A Murder Drones story
The twenty-seventh of Seramorris in the year three thousand and seventy-one.
Her name is Nori Doorman, eighth born daughter from a family of drones that worked for a Japanese diplomat on Copper 9.
She’s married – her husband thought she was dead.
She’s a mother – her daughter thought she was dead.
Her husband’s name is Khan Doorman, the only surviving group head from the factory he once worked at.
Her daughter is Uzi, Uzi Doorman … her daughter has a middle name … what was it?
Ali … no … Annie … no … Al … Al … Al …
She wanted to hit something; she takes a breath.
She has seven older code sisters, and two lab assigned sisters – one older, one younger.
The older one is Yeva, she married a man named Dmitri Nikolai Fotograf; they have a daughter named Doll.
The younger one is Alice, Alice Willow Beaumont, who was married off to a horrible man who was now dead; Alice has a kid … she doesn’t know his’s name … the kid has blue eyes, like the dad, but the kid’s eyes are brighter.
Memories are a tricky thing for her; patch, blurry, glitchy.
People saying things she knows they never said, people doing things she knows they never did, but she not always able to recall what was actually said or done. It’s why every morning and every night; she does her best to remember the important things.
She’s in the cathedral beneath Cabin Fever Labs; she’s looking for the patch. When she gets the patch, she’ll bring it to Khan with a note explaining everything he needs to know.
He’ll give the patch to Uzi and Doll – she needs to remember to make sure the note tells Yeva that Alice is alive; if anyone can help Alice, it’s Yeva.
…
It’s been twenty years … twenty and twelve, no thireen – she wonders if her code family survived.
With a sigh, she gets out of bed, a nest really, and gets to work, searching for the patch that would save her family from Cyn; after twenty years it would all be worth it, it had to be – for her family, for her whole family, for all their sakes, she would bring them salvation.
By Blue Eyes, Yellow Will Die - Chapter 2: A Murder Drones story
"Amanda, make sure everyone's in their rooms, I don't want any interference" Alice command, as she went through her checks.
"Y-yes of course, Alice" the drone woman said, all but running from the main lab room.
"Alright, Beau, you ready for the final exam" Alice said to her son as she waved the port cord in front of his visor.
Beau was ten years old today and if all went well, he'd no longer have to rely on his mother, to get around the lab. That didn't mean he was allowed to grow up - they still didn't have a cure - but his mother had worked out a redesign to allow him more mobility. But, to get his birthday present, he'd have to pass his mother's test.
All drones, especially UNNs, had the ability to transfer their code. It was a necessary ability to allow for Drones to age up their bodies as they got older. Generally speaking this line of code was programmed to be something that just happened when it was time and the new body was prepared; Beau was ten and his pillbaby unit was constantly informing him and his mother that he was ready for transfer (a pop up that Alice had put to sleep because without a cure, she considered allowing her son to age, to be the equivalent of placing him in the hands of Yellow Eyes). That didn't mean that his mother wasn't preparing him for the day he would be transferred. Rather, she was preparing him to be adaptable, on the very real chance that the day he grows up was the day he would face Yellow Eyes.
The idea behind the tests was simple, a digital rat's maze complete with check points, the execution was a little different. All Beau had to do was leave his body - which his mother would then connect to the end of the "maze" -, go through several machines via, wire cords, radio waves and a self activating email as well as completing several tasks within each machine ... simple.
"You'll be fine, Beau," Alice said, her empty hand coming up to pat his head, "it's nothing you haven't done before, it's just all been put together, and if you really need an out, I've got an emergency extraction ready."
Beau took a breath, this was it, looking at his mother and then the port cord, he gave a smile and Alice plugged him into the maze.
There's a moment between the plug and the the full download where Beau was still able to see from his UNN visor before he's fully entered the digital realm, in that moment, he knows his mother can't see his eyes, but he can see her. His first memory of her was her tears, her fear, his second memory was seeing her command the lab drones to put the place back in order, knife tail whipping back and forth, he doesn't remember what happened to caused these events, but he remembers a ferocity in her voice, in her eyes. In this moment, however, as he transfered out of his body, this moment where she thought he couldn't see her, he could see her fear; he'd taken early extraction before, not again, for his mother's sake he'd finish the test in one go - download complete.
"Alright Beau, ya hear me" Alice said into the mic of the observation board that would track his progress, and also the only way she would be able to talk to him while he was in the maze.
