Murder Drones - Model Mix-up

Heartbeat - Heartbreak

Flames lick the walls of the cryosleep chamber, illuminating glittery splatters of oil with mechanical gore floating in its pools. Z's vision returns to her, finding herself seemingly buried beneath a mound of rubble. She gets up, carefully sliding the debris off of herself to not harm Wesson; she had protected him from the railgun's detonation utilizing her wings. Z shifts to the side, now sitting atop the shards of concrete and scrap surrounding her. Wesson slowly rises, digging himself out and taking in the horrific scene he's stood before, his eyes hollow.

Wesson sees again the scattered remnants of Nori, her disfigured head soullessly gazing into him. He's unable to continue standing, both from the emotional toll the sight takes on him and the still-leaking gash opened in his chest. Dropping to his knees, tears begin gathering in the corners of Wesson's eyes... and though Z can't see this, currently taking a moment of respite behind him, she can still sense part of what her Worker friend is feeling. She thinks to speak... but she decides not, her reasoning lost to herself.

There's a moment of quiet mourning, Wesson refusing to break his vision away from his mother's remains... before noticing them flicker for an instant. And he watches as Nori's scattered corpse vanishes, realizing a lone camera remains standing to continue the illusion... but it soon collapses, caving in on itself and focusing into a black orb of matter that slowly drifts away.

Wesson - "...I-..." He has no words to speak, merely making a solitary sound followed by further silence, the crackling of fire acting as the only noise in the room. He... isn't sure what to think anymore.

Suddenly, there's a faint clattering from a pile of nearby wreckage, with a fleshy 3-legged bio-mechanical creature springing from the chaos, touching the ground and scuttling around sporadically.

??? - "Ha, you thought." it taunts dully, mimicking the voice of the grand beast. Z jolts upright after hearing the voice again. "You can't catch me." It scurries around, hopping from surface to surface. "I'm too speed-..."

The tiny creature's mockeries are stunted by a stab from Z's tail, repeatedly making bland remarks of pain with every syringe plunge. Soon enough, the being begins to spasm, collapsing like the camera had and compressing into a black orb. The ball of matter begins to drift away once more, the ground faintly sparking with lightning as it moves.

Now standing near Wesson, Z glances at him - seeing his teary expression again... She hated being reminded of that face: the vulnerability, the instability... the heartbreak. Suddenly, Z hears a commotion approaching the two, so she reaches a hand out for him to grab. Wesson fails to notice this, blankly gazing at where Nori once lay, clutching his chest still. Z extends her hand further to tap his shoulder to get his attention, and the moment she makes contact, Wesson wheels his head around toward Z, causing her to retract her hand out of surprise.

Wesson - "Wh-..." He shuffles away from Z, his entire body noticeably trembling as the tears break free from his eyes...

"...W-What are y-you?"

Z... isn't sure how to respond... she didn't even know the answer. She looks back at the devastation wrought by the eldritch monster, wondering... Wondering if she had the same thing inside herself... Wondering... if she was a monster. The commotion reaches the cryo-sleep chamber, with a small group of Worker Drones bursting through the strip curtain. Z panics, preparing to leap into the rafters to hide... but she stalls, taking a final look at Wesson... She can't help but feel responsible for all this.

The Workers shine their flashlights wildly around the room, attempting to make sense of the destruction before them. It's not long until they discover Wesson crying alone in the chaos, staring off at the nightmare he'd just lived through. The group attempts to approach before a ruckus springs up from the crowd, several drones being pushed away and knocked over as someone shoves through them. Once they reach the front of the group, they scan the room to dissect what'd happened... before seeing what - or more accurately, who - they had discovered...

Nori - "Wesson! Oh my God, Wesson! What are you doing here?!" she exclaims, running forward and dropping beside her son. "Doll told me-..." She stops, reading his horrified expression and seeing the tears creeping down his visor. She disregards her previous question, pulling Wesson into her and embracing him... and Wesson begins to sob. "...I-It's okay..." she reassures, starting to become emotional as well. "...I'm here, now..."

As Nori continues to console, she spots something in her peripheral... five purple lights and a matching color face, observing the two from the rafters... Z. Nori looks up at her, watching Z slowly creep into the light... and the two stare at one another for a time.

Z - "...I-I'm-..."

Nori - "W-What..." she starts, her voice raised. "...what did you do to him?!" She's overtaken by her emotional state, awaiting her answer... She's livid to have her trust broken. Z says nothing, flinching once she hears Nori speak. She looks around the room to take in the scene again before Nori repeats herself. "What did you do?!"

Z - "I-I..." She attempts to muster an explanation... but she can't push any words from her mouth.

Nori - "GO." she bluntly instructs, startling Z. "Away from this colony... away from my HOME... away from my SON." Her visor appears to glitch as she speaks her final word... and Z sees something hidden in the distortions. It's a familiar symbol... the Absolute Solver.

Without another sound, Z recedes into the darkness - almost fearing for her life as she disappears into some passageway linked in the ceiling, likely an old ventilation shaft. Nori continues glaring until she sees every trace of purple light vanish... before returning her gaze to Wesson. The other Worker Drones in the room approach the pair... and they're offered to return home. Nori, though reluctant to be helped by the very same who'd taken her son away, eventually accepts... she only wishes to see Wesson in good health sooner rather than later. Never... never again. Never again will she even conceive of trusting those... monsters, those... Murder Drones...

That... Z...