The Pilot (6)

"I c-could n-never hate y-you L. Y-you're so aw-awe-awesome."

"Damn it N…"

Uzi watched as the disassembly drone took off into the ventilation shaft. The constant blaring of the bunker's sirens made Uzi's sensors ache.

She kept peeking through the pile of boxes. Her eyes darted to the other disassembly drone, S, waiting nervously at the edge of the bunker. 

S glanced towards N with little regard before turning and walking slightly outside the bunker into the ruined snowy wasteland outside. His visor was struck with a depressing "Error Code" strung over it.

If I'm quick enough? No...

The railgun was too far to reach undetected, and Uzi knew not if it had recharged yet. Diving for the railgun was a gamble she wasn't confident in betting on.

N kept glitching while his body began twitched rapidly. He was much closer than the railgun, but could Uzi reach him before S noticed.

I need to try. I need to try to save them. Even if they disregard me at school. Even if my own father left me to die. I have to try. 

Uzi stood slightly until her body was just barely below the pillars of fallen boxes. She noticed her wrench laying a mere few feet away from her. 

"If I get the wrench and force that chip out of N… Then maybe, just maybe, he could help."

It was Uzi's only option. She had no idea if N would help her, but nothing else would work. Her small body couldn't even reach up into the ventilation shaft. If one of the drones didn't help her up then she could do nothing but hide as her home was ravaged.

3… 

Uzi dug her feet into the floor of the bunker's hallway.

2… 

She braced herself to run as fast as she physically could. There was no room for error.

1!!!

Uzi pushed off the ground and sprinted past the pile of boxes covering her. The wrench was picked up right on time off the floor as she continued running. She turned her head quickly, S had still not noticed her.

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Her knees slid against the floor and stopped at N's body. Uzi gripped his shoulder and with the same wrench she'd stabbed him with moments earlier, dug back into his robotic skin. Oil spat out from where the chip hugged his shoulder. Uzi, using all her strength, kept forcing the wrench under the chip.

"What are you doing!?"

She heard the faint voice of S calling out towards her.

"Come on, come on, COME ON!"

The chip began to displace and pop as Uzi kept on forcing it.

With one small sound the chip was pried off N's shoulder as it flew into the air.

"Phew…"

Uzi sighed with relief. 

"Why are you so relieved, you worthless pile of scrap?" 

Her mechanical heart, her core, dropped in her chest as a claw gripped her shoulder. It stung like hell as Uzi desperately tried to pry it off. 

"I-I saved him!"

"You shouldn't have. He was defective, like the rest of your people."

"We aren't defective! You're being lied to! Please just listen to me S!"

S recoiled in disgust as Uzi called her name.

"Eugh, don't EVER utter my name, you disgusting pile of wires."

Uzi was lifted into the air as her shoulder began to crush under the pressure of S's claws. She was thrown into Door 2 with enough speed and force to crack her visor.

"You should've stayed inside, idiot, I'm guessing it was you who N was chasing?"

Uzi could barely see from her right side as S's malicious giggle filled the hallway.

"You are solely responsible for the death of your entire colony, you know that?"

Uzi's entire body felt heavy as she struggled to move any part of her robotic husk. She couldn't find the strength to reply yet.

"I must be the luckiest drone in the world~ I escaped death and found a neat little toy to play with while I wait for the others~"

"P-please, just listen…"

S stepped closer as her claws twitched excitedly. She was antsy to kill her, Uzi knew that, but all she had to do was stall for time. Stall long enough for anything, anything at all, to happen.

The long and sharp claws of the disassembly drone slid against Uzi's already cracked visor. Her vision began to fade in and out as a long slit was left in the claw's path. S was enjoying toying with Uzi's life. The pain already throbbing in her blind right eye worsened as S dug deeper and deeper.

"Keep squirming~ I love when you try to fight it!~"

Uzi tried to push S's claws away. Her hand was gripped firmly before being impaled by S's free claw. Uzi winced in agony as her eye began to be scraped once more. Uzi had lost the energy to fight. There was no way out but death. She wanted to live, but the situation presented no alternative other than a quick death to end her suffering; however a quick death was not an option S would allow.

"What's wrong?~ Don't tell me you've already given up?"

"S…"

Uzi's left eye snapped open as she heard N's voice calling out infront of her. The disassembly drone turned her head in confusion.

"You're still alive N? I guess this little worker really did save you~."

"Let her go…"

N stepped closer with both his claws extended. 

S tilted her head to the side.

"What are you talking about N?"

"I said let her go S… I won't let you kill her."

"Oh you poor, poor, boy N… Did your vision corrupt again? She's a worker drone you silly. We came here to kill worker drones N, or did you forget our one, fucking, purpose?"

N did not reply. Uzi watched as his wings spread wide. He anchored himself to the ground for a moment before hurling his body towards S. She was caught off guard at his aggression and swiftly knocked to the side.

"WHAT THE HELL N? WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?"

N's eyes never left S, he slowly backed closer to Uzi without replying. He extended his wings to shield her from any oncoming attacks.