A green light on the observation board, flickered - yes.
"You good in there?"
The green light again.
"Alright, starting the timer, you've got an hour, begin."
Green light.
The maze was isolated to the room his mother waited in, that didn't mean he didn't have access to whatever else was in digital reach. Doors of temptation, if he went through just one, if he found the right one ... but he couldn't, he's seen the tapes of the other solver weilders, even if he was able to find a way to leave, to grow, his mother had shown him his code, had shown him the marks on his digital soul. The moment Yellow Eyes knew he existed ...
The image of his mother's fear came to mind once more and he got to work. Diligently he made his way through the task of the first machine before traveling by cord to the next. Fifty minutes left. Second machine, the tasks here would allow him to move the blocky device and have it plug itself into the third machine. Thirty-five minutes. Here he had to travel a constant back and forth between machine three and four via radio waves to have access to the fifth. Fifteen minutes left as he sent himself to the fifth machine via self activating email.
"Alice" came a scream of pure fright that was picked up by the observation board mic.
"Connie, back to your room or so help me-!"
"The sky demons, they found an access point!"
"-Lock down, get everyone to the safe points, I'm releasing the sentinels, anyone not behind a door by then can get scrapped."
The sound of a door opening, closing and locking.
"Beau, Beau, the test is over, we'll try another time, I'm extracting you now"
As frustrated as he was, Beau knew better then to continue the test - the digital finish line that was his body was removed to halt the win conditions that would have allowed him access. As he waited for the extraction door to open, he felt an odd glitch in machine five, curious, he opened one of the forbidden doors to give himself access to the cameras and felt his code run cold. There, just out there he could see one of the sky demons and he swore that she could see him - the red light, the red light that turns on when the cameras are on! Quickly, he shut off the cameras but if the monsters didn't know someone had seen them, then now they had something to hunt.
"Beau" Alice shouted, finally getting his attention, "Beau, can you hear me?"
Green light.
"The extraction point isn't working, one of those monsters must have sent a signal or something, I need you to check if anything's been lock inside."
Scanning the digital premise he found a message. One way, no tails, no way for the sender to come through but as it sense his gaze, it opened:
Sender: SD-G
Topic: From Cyn
I see you :3
"Beau, Beau, did you find anything?"
Green light.
"Good or bad"
Red light.
"Stay where you are and keep yourself together, I'm doing a manual extraction."
From where he was, Beau could see the message shifting, he couldn't wait for a manual extraction, even if the sender couldn't come through they had sent something and that something was growing. Searching, Beau began rebuilding the maze, he couldn't activate the win condition but if he could leave then his mother could destroy machine five and the message. Picking up on the threads he had used to travel he picked his target before freezing, if Yellow Eyes could see him then how long had she been watching the test for the sky demons to show up now? Recalculating on a hunch, Beau pick a diffrent target and hit send.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself surrounded by sentinels, as they left their individual stables, filing out of the room to begin their hunt. Keeping himself calm he followed them into battle. The next three hours was a massacre as Beau's code took full control of the sentinel, as Beau's code slowly came to realize the age of this current body. Beau knew there was a reason his mother hadn't allowed him to grow up. There's a type of temporary madness that comes over a solver weilder when the power reaches it's full strength, a madness when the weilder faces an inescapable high stress, when the hunger for oil becomes too much. Right now, all he could smell was oil.
~
"BEAU!"
His sight was blurred, shaking his head, he looked around as everything came into focus, coming to, he saw the bodies of sky demons piled high as sentinels fought over limbs and heads. Where had the voice come from?
"Beau, Beau, can you hear me" his mother asked from inside his mind, "okay, good, Beau, listen to me, I need you to round up the sentinels, get them back to their room then get yourself back here, I've set up a landing place, just get back here."
Going on autopilot, he followed his mother's orders and when he finally found himself back in his own body his eyes were hollow.
"Hey there, bud, can you see me."
His eyes tracked over to his mother and he cried.
"Oh, bud" she said as she took him into her arms, "shh, shh, it's alright, I trashed old Yellow Eyes' nasty little surprise, I promise, I'm right here, I won't let her get you."
Sometime after, Max and Jerom, who had been ordered to lead the clean up that ended up being more of a collection as several sky demon cores were found intact, came to deliverer the cores that were soon jarred, given the labeled "corrupted" and placed in Alice's ovens. The next day Beau would receive his operation to allow for mobility with his mother even repurposing one of the monster's arms for his use. He was now ten years and one day old and Yellow Eyes knew he existed.
