Murder Drones - A New Dawn (AU Story)

5 | Reminiscence (Part Two)

(Chapter thumbnail credit: Box Animation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAu-OZ-9io4)

(Just a minor warning, there are a few messages of self-harm in this chapter. It is purely for story purposes. Do not harm yourself in real life! If you want to avoid it, I will highlight where it starts and ends, since it's just a single block. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy.)

SYSTEM DATE: 3071-08-31, 23:55

It really surprised N that he was actually feeling cold. After not having a single drop of worker drone oil in who knows how long, it shocked him that his systems weren't buzzing and begging for the coolant that the disassembly drones relied on.

N looked down at the forest below, finding an open patch that he could land in. He glided down, contacting the ground. He looked up at the cloudy sky. The storm was picking up, and if he couldn't find something to warm himself up with, he might actually freeze.

He ran a quick system diagnostic, trying to figure out why in the world he was freezing up, but nothing came back different than what he already knew. He sighed, crossing his arms to cover his hands. Looking around, he spotted a small encampment a short distance away that had a few logs lined around what looked like a burnt-out fire.

He marched over to the site, picking up on faded footprints. Worker drones had been here, but they had left quite a while ago–and seemingly in a hurry.

N shook his head. He wasn't too concerned about it, so he shrugged it off and began scouring the surroundings of the camp to find dry logs and sticks to start a new fire. After about 10 minutes, he had collected all the firewood he'd need for the night, igniting the pile of wood with his laser cannon.

After getting it started, he sat down on one of the logs, looking back up. The area was shaded well enough from the snow that the fire should keep burning as long as he kept feeding it, and judging that the storm didn't get bad enough to blow it out.

The drone sighed, sliding off the log and using it to support his sore back. He had been flying for two straight days, only taking a short break beforehand, and the only things he had found were miles of forest, a few factories, and a small suburban town.

N shut his eyes, letting the warmth of the fire irradiate across his frame. Opening them again, he stared up at the sky, spotting a few stars burning through the clouds.

I'm all alone. And it's my fault.

The memories of V and J's death replayed in his head like a record player, taunting him. He blamed everything that went wrong in the labs on himself. If only I had...

He shut the thoughts out, not wanting to deal with them right now. He stuck his hand back into his pocket, running his finger over the button.

It had only been a week since he first pressed it, but it felt like an eternity since then. The drone took the button out of his pocket, inspecting it.

He knew he shouldn't, but his finger slowly compressed on the button anyway, the button lighting up signifying that it was recording.

"H-Hey again, Tessa... I hope I'm not... b-bothering you, but, I just... feel alone. I don't have anyone to talk to, and I've been looking for Uzi for about a week and I... still haven't found any clues..."

He lightly smacked his head against the log. There was so much we wanted to vent about and get off his chest, but he knew he shouldn't. "I just hope that whatever you're doing, you can be done soon, cause I don't want to deal with myself anymore... talk to you... soon?.."