Murder Drones: Brave Little P

Desperate Times, Desperate Measures

The snow softly falls, collecting atop empty and looming silhouettes of derelict skyscrapers from a time long gone. They hang their heads in solemn silence.Two figures glide from perch to perch on metal wings, weaving through frozen industrial pipework with ease. They join two others, and below, a group of helpless robots tremble in their wake. One dares to stop and look up, trying to catch a glimpse at the terrors pursuing them. She screams when one curls over the side of a nearby roof, laughing in sadistic glee before continuing the hunt. Another drone in the group points out their only means of survival.

"There's a safe room up ahead! Hurry!"

The woman who shouted earlier is lagging behind the rest. Before the others even have a chance to help her, one of their winged hunters pounces on her from above, dragging her to the ground. Just feet away from safety. A long blade slashes her leg, causing the unfortunate victim to cry out in pain. Oil trickles down the gnarly steel claw, the death machine before her bringing the small morsel to her lips. Catching a drop, she lets out a blissful sigh of relief. Finally, they found oil.

"I'm sorry, but I need to kill you. Please don't struggle too much! Seeing you hurt like this is already hard enough..."

This intimidating drone towers over the woman, yet she sounds so sad. Like she's on the verge of tears. It's confusing at first, but all the more haunting as she's poised to strike. The woman looks to her friends for help, only to find they've already left her behind. The worker drone lady braces for impact, but that's when her would-be killer sees what she's clutching in her arms. It's a small oval shaped object, but when a small screen on it flickers to life, the realization is shocking. She's holding a baby. The final blow never comes.

"You're... a mother?"

That split second of hesitation is enough for the woman to grab a nearby rock and throw it at her attacker's face. With a smack, the taller drone clutches her forehead as the smaller worker scurries away.

"Stay away from him, monster!"

Pulling her hand away, there's a small crack in the drone's visor as she scrambles to recover.

"No, wait!"

Turning her nose up with a haughty huff, the lady slams the door of the building she ran to behind her. A click can be heard as it's locked, leaving her assailant in the cold. The disassembly drone pounds on the door, but it'll take more than just her strength to bust it down. She leans into the door with her forehead, defeated. With a groan, she runs a hand through her bangs and down her braid, brushing it over to rest on her shoulder.

"Not again!"

She angrily shouts into the rising breeze, nervously pacing back to where the worker drone attacked her. She pitifully kicks the rock that was thrown at her and has a tantrum.

"I'm so sick of this! I just wanna go home!"

Her anger turns into sadness, as she curls up into a little ball on the ground. She tucks herself into her big, puffy coat in the fetal position. She sobs dramatically into her coat sleeves when a voice cuts through the quiet.

"P! Are you okay?!"

She can hear another pair of feet crunching in the snow behind her, causing her to curl even further into a ball. Only her tail and wings are visible, the latter wrapped around her body like a protective cage. N's coming to check on her, and P's not ready to suffer the shame of it.

"Don't look at me! I'm hideous! A terrible, good for nothing bucket of bolts!"

A shadow falls over her as N kneels in front of her, no doubt determined to break P out of her hormonal funk.