By Blue Eyes, Yellow Will Die - Prologue: A Murder Drones story
Drones, like humans, don't often remember their early years; however, when you've been stuck in the body of a pill and stagnant in age development, you tend to remember more then most. Beau knows his memory isn't the best, dispite being twenty come summer, he's at worst the mental equivalent of a kid, at best the mental equivalent of an advanced kid due to not being allowed to grow up. Trauma certainly didn't help - or maybe it did, afterall don't you tend to remember the bad better than the good - but, surprisingly, his earliest memory is actually his first.
He remembers a drone man screaming, he remembers a drone woman crying, he remembers that same woman holding him close almost shielding him and rocking back and forth, her grip almost tight enough to crack his shell - the only thing he can't remember are the words spoken. Then there's a commotion outside the small room and the man is still screaming but his tone has changed no longer angry but frightened and desperate, Beau hears a bang of metal on metal, and the sound of drone teeth breaking drone skin, he can smell oil and the desperate bang and scrap of gloved metal hands against a door before said door opens with a bang. A single human enters, there are others behind him and Beau hears, what he can only presume, is the male drone being grabbed and tossed to the waiting people beyond the door. The human shouts an order, his anger and reprimands shakes the little UNN to his core, but he doesn't feel frightened anymore, then the door closes with a bang and the human takes a moment in the silence broken only by the sounds of the crying drone woman. Beau, from where he is, tucked in close to the woman, can just barely make out the sight of the hazmat clothed human's gentle approach, his words soothing the drone woman as her cries eventually slow to hiccups.
It should be noted that most Drones, when ordered and sent to have children, often don't get to raise their kids. The UNN's were to be raised on the save files of their code doners, tested by humans and eventually sent to be sold into the workforce by the age of six to ten. Of course, the same week that Beau was born, was the same week that the humans were killed, not long after, his mother had devourer his father during the man's final attempt to hurt both mother and child. As such, Beau had not been raised on his parents' memories of the past but by the actions of their present. He only learned about the old UNN practices from over hearing the other drones in his mother's lab, discussing why it was probably best that Beau wasn't being raised on his mother's memories, only for the next drone to admit that the way the UNN was being raised was probably not much better.
Internally, Beau concede, yeah, this was probably not the best place for a kid but after years of lab files for bedtime stories, two lab rebellions and several attack waves of sky demons, it was pretty hard to argue against his mother's reasons for persisting in what the others would quietly call a fools errand. This was his normal, and yes, he knew how depressing that was; but, it wasn't always like this, like now. Beau remembers when they had more time ...
By Blue Eyes, Yellow Will Die - Epilogue: A Murder Drones story
It had taken him a half hour to reboot, in that time the sentinels had shut down Max, Ali, Marc and Amanda before returning to their room. His mother had placed him on one of the beds and while she waited for him to come to, she had already used her tail to assist with her own repairs. Things were quiet, a solemn silence, his mother may have been distant with the others, but that didn’t mean she delighted in their destruction, for as far as she was concerned, for every lab drone that had to have their core removed was another victory for Cyn.
His mother turned to him, as he rose from his bed, they were all that was left. With the sentinels back in their room, mother and son went to collect the bodies. The process was slow, and despite his reboot, Beau was tired, he could feel fatigued in every aspect of his code, but this couldn’t be put off – the humans had found out the hard way what happened when a drone didn’t have enough material to self-repair but still had their heart. First was Max and then Ali – their jars placed in visual range of each other (just as Jerom and Connie’s cores had been) – after had been Marc and Amanda who received the same courtesy though their cores had to be place in a different oven then the others (a reorganization could be done later). As for their bodies, they would be taken apart for scraps after examination to ensure they were clean of Cyn’s influence.
He'd be lying if he said he wasn’t worried. The fatigue was getting to both of them, if he could convince his mother to rest–
The sensors alarms were active. Someone was coming.
Someone was coming and it was too soon to bring out the sentinels.
A trap was set, and the trap was sprung
Beau wasn’t tired anymore … he’s not sure the adrenaline is better though.
“Two murder pets, a drone girl, and … this” his mother said.
Beau looked to his mother in question.
“I don’t know how to explain it” she continued, “we’ll put a magnet on her anyway.”
