Heartbeat (8)

"MOVE!"

Doll clenched her eyes shut tightly as her voice boomed through the hallway. 

Everything was silent as the darkness enveloping her eyes refused to leave as she opened them. The creature was no longer rushing towards her. Strangely the wired monster was nowhere in sight.

"Uhmmm, so what was that?"

Lizzy walked up with her hands on her hips as she called out to Doll.

The Russian drone kept searching both sides of the hallway, scanning every patch of darkness for the creatures. She clicked her tongue and clenched her hands as her pupils reverted to their normal shape. Doll looked towards the blonde drone, Lizzy, and opened her mouth to speak.

"Where is it?"

"Uhh, no idea, I was trying to pull out my phone and take a pic."

"Idiot."

"Yeah yeah, anyways, so like… I REALLY don't wanna stay here Doll."

"Leave then."

Lizzy scoffed at her friend's harsh tone.

"You're staying?"

"When those things came last time, I couldn't do anything. Now I have a choice."

"Those things?"

"The disassembly drones."

Lizzy's eyes instinctively widened at the revelation.

"That thing was one of them?"

"Yes."

"I thought they left with Uzi?"

Doll snapped towards her friend while getting more and more frustrated.

"Looks like they didn't."

Lizzy rolled her eyes at her friend's growing hostility. Doll hadn't ever acted so pissed before, so the sudden shift in character confused the drone.

"What's up with you? You're like, totally killing my whole flow right now girl."

"They KILLED my parents."

Lizzy scoffed and diverted her attention towards her phone.

"Doesn't mean you have to freak out."

The girl's phone was suddenly ripped from her hands by an unseen force and flung into a wall.

"You should hate them just as much as I do. They would've killed you if I wasn't around.'

"So that freaky door thing was your fault?"

"Yes."

"Creepy."

"..."

Doll twitched with fury at the idiocy of her friend. She pointed towards the hallway and motioned for Lizzy to leave.

"Oh so that's how it is? Not cool Doll, not cool."

"Just leave… I'm going to find that disassembly drone."

"Ughhhh, whatever Doll, fine."

Lizzy turned around and began walking back towards the habited area of Colony 3. Doll watched her friend walk away before turning and moving in the opposite direction.

"Idiot."

-

V snapped her eyes open in a daze.

"Like this?"

A familiar voice made the cogs in her mind start turning. The voice belonged to a glitched shadow with no discernable features. It peered down at V while holding out a malformed paper bird.

She grabbed the piece of paper and giggled softly.

The figure tilted its head and looked at her with confusion.

"Have I done it correctly?"

V laughed once more involuntarily. No matter how hard she attempted to stifle her laughter, she couldn't.

"It's uhm, nice…"

She struggled to hold back a laugh while staring down at the disfigured paper swan. V rubbed the end of her maid dress while struggling to look at the figure towering over her.

"I feel like you are lying."

V looked down even more as a small blush burned onto her visor. 

"No no no! I promise it isn't bad!"

The figure looked down at her.

"Will Tessa appreciate my gift?"

V played with the ends of her hair while looking up slightly at the figure.

"I'm sure she'd love anything you give her ■■■■■."

Who? 

V's head hurt as what felt like a distant memory kept pressing on. She felt like her entire world was currently a 3D movie that she had no control over despite the scenes seeming so familiar.

"Thank you, V."

The figure took the failed swan back into its large hands. V could see his hands were much larger than her own, but despite that he held the paper swan gently and with great care.

Why can't I remember your name?

She smiled and waved at the figure as it turned to walk away. V turned and paced down the hallway.

The maid began to hum a quiet tune to herself while keeping her hands firmly against the front of her waist.

-

"V RUN!"

Her entire being seemed to shift to another plane as V went from the empty hallway to a large open galla. 

The same shadowy figure from before yelled at her as a mass of wired tendrils dove for V's face.

What?

Her body was tackled away as the figure launched itself into her side. V slid along the floor and watched as multiple tendrils pierced the figure's body.

-

V sat on a large queen-sized bed with her head hanging low. A black silhouette with white eyes sat beside her with a long chain cuffing her to the bed's frame. The silhouette was slightly taller than V and was sulking beside the drone.

The maid drone reached out and put her hand on top of the silhouette's. It looked over and smiled weakly.

"Thanks V…"

V smiled at the girl. The silhouette began mumbling while looking at the chain around her wrist. 

"This is so unfair… I hate it here…"

V frowned while hearing her master's words. 

A loud knock on the door made her jump. The silhouette motioned for V to open it.

She stood up and wiped her hands on her outfit before shuffling towards the door and cracking it open. That same shadowy and glitched figure looked down at her as she swung the door the remaining distance open. 

"Ahh! Hello ■■■■■!"

The figure looked down at V and lifted a hand to give a small wave. 

-

V sniffled as a small trail of oil leaked from her finger. She looked down at it with a pained expression as a glitched hand softly gripped her wrist.

"T-thank you…"

She looked up at the drone. He was tall, much taller than any of the other manor drones, but V couldn't make out any distinguishing features. Everytime she tried to focus her vision, the drone became dark and glitchy.

The drone reached into the pocket of its white suit and pulled out a small handkerchief. He wrapped it around V's finger quickly and put a hand on the maid's head.

