On-Brand Loyalty - Off the Clock

Pest Control

Note: This could technically be considered the most canon of the oneshots so far, since I don't think there's anything here that contradicts On-Brand Loyalty. It's just side material since I couldn't think of a good way to naturally attach it to a chapter.

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Dror strained his virtual eyes in concentration, holographic sweat running down his visor, as he tinkered with his Worker Module™. Using small and precise tools, he was being very careful not to mess with some tiny component and make the whole thing stop working. J and the other 2 had already left for hunting, so he had nothing to distract him.

He was so focused that he didn't hear the small pitter-patter approaching him from the ground. It wasn't until Dror felt something touch his leg that he removed his focus from his project. Looking down, he sees a small robot cockroach climbing on his leg.

He just stared at the bug for a moment, eyes slowly widening.

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"And that's a full house, looks like I win!"

Two Worker Drones were sitting at a table, playing cards with each other between two sets of thick bunker doors.

The other drone stared at the other in confusion. "I thought we were playing Go Fish?"

His companion was about to respond when the faint sound of screaming was heard from the other side of the entrance door.

"...Was that some girl screaming?"

"Nah, probably just the wind outside."

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Hours later, J returned to the spire of corpses, looking jovial from a successful

hunt. N and V had gone off the hang out or something, not that she cared as long as they were back before sunrise. She barely had even a second to blink after she landed before Dor kicked open his hut door and bolted over to her in what felt like a second, grabbing her arm and hiding behind her like a scared child.

"OhthankrobochristJIneedyourhelpnow!!!"

She was rather taken aback by his panicked tone. "Uh... okay?" With that response he quickly grabbed her hand and dragged her in front of his hut. The action was so fast J barely registered it even happened.

Dror turned to her and pointed to his hut. "There's a robotic pest in there and I need you to kill it right now before it can do anything!"

J simply stared at him, unimpressed. "...You're scared of a little bug?"

He glared. "I was... distracted, and it popped into my personal bubble. It attacked while my guard was down!"

While J had seen her shortest squadmate be scared plenty times before (mostly due to herself or her squad mates), she couldn't help find the genuine fear he displayed over something so minor rather amusing. She could barely hide her laugh with a smirk, "Ok scaredy-drone, one dead bug coming right up."

She opened his door and stared inside, seeing the thrashed interior with chairs and even the bed overturned. J turned back to Dror. "So what'll it be? Rockets, lasers, maybe an atomic bomb just to make sure?" She remarked sarcastically.

Dror looked offended. "Hey, that's still my house thank you very much. I don't want it getting blown up just cuz-..." Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the roboroach crawling into view. He screamed and jumped behind J, gripping her shoulders. "AH! SHOOT IT, SHOOT IT, SHOOT IT!"

J rolled her eyes and shifted one of her hands into a machine gun, sending a spray of bullets at the pest. Within seconds, it was just a spot of oil and metal. J smirked as she looked back at Dror, who was shivering in fear and still holding onto her. He let go with a nudge of her shoulder.

Dror feigned a cough to regain his composure. "Er... thanks, boss. I'll just clean this up and get out of your hair. Sorry." With an embarrassed orange blush on his visor, he stepped inside and shut the door.

The squad leader allowed herself an amused snicker which was quickly overshadowed by V over at the entrance, who was practically crying with laughter. It seemed she arrived shortly after J did.

"That was priceless! The runt was so frightened over a snack!" V pretended to wipe a tear from her visor as she walked over to her leader, "J, you have to let me sneak more of those things in some time. If we gotta have 'em around I need to see more of that."

J raised an eyebrow at her. "Why in the name of bankruptcy would I let you-..." She paused and thought about it for a moment, recalling Dror's rather absurd actions a moment ago. The way he clung to her for protection, while hilarious, made her feel... fuzzy, for some reason. "...Fine. But only a few, I don't want an infestation."

"SCORE!"