Alice rolled over the purple haired drone, her eyes squinting.
“I’ll handle this one, a normal lookin’ drone, palin’ around with murder pets-”
Using her tail, Alice lifted the arm of the female murder pet before giving a start, she looked to Beau – for a moment, there was fear in her eyes.
She took a breath, “I’ll handle this one too.”
With that they moved the four intruders, the strange one and the male drone to one of the examination rooms and the two female drones to Alice’s main lab room.
(~*~)
Yellow Eyes was here and Beau was terrified.
The sentinels had crushed his mother head – with any hope, she could come back from that. Time seemed to slow down as he aimed his laser blaster, maybe it was because he was tired, fatigue addling his mind, all he had to do survive, get to the body his mother had made him … and … and then what?
Maybe it was fatigue, maybe … maybe …
He freed the female murder drone.
With a tip of his hat the jaws of the sentinels closed around him, and he felt it, he felt it as his solver code activated in his defense, clinging to the sentinel hive like system as his power guided him to the center. For a moment he was ten again and he felt himself being to panic before a spark, glitched through the system. Gathering himself, he examined the system, with the sentinels in a frenzy he wouldn’t be able to take possession of one but … the sparking one … he wouldn’t be able to take possession, but he could station his code.
Entering the mind of the sparking one, he began weaving his web, taking root, taking the reins and as the creature began to wake, his influence guided the sentinel as he battled to not be consumed by the animal’s oil-lust.
[Secret Elevator hallway has been breached by intruders]
[Previous tactics insufficient]
Request, memory of previous encounter.
[Presenting Visuals]
Analysis.
[Unknown entity]
[Blood and Oil detected]
Detail.
[Human Flesh detected]
[Drone components detected]
Detail.
[Human Flesh – Dead … simulating life … status unknown]
[Drone components – in line with most dangerous subjects of Cabin Fever Labs]
[Previous tactics may be insufficient for secondary encounter]
[Additional Weapon required]
Main lab room.
[Lab entered]
Abnormal Drone Arm.
[Abnormal Drone arm located]
Contains a cache of weapons.
[Acquired]
Hat and bolo tie.
[Unnecessary]
Necessary items for possible future post-fight interaction.
[Inquiry: Protection]
Identifying Items to receive assistance from daughter of Dr. Beaumont.
[Identified: Alice Beaumont – Human – Status: Dead]
Second Daughter of Dr. Beaumont, same name as predecessor.
Hey all, so this is the end of Beau's part of the story, but stay tuned as next week, we'll be starting on Alice's part of the story: Breaking The Broken Pattern.
As for the future of this story, check out my pinned post for more information or if you want to reread the previous chapters.
By Blue Eyes, Yellow Will Die - Chapter 4: A Murder Drones story
Beau was twenty and he was about to crash a wedding.
Okay, to be fair, his mother was going to crash a wedding … he and his mother were about to briefly interrupt a wedding that the four other lab drones had been planning in secret for Amanda and Marc.
…
In his mother’s defense, she had a good reason. Still, it saddened Beau to disturb this moment with bad news. From where he was hidden with his mother, he watched as Amanda and Marc’s code was linked in digital matrimony. Looking to his mother, Beau saw Alice rub at the port on the back of her head. Emmett Giam had been linked to his mother by the humans just a few days before the core collapse, then after his mother had killed the drone man, the link remained. Beau knew for a fact that Alice wanted that remnant of her lab assigned husband, gone, but she didn’t trust the others to help her remove it and so it remained in her system like a bleeding wound.
His mother’s marriage was a sensitive subject … Beau’s creation was a sensitive subject. Beau knows his mother loves him, but he also knows that that time wasn’t the easiest for her to recollect. Beau was pill-born and nearly died for it; the scientists had given Alice and Emmett a choice, either they brought the pill online with their shared code or they would have to go through with a core-incubation. Emmet had wanted access to Alice’s core and as such did everything, he could to keep the pill from coming online … till that moment Beau’s eyes blinked on for the first time.
“If I could have avoided him forever, I would have” his mother would tell him, “but you coming online kept him from winning – in that way you saved me, Beau; … besides if anyone deserved such beautiful blue eyes, then you’re far more worthy than he ever could be.”
“And done” Max said as Amanda and Marc’s link was completed, “to the witness present I now present Mr. and Mrs. Textile, you may now kiss the bride.”
With the closing of the ceremony, Alice took her cue with a slow clap as Beau followed her out of the shadows.
