The Pilot (2)

The sound of screaming working drones filled V's ears as she sat solemnly on the edge of a ruined skyscraper while staring off into the distance at the destroyed landing pod she came from. She couldn't tell how long the team and her had been stranded on Copper-9, but after all this time V could still barely find any reason to keep going. 

The night sky seemed so peaceful in contrast to the bloodbath below.

V pressed her legs up against her robotic chest. Her knife-like fingers tapped slowly on the ruble she was sitting on.

"You okay V?"

A male drone, equipped with a long tail with some sort of needle and sack on the tip, slowly hovered down from above and stood beside her as his wings folded into his back. His yellow pupils peered down at V sympathetically.

"Yeah L, I'm alright, just the same as always."

L flicked some leftover oil off his claws into the air. 

"Just making sure you're all good."

"I am."

More cries rang out below as another drone, a taller male with a pilot's hat, slaughtered worker drone after worker drone with a stretched yellow "X" displayed across his visor.

V presses her legs harder against her torso.

"Do you think we'll be able to clear out this colony by the end of the night?

L retracted his claws and pressed his hand against his robotic chin for a moment.

"Hmm… As long as they don't spread out too far then I say we've got this in the bag!"

"N's having a fun time down there."

"Haha, yeah, it took him foreverrrr to track down these workers. I'll let him have his fun before we finish things up."

He sat down on the rubble besides V. His tone was filled with genuine admiration and praise.

"I'm glad you're on my team V. I don't think we could've moved up the ranks this far without you. I mean just look at us, we made 3rd place last quarter because of you. You've got to be a living legend among the other drones at this point."

V smiled slightly with her knees still pressed firmly against her chest.

"You're giving me too much credit."

"I'm serious V, 2,937 workers in one quarter, no other disassembly has even broken the 2,000 worker count. You're incredible."

"Really L, it isn't a big deal. I just want to make the higher ups happy, that's all."

L rested his hand on V's shoulder for a moment before speaking again.

"I'm really proud of you V."

I'm really proud of you V…

The words replayed in her head over and over for a moment before she snapped back to reality.

Her eyes widened slightly and her body recoiled away from L as she stood up. She let out a small, pitiful, laugh before wiping the dust off her legs with her claws.

"Hahaha, you know me L, I'm always giving it my all! Hey why don't we hurry up and finish off this colony. Maybe we'll reach the top cut if we keep going with this pace."

Before L could reply, V lifted off into the sky and slammed down into a horde of worker drones that N was rampaging through. 

She raised her hand and retracted it before extending a gun out. Her arm began to release dozens of bullets per second as she mowed down the crowd.

Her body remained still as the bullets kept flying with seemingly no end. The mass amounts of oil curdling screams did not make V hesitate or stop. She felt nothing as she mercilessly decimated the colony of workers. 

She felt no remorse or guilt, not even a feeling of happiness or contemptuous at what she was doing.

I have to please the higher ups…

N began to stop slashing wildly at the worker drones as their numbers rapidly decreased until not one of them was left after V's barrage of bullets.

"Awesome Job V!"

N held both his thumbs up and smiled at V.

She rolled her eyes in response and retracted her weapon back into her arm. 

"Was that all?"

N kept his same smile and enthusiasm while he replied.

"Nope!"

V sighed and dropped her shoulders.

"Where did the rest of them go N?"

He pointed into a ruined entrance to a subway station.

V scoffed and began to mumble as she walked towards the stairs leading underground.

"Hey N, how about you let me and V handle the rest of these guys. You should head back to the pod and recharge for a bit."

L's voice echoed behind the two as he landed firmly on the snowy ground. 

N let out a small frown and looked down the stairs before turning back to L.

"You sure L? I can keep going."

He wrapped his arm around N's shoulder and began to lead him in the direction of the team's landing pod. 

"Yeahhhhh buddy. V and I got this. Just head home and we'll join you soon."

