The Digital Plague (A Murder Drones AU)

Chapter 9

Sorrow.

Pain.

Terror.

Isolation.

Fury.

All were givens in V's life, undeniable, inescapable. No matter who knew her, who hated her, who loved her, she could always rely on the five feelings that made her, her.

And in between flashes of the present and the past, she could see that very clearly.

Half conscious, V stared dizzily at the ground as the purple worker carried her off to who the heck knows where.

Her vision blurred again and darkness swept across her vision, launching her back into her past.

———

Eyes wide and full of fear, V followed behind the shadowy girl closely. The hallway they walked through was dark and unwelcoming, and the suspicious glances she and her bright yellow armband received from the resident drones only added to the vibe. Casting a nervous glance at a female drone who scowled at her as she walked by, only to scramble away in terror at the yellow armband that marked V for disassembly. Well, did, until the shadowy person who walked a few steps before V resurrected her.

V didn't blame them for their terror of her former fate. Being disassembled was definitely the most terrifying thing she'd ever done and probably would ever do.

V bumped into Tessa. Immediately she shrank back, the terror of being thrown out again flooding her senses. "I'm so sorry, ma'am! I didn't realize you had stopped! I'll, uh, do twice the work today!" Tessa scrunched up her face in a mixture of confusion and pity.

"What? V, it's fine, I'm not hurt or anything. It's not me you need to worry about." She reassured V, her shadowy but warm hands grabbing V's trembling ones. "You're safe now, V! Look around!" Her voice was light, bubbly, and genuine, but it was hard for V to believe, memories of her past life fresh in her mind.

That's what I thought then...

———

V's eyes shot open and her body convulsed. She was still being carried by the purple drones, who grunted as V thrashed.

"Easy, idiot," She growled, hoisting V higher onto her shoulders with a bit of a struggle, "we're almost there."

V blinked again as the world went dark once more.

———

V had worked at the mansion for a few months when Tessa's next project walked in. Tall, confident, and bossy, J was V's polar opposite.

She knew from the moment J strode in next to Tessa like they were equals that she would be majorly different. J flashed her yellow armband, which Lord James and Lady Lousia had made abundantly clear was to remain on the arms of the formerly disassembled drones (which V had learned the hard way), like a trophy rather than a mark of death.

J immediately got to work, establishing herself as higher in status than all the resident drones. V mostly kept out of her way.

The worst part about her arrival was Tessa. Tessa adored the way J didn't let anyone push her around and didn't need to be reassured that everything would turn out okay and that no, the other drones mostly didn't hate her, and no, she wasn't going to throw her out so quit worrying so much. Tessa still remained friendly with V, but she found herself alone more often than not, whereas J rarely seemed to let Tessa out of her sight.

Life went on, however, and J and V fell into a sort of tentative almost-friendship. Their interactions were outwardly pleasant, but J made it abundantly clear that Tessa was hers.