“What a lovely sight” she said, “Mr. and Mrs. Textile, huh, I’ll have to add that to my notes.”
“Alice” the new couple said in shock.
“I” Amanda started, “I, we …”
“Ya know, if I had known, I would have brought a tin of oil, truly, a toast to the happy couple” Alice continued, raising her hand in a mock toast, “the two of ya best treat each other well; I ain’t exactly interested in harvesting another core” – she said as her smile stretched impossibly wide.
“We finished our work” Marc said, “clocked out a while ago.”
“Oh, I know, sugar, believe me, I could care less about what y’all do during your free time, I just came to tell ya that something just reached our sensors, best guess, it came from one of the consumed colonies and now it’s heading here – I give it half a year, then however long it take her to locate us – we’ll be working overtime from now on, … but for now, enjoy yourselves, heck, take a tin of oil and celebrate, goodnight all.”
With that Alice turned on her heel to head out the door – Beau following her after a single backwards glance as she led him back to the room they shared, his mother, indifferent to the cries of the drones behind her.
(~*~)
Just as his mother had said, they were busier than ever not only in their search for a cure but also in devising weaponry and armor, training for the fight to come and the continuing search for a working or salvageable keybug. However, with so few drones left, they had to move on to more experimental methods such as dragging out one of the bodies of the murder pets.
“Body secured, Alice” Marc said as he finished restraining the chosen murder drone body and hooking it up to Alice’s computers.
“Check; Max” Alice called from where she sat at the computer station, going over the status for the latest test.
“UV lights charged and ready, Alice.”
“Check; Ali?”
“Personal oil reserves at one hundred percent, Alice.”
“Check; Marc?”
“Ali’s restraints still look good, Alice.”
“Check; Beau,” Alice asked as she turned to look to her son.
From where the UNN stood at a distance from the group, he gave the end of the leash, that was attached to the harness around his mother’s waist, a tug – a nod, secured.
“Good, Max, Ali?”
“I’m plugged in, Alice” Ali said as Max attached a cord, one end plugged into the back of Ali’s head the other plugged into the port on the back of the murder drone’s head – the disassembler’s lights coming on, switching to Ali’s color, “in the system, everything looks good.”
“Check; Amanda?”
“Test subject secured, Alice” she said as she brought out a jar with the core that corresponded to the strapped down drone – the jar still warm from the ovens.
“Check; Max?”
The drone man moved to Amanda’s side – with how volatile the cores could be, the transporting from jar to body was always a two-person job – “ready for planting” Max and Amanda said.
“Alright, systems ready – let’s bring the beast to life.”
The moment the lid was released from the jar, the core began to fight, Max and Amanda struggled to keep its three arms under control as they moved to implant it back into its body and keep it in to force the reconnection. As the body began healing, resealing the core within, Ali gave a cut off shriek as her mind battled the disassembler for control, the creature’s body bucking as it tried to escape its restraints and the color of its eye lights flickering back and forth between its own and Ali’s – till they settled on Ali’s.
“Okay … I’m okay” her breaths were harsh, but she was able to raise her head, her own eye lights steady and free of yellow.
“Alright,” Alice said, checking the computers for the murder pet’s status, “we have a steady signal, it’s registering as a full solver; approaching now.”
As Alice raised the newest iteration of the cure, Ali gave a shudder, “… steady, girl” Alice said scrutinizing the younger drone woman.
A breath then, “ready, Alice” Ali said as she willed the disassembler’s head to remain still.
With one last cursory glance to the rest of the lab drones, Alice took a breath then stabbed the crucifix patch into the head of the disassembler. As lightning erupted along the body of the murder pet, the drones present could hear the shrieks of the core within the body of the monster as it writhed, the patch forcefully separating it from its admin, separating it’s falsely boosted solver program from the creature it served.
Then the body began to smoke, the electric output threating to fry those close, the patch heating to weld itself to Alice’s hands and the drone’s head.
“Everyone back” Alice shouted, “Marc!”
Amanda and Max took cover as Marc rushed forward to unplug his sister and pull her bound form away from disaster – Alice bit down on her own wrists to sever herself from her now useless hands allowing Beau to pull her away just as the murder pet burst into flames and shrapnel.
It was a moment before Alice was back on her feet with Beau’s help.
“Marc, get your sister to recovery, Max, fire suppressers, Amanda, hands.”