N thought for a moment and then smiled joyfully before replying.

"Whatever you say L, you're the boss afterall!"

"That's the spirit bud. Take care."

N smiled again before pushing off the ground and extending his wings. He looked back down at L and V before waving and then dashing off. After a few moments his silhouette had faded and the two were left alone. L broke the swift silence as he began descending the stairs with V in tow.

"You ready V?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

Once the duo had made it to the bottom of the stairs they came into the open lobby of the subway station. One long tunnel stretched out on the tracks going both left and right. L stretched his head over the tracks and looked both ways before then studying the floor itself. 

"They went both ways. We need to split up before they escape." 

V stared at the floor and noticed the trail of oil leading both ways into the tunnel.

L spoke up again before V could utter a word.

"I'll go right, and you go left."

"Understood."

Neither of the two wasted any time as they began to move in their respective directions down the subway tracks. Their footsteps rang out in the hollow tunnel for a moment before V could only hear hers. V hated when the workers hid in a cooped up underground area. It was always so annoying to get out once she finished wiping their colony. The scratching sound soothed her unease as she ran her claws along the rocky interior of the tunnel.

V felt a strange numbness inside her as the darkness of the tunnel seemed to envelop her. The darkness didn't terrify her, but V disliked the idea of being in it for too long.

After walking for a few minutes she finally heard the frantic steps of a group of workers. Her eyes squinted tightly to try and increase her pale vision. After a few moments her eyes involuntarily began to function at the low level that she considered normal.

She let out a sigh of relief as they faded slowly into her view. They were around 50 yards ahead of her however their injuries didn't allow for them to gain on their pursuer. 

She anchored her legs to the tracks and pushed off as her body began to rocket towards the horde. V retracted her claws and sent out the long single blade on each of her hands. She spun in a circular motion while airborne as her blades began to rip through the workers.

"AHH!"

The screams pissed her off more than anything as she landed in front of the other drones. Her blade leaked with oil as she'd taken the lives of multiple with one spin.

V began stabbing and slicing at the robots as their cries filled her ears and made her sensors ache. Her robotic stinger began double tapping every drone she injured. The venom ejected dissolved wherever her tail decided to land on the robots. She cut through the countless scraps of junk like butter until not a single one was vocal or mobile. 

She licked the oil off her blades and retracted them once more while staring at the lifeless programs infront of her. She turned to continue walking down the tunnel in search of more drones but stopped as she heard small weeping coming from among the bodies.

V turned some of the worker drones over using her legs as she looked for the origin of the sound. After turning more and more bodies over she began to get agitated at the whimpering of whatever was making that sound. She raised an eyebrow at a seemingly uninjured body and slowly lifted it with her foot.

The robot jolted to life as it lunged at V with a knife. She stepped back quickly as the knife grazed her cheek. A male worker stood in front of her with a knife clutched tightly in his hand. A smaller female drone hovered behind him as he used his other hand to block the way between the girl and V.

"B-back away, or el-else!"

The male worker stuttered and shuddered as he commanded V. She froze momentarily as she looked at the female drone.

"G-get the hell out of here Jane!"

The male drone pushed the girl behind him.

Get the hell out of here V!

She shook her head slightly at her cluttered thoughts and took a step back as the male drone did the same in the opposite direction.

"I-I'll kill you if you g-get any closer!"

His hands trembled more and more as V raised her hands and stepped away. He was risking his life to protect the girl behind him. V kept backing away slowly as the other two workers followed suit.

The two drones turned and ran, but before they could get far a strong breeze passed over V as she closed her eyes for a moment.

"A-AGH…"

She opened her eyes again and saw a blade had struck the male drone right in his face and had sent him flying a few yards backwards. The girl stared behind V in horror as she met the same fate moments later. The two had fallen on top of each other as their lifeless bodies leaked oil.

V turned around confused as another female disassembly drone walked into her view.