He stayed silent as a large black silhouette, equal size to the drone, with white eyes bursted into the room and began screaming at the two drones.

"YOU IDIOTIC PILES OF SCRAP! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE!?"

V tried to tune out the man's yelling by cuffing her sensors and shutting her eyes tightly.

"YOU DISRESPECTFUL PIECE OF TRASH! UNHAND ME THIS INSTANT!"

The maid looked up and saw the man standing over her with a hand mere inches away from her head. The tall drone had his own hand clutched tightly around the man's wrist, preventing him from hitting V, as he continued his silence.

"SO HELP ME GOD I WILL SEND YOU BACK TO THE DEFORMED MACHINE THAT CREATED YOU!"

The drone hung its head low and forcefully dragged the man out of the room while he kept screaming.

V shuttered as the yelling grew more distant. She looked down at the handkerchief wrapped around her finger and sighed.

"Guess I'll give it back later…"

-

V shot her head up and looked around the empty interior of the landing pod. The rolling chair she was sleeping in almost fell over as she steadied herself. 

"Ughh… My head…"

She opened her palms and started to frantically look for the handkerchief she'd fallen asleep with.

"Where is it! Where is it!"

V bolted off the chair and began searching for the handkerchief. Her anxiousness caused her already pale vision to falter even more. 

After a few seconds of searching she saw the handkerchief laying on the floor a few yards away from her. She put her hand on her chest and breathed for a moment before walking over towards it.

The chain tugged against her.

She pulled the chain as it tightened. V let out a low growl as her hand was just out of reach. 

"Damn it!"

She transformed her hand into a rifle and prodded towards the handkerchief with the tip of the barrel. 

It still wasn't long enough to reach.

"Oh come on!!!"

V let out a long annoyed moan as she pulled on the chain even more, attempting to inch closer with no success.

"Pleaseeeee!"

Her head perked up. She turned towards Uzi's forgotten railgun and grabbed it. The bud of the railgun slammed on top of the handkerchief as V stuck out her tongue slightly while concentrating. The handkerchief inched closer and closer as V used the railgun to pull it along the floor. 

Once it was close enough, she grabbed the small cotton fabric and smiled. 

"Yesss!"

She tossed the railgun to the side and sat back in her rolling chair while stuffing the handkerchief back into her pocket. Her hand gripped it tightly within her pocket.

The door of the pod opened and a small purple-haired worker drone walked in.

"Ugh, so you're still kicking it."

"Bite me!"

S walked in behind Uzi. She carried a male disassembly drone on her back.

"What happened to N!?"

V's mouth was gaped open with worry as she stared at N's unconscious body. Uzi rolled her eyes at the drone's concern.

"One of S's little buddies went full on spaghetti mode and almost killed us!"

V raised an eye.

"Spaghetti mode…?"

"I-I don't know…"

S threw the male drone into a chair and cracked her mechanical back.

"It was Q."

"I thought she died?"

S sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah me too, I guess she got away."

"You look like crap S."

"Shut it, V. You have NO idea."

V giggled and covered her mouth. The handkerchief fell out and drifted in the air before landing right in front of Uzi.

Uzi leaned down and picked the cloth up.

"Why do you have one of these?"

The chained up disassembly drone lurched forward and tried to grab the handkerchief however her movements were halted by the chain binding her.

"GIVE IT BACK!"

Uzi looked in confusion at V before handing her the cloth.

"Weirdo…"

V snatched the handkerchief back and gripped it with both hands while backing away in the rolling chair.

S and Uzi both stared at her with looks of confusion. Neither of the drones said anything to V.

Uzi slumped down beside N's unconscious body.

S sat on the control panel and crossed one of her legs over the other.

"So Uzi, what now?"

The worker drone adjusted her posture.

"We wait until N wakes up."

S rolled her eyes.

"Listen Uzi… I don't really care if he wakes up or not. I'm talking about the Archangel. What do we do about THAT."

"Same thing idiot. We can't do anything on our own. The best plan we have is asking my dad for our help."

"Will he REALLY help us after what you said?"

"He owes it to me, to US. I'll go alone tomorrow since you guys are probably going to need more time to recover."

"And you aren't?"

Uzi looked down at her hands.

"I'm fine for the most part, and if I'm being honest, I REALLY don't wanna be here right now."

S's voice seemed to get hostile at the worker drone's words.

"Oh REALLY? Why's that?"

"We both saw what your buddy turned into… Being around three of you doesn't seem too safe."

The disassembly drone's eyes twitched.

"Then leave… Neither V nor I care if you stay. As Long as you help me kill that drone, I don't care where you go."

Uzi shuttered and stood up.

"Fine. Tell N where I am when he wakes up."

"IF he wakes up."

"Shut up S. He'll wake up."

Uzi turned to leave but stopped. She turned towards her railgun and snatched it before sticking her tongue out at V who was watching on in silence.

V put the handkerchief in her pocket and stuck up her hands as a question mark appeared on her visor, replacing her eyes.

Uzi said nothing. The worker held the railgun tightly and walked out.

V scoffed and crossed her arms.

"What's her problem?"

"Shut up V. You're still in timeout."

"TIMEOUT!?"

S laughed softly as V's mouth hung open.