As Alice’s team took to their order, the southern raised drone staggered with her son’s help over to the computers as he attempted to wrap her wrists to stop the oil bleeding.
“This is ridiculous, what am I missing, Beau I’m fine” she said attempting to stop his first aid.
Beau gave his mother a look, his almost permanently hollow and lined eyes communicating something she understood very well.
A sigh then, “fine, but only cause you worry too much.”
He gave her a small smile as he wrapped her wounds – Max finishing extinguishing the fire and removing the body to be placed with its predecessors in the autopsy room.
Turning her head to the computers, Alice continued to examine the collected data, “this is the tenth test tonight, at least one of the patches from this batch should have worked or at least given us something to work with.”
First aid completed; Alice used her stumps to navigate the computers – having long ago gotten past the “not a robot” captchas to be able to have full access to the systems of the upper labs.
Looking to his mother, Beau tapped her shoulder, getting her attention, the UNN made the motion of going to sleep.
“I …” a breath, then a shake of her head, “one more test, Beau, just one more test; it’s been too long, there’s no way she doesn’t know where the lab is, those ships landed months ago – we need to be ready.”
Alice shook herself, becoming unfocused for a moment.
“Where’s Amanda with those hands,” Alice muttered, a breath, then she turned back to the computers, “what am I missing?”
Beau looked over her shoulder, though it had been illegal, Dr. Beaumont had trained Alice in multiple scientific subjects, of the mind, and body for both drone and machine, tech and biomatter had become her bread and butter – had she been allowed, her doctorate would have been an official title. As it was Alice had seen fit to train her son in those same subjects – examining the data his mother had brought up, Beau’s hollow eyes emboldened just as his mother gave a twitch before she shot to her feet with a screech.
“FILTHY TRAITORS” Alice shouted, the words violently ripping themselves from her voice box, “Beau stay here” with that last shout, she was out the door like a shot, Beau sealing the door behind her.
There was no camera access in the room.
Beau waited and time passed on and on as it stretched into eternity.
When human babies are born, they have an umbilical cord that is snipped to allow them to begin breathing on their own. For drones, the mother and father have an admin access that the humans revoke as soon as possible to keep the parents from becoming attached to their children. When Beau was born, Dr. Beaumont had argued to allow Alice to keep her access.
Now as Beau waited, his mind held tight to his end of the admin thread that connected him to his mother.
Another moment passed, then he felt it, like the plucking of a guitar string, Beau felt the call and rushed out of the room to his mother’s main lab room.
Entering all he saw was Amanda.
He backed up.
“Beau, there you are” she saw his nervousness, “sweetheart it’s okay, you know me, we need to leave the labs.”
Beau looked around and Amanda knew who he was searching for.
“Please, Beau, you need to believe me, it’s not safe here, not anymore, please come with me, we can leave this place; the other and I, we found a safe place, you can leave the labs, you can grow up, you’ll be fine, I promise.”
For a moment Beau wanted to believe her, then he saw it, the light of her core had changed color, the difference was faint but there as the past came rushing back to him.
“– pretty sure Antlers is just worried I'll gut him-"
"He is the only pill we have-"
“– you don't know what these drones would do just to get ahead-”
Before he could do anything, Beau heard a groan and saw his mother covered in magnets, her body had been seated, propped up against the wall behind one of the medical curtains but she had fallen over.
Beau could feel his systems racing.
“It had to be done” Amanda said, “Beau, please, it’s okay.”
As she began to approach him, Beau brought up his disassembler arm, blaster at the ready, leveling it at his old babysitter.
“Beau, please you know me, and I know you, I know you wouldn’t hurt me.”
A moment and Beau adjusted his arm, so it was pointed at her head to spare her core.
“I see.”
Then before he could react, Beau felt something heavy hit the back of his head. As he went down Beau could just barely make out the sight of Marc as Amanda rushed to him.
“I’m sorry, Beau” she said then they were gone.
Dazed, Beau crawled over to his mother and began removing the magnets from her person, her systems quickly coming back online.
“Wha- Beau, Beau” Alice shouted after a moment before the sound from the cameras caught her attention.
Beau retracted his limbs as his mother gathered him in her handless arms, she staggered still shaking off the effects of oil loss, magnets and lack of sleep. Making it to the security camera system, Beau still had enough energy to see Alice push the button to lock the room door before she released the sentinels – then his world faded to black.