"Uzi, you okay?"

"Bite me…"

N smiled softly.

"I figured… Hang tight okay? This won't take long."

S's eyes lit up with anger at N's remark.

"You think this will be easy!? You think fighting ME won't take long!?

He continued to be silent while anchoring himself to the floor beside Uzi.

S twitched with anger as she retracted her right hand's claws, transformed that same arm into a cannon, and then sent a missle spiraling towards the duo.

N's eyes narrowed as he retracted the claws on one of his hands. The moment the missle neared within a foot of his face, he ever so carefully guided it upwards and around to face S. 

When N let go of the missle, its speed had diminished greatly and only traveled half the distance it once did before exploding onto the floor of the hallway. Smoke enveloped the hallway as N braced himself for another attack.

His vision darkened and focused on the cloud of smoke. S's outline was visible thanks to his enhanced vision. She dashed right through the smoke and straight for him.

"YOU TRAITOR"

N's clawed hand transformed into a long straight blade as it met S's dual claws and her screeching voice. He gripped her shoulder with his free hand and spun her around into the neighboring wall.

Her body slammed and dented into the wall. S let out a loud groan as N began to repeatedly ram her robotic shell into the dense walls of the bunker.

"UZI MOVE."

N's voice shot her body awake once more as Uzi scrambled to move. Uzi could only make it a few yards before her body shut down again. Her vision was mostly gone, she could only see faintly out of her left side.

The empty spot where Uzi once laid was quickly replaced by S's body as N forced her to the ground.

"LET GO OF ME N!"

S desperately clawed at N's non-bladed hand as he looked down at her with a visor full of remorse.

"Stop fighting S… I don't want to hurt you… I don't want to hurt any of you…"

"YOU'RE JUST A FUCKING TRAITOR! YOU'RE SIDING WITH A WORKER N!"

N kept his hand firmly on her shoulder as he pressed his bladed arm against her neck. He stopped right before the blade reached her.

"The workers can help us S… I need you to stop fighting… I can't kill my friends…"

"I'LL NEVER WORK WITH THOSE PILES OF JUNK!"

N could notice her voice becoming even more emotional.

"They want to help us S… You shouldn't even be here… Why didn't you go back to your squad? I'm sure they would want to know what happened to E…"

S's voice began to crack as she replied

"THEY'RE FUCKING DEAD! SOME FUCKING DRONE KILLED THEM ALL!"

N's eyes widened at her words.

"What?"

S stopped clawing at his arm and began to weep to herself. 

"Some drone… killed them all… E, D, Z, and Q…"

"So it wasn't just E…"

"They're all dead N… Every last one of them…"

N released his grip on her shoulder as his blade retreated from S's neck.

"I-I'm sorry… How could a worker kill all of you…?"

S remained on the floor. Her shallow cries grew more faint, but she kept still.

"It wasn't a worker drone, it was a monster, it was a fucking monster N…"

"Then doesn't that give us another reason to side with the workers!? If that thing was created by them, it wouldn't harm us if we joined them!"

"I CAN'T LET THAT THING LIVE AFTER IT KILLED E!"

Her voice was much more broken and emotional then N had ever seen before. She was breaking down on the very floor where she was going to kill him and Uzi.

"If it wiped out your entire squad then we don't have a choice S…"

N left her laying on the floor as he walked a few yards and leaned down beside Uzi.

"Are you okay Uzi?"

"Not really…"

N stood back up and extended a hand down to her. Uzi fumbled around for a moment before their hands finally connected. N pulled her up onto her feet.

Uzi placed one of her hands on her visor and ran it slowly along the surface.

It's cracked…

"N… how bad is it?"

"It's pretty bad Uzi. I think you should stay here…"

"No, no, no! I have to hurry! They're all going to die if I don't do something!"

Uzi frantically searched for her railgun. Her foggy and uneven vision made her search far more difficult than she imagined.

"Why are you even trying?"

Uzi looked up and saw a disfigured shape rising up from the floor slowly. S grabbed the railgun off the floor and pushed it against Uzi's chest.

"V and L probably slaughtered them all by now."

Her words stabbed Uzi almost as hard as a disassembly drone's stinger.

N placed his hand on Uzi's shoulder.

"They left you for dead… Are you sure you want to help them?"

"YES N! Those are my friends, my family, and my home! I can't just leave them to die!"

S scoffed and crossed her arms.

"So what? We're just supposed to go in there and kill our own kind?"

Uzi narrowed her remaining working eye in S's direction.

"Are you even on our side?"

S stepped closer and got within a few inches of Uzi's face.

"IF I join you, I want you to promise we that you'll help me kill that fucking drone that took E away from me."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but if it'll save my home. I promise I'll help you."

"Good."

Uzi gripped the railgun tightly and looked up at the vent overhead and then back down at S.

"Tell me more about this drone on the way… N, a little help please?"

"I love being useful!"

N gripped Uzi's waist and lifted her into the vent as S followed closely behind.