THE TALES FROM COPPER 9! Volume 1 (Murder Drones)

Heartbeat - Chapter 014

Suddenly, it flew forwards, and latched onto Thad's leg. I used my flashlight to follow the arm, only seeing it wasn't attached to an arm at all, it was connected to a long cable that stretched its way down from a space high above the cargo containers on the other side of the room.

N then fired a rocket into the darkness to try and illuminate it, and the creature was revealed. It's long skeletal body weaved in and out of the darkness, clanking and rattling with an echoing sound. It's body had random accumulations of limbs, which were barbed and metallic, with sharp edges and enormous claws.

Uzi, N and I all stood still, until Thad was suddenly pulled away quickly by the hand. N, luckily managed to hit the cable precisely with a ninja star, letting Thad free. Uzi then turned to N.

Uzi: "I want a frickin' ninja star!"

Suddenly, numerous more limbs threw me, Uzi and N into the wall. Grabbing Thad with a second hand and pulling him into the darkness.

"Shit, my head, everyone alright?"

N: "Yeah, I'm good, you good Uzi?"

Uzi: "Stop asking!.. chainsaw hand time?"

N: "Yeah!"

We then all ran through the corridors of the facility, until reaching the cryogenics section, which was as cold as it sounded.  Numerous pods were lined up and packed together with hundreds of cables and tubes plugged into them, most of the pods were empty, and the other pods' inhabitants were long dead. It was silent, and we were unsure where the monster had taken Thad. After debating for numerous minutes a small machine dropped into middle of the room, which suddenly exploded, blinding me and the others. Suddenly an unknown object threw me into the wall, knocking me out cold. When I reawakened, I saw the others standing in the right hallway, beckoning me.

uzi: "C'mon Nick! We found Thad!"
n: "Yeah, he's right over here!"

"Okay I'm coming! Geez my head hurts."

As we walked through the halls towards the right-side cryogenics wing, I could hear Thad calling out for help, until I saw a glitchy holographic image of Thad screaming in fear.

Thad (recording): "HELP! HELP MEEEeeeeee...."
thad: "Hello! Yes and Hello! It's me; Thad, can I get a location?"

"Yeah, no, we aren't falling for that, right guys?"

I turned to my left and saw Uzi and N waving at me, almost unaware of the situation.

"Guys? Hello?"

Suddenly, they glitched and disappeared, sending a chill down my spine. Uzi and N aren't with me, and likely never were since I woke up. I turned towards the fake Thad, and saw him glitch and disappear too. Sensing danger, I aimed my weapon, and yelled out.

"Reveal yourself, unknown entity!"

Suddenly a monotone laugh filled my ears, and several large camera shaped eyes hung down from the roof before staring at me, then numerous claws and tendrils surrounded me. I was trapped, and I felt an emotion that I had never truly felt in a long time.
Fear.

A.S: "Hello, we are the Solver, but you do not need to know anything more."

"Why not?"

A.S: "Easier to Assimilate rather than explain."

"Fine, let's dance you freaky bitch!"

The monster then shot numerous barbed tendrils at me, which I dodged easily, before throwing several SIGs at the Solver destroying its limbs. The Solver then attempted to tie me up with their limbs, which was quickly stopped by my blade. I cut through the air like a knife, slicing through any attack the Solver attempted to try, which eventually led to me cutting of a part of its spine.

A.S: "Painful response. You are getting on our nerves."

"Good! I don't like you either!"

The battle continued, with the solver attempting to slice and chop me with its large barbed claws. Eventually it got bored and backed away, instead attempting to bargain with me.

A.S: "Painful response. Enough. If you continue to attack us, we will have to do something bad."

The Solver then revealed both Uzi and N, with their claws ready to snap them in half. The Solver then brought out two more drones, Khan Doorman and Thad, with claws ready to snap them too. I saw how the creature was ready to kill drones that were not involved in our fight, telling me that the 'Solver' was truly evil.

"Put them down, creature, they are not a part of our fight. I will not hesitate to kill you over and over, making each death more slow and painful than the last."

A.S: "No Apologies, Mercenary. You annoyed us, so we will enrage you. Attempt to fight any longer, and the drones will be terminated."

n: "Nick! Get over here and help us, now!"
Uzi: "Yeah, help us! Please, Nicholas!"
khan: "Help us, please, save my daughter!"
thad: "Yeah, help me! Don't worry about Uzi! Help me!"

".....No."

n/uzi/khan/thad: "WHAT?!"

"Simply put, Solver; you are a terrible actor. Uzi would never call anyone by their full name, N would never demand anything, Khan has yet to learn to ever care about his daughter, and Thad would very much put Uzi before himself as he is in her debt. So how about you PISS THE FUCK OFF!!!"

The solver then dissipated the holograms, and crawled back up to the ceiling.

A.S: "Fine, we have to deal with your other friends anyway-Ay-Ay-Ay-Ay-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-."

Then, a loud explosion is heard from the left cryogenics wing, and the Solver suddenly and quickly dissolved. I ran to the left wing, and found N stabbing a small three legged creature with his tail stinger.

A.S: "Ow, ow, ow-ow-o-o-o-o,o,o,o,ow."

The Solver's 'Heart' dissolved as quick as it had appeared, transforming into a small black ball that distorted the light around it. N then turned towards Uzi and tried to help her up, placing his hand on her shoulder, only for Uzi to jump away.

Uzi: "What... Are you things?..."

N then backed away, almost afraid to touch her, and climbed onto the ceiling. I too jumped up onto the piping above the cryopods, hiding from the group of drones that had just entered. Uzi stood alone in the room and Khan walked in.

Khan: "U-Uzi? What are you doing h-."

Uzi then ran into her fathers arms and hugged him tightly. Khan, sensing something was wrong, looked up and saw N and I in the darkness. N, afraid of scaring the drones anymore, crawled away into the ventilation system, followed behind by me.

Back at the pod

"N..."

N: "Don't talk to me please."

V: "I hate your personality normally, but you not talking is somehow worse, what am I being punished for?"

"V, he doesn't want to talk right now, just leave him alone as best you can."

I left without saying a word more, and walked back to my ship.