A State Trooper, In An Eternal Winter, Surrounded By Drones

Chapter 21 - I Was...

Micheal POV

I downed my third cup of oil for the morning, as my shift drew to a close, mostly slow with nothing of interest. There was a drone who was having an argument with his neighbor, a drone who's phone wouldn't stop calling the police, which turned out to be the son continuously messing with the wiring, and two times to a grocery store, where the first time it was about a karen drone being difficult, the second time being a battery in progress. It wouldn't have taken an idiot to figure out who the assailant was. I double-checked my internal clock, seeing the clock now read 21:00. Night shift starts, day shift goes home. I started the patrol car, grabbing the radio. "This is Unit 4, I'm clocking in for tonight, over." "Copy that Unit 4, good work tonight." I drove the short distance from the roadside to the parking lot, pulling in front of the building.

I grabbed my patrol-issue shock spear, along with the EMP shotgun. I walked into the apartment building and up the stairs, the two semi-lethal weapons holstered on my back. I waved at Doll who was talking with her friend Lizzy, who just rolled her eyes. I opened the door to my apartment, finding V and J still up, while N was presumably asleep in his room. "What're you guys still doing up? It's way past dusk." The two appeared to be in conversation, at least until I walked through the door. "Nothing, just talking." I was about to reach for the fridge, when I saw a hunk of melted aluminum on the counter. "Figured you'd be hungry, so we threw something together for you."

??? POV

I observed the little shit as he casually scrolled on his phone. How dare he spread such rumors. He would pay. "Hey Thad?" "Yeah?" His mother walked through the door, and I readied my solver. "Did you ever find the-" I used my solver to pick her up by the neck, and slowly raised her up, and I could hear 'gasp.mp3' files leaving her voice box. I crushed her head, seeing him look on in terror. 'Вот что вы получаете.' "Dad! Call the police!" His father rushed into his room, and I smirked. 'Это справедливость, мелочь.'

[TRANSLATION: "That's what you get." "It's justice, a trifle."]

Micheal POV

I smiled warmly. It wasn't that bad in all honesty. "Not bad you two-" "Unit 4 emergency traffic, please respond to a report of domestic disturbance, 412 Main Street, thirteenth floor, apartment 3, over." I sighed, running 'agitated.jpg.' "Copy that Dispatch, enroute." I ran out the door, using my solver to grab my EMP shotgun, running out into the hall and up the stairs. I stopped at the door, hearing silence. "Police! Open up!" I heard more police sirens approaching, but no movement inside. My hand flipped up, a small piston deploying from inside my arm. The metal door dented inwards, and I kicked it to the floor, where I saw Thad on his back, his visor frozen on 'horror.jpg.' "Don't move!" I advanced forward into the apartment, more police drones showing up behind me. "Living room has one victim." "Kitchen clear!"

I stepped in front of Thad, where his gaze lay, and my optical display widened too. Two drones, presumably his parents, were on the floor, a considerable amount of oil coating the floor. "Got two casualties here!" "EMTs coming through!" I made way for the two drones, and they began working, and I stepped back, looking at Thad. "You ok?" "T-That...thing it...it killed them." "What did?" I used my solver to grab a blanket, and tried to give it to him, but he recoiled. "That! That exact thing! It appeared around them! And they-" He gave me a look of wild terror. "You killed them! He did!" "What?!" I suddenly had weapons trained on me, and I was so shocked that my solver glitched and disappeared, the blanket falling in a heap to the floor.

"That's ridiculous! I-" "I knew we couldn't trust him! He was a human after all!" "Shoulda known better." I looked around, incredulous at the drone's ability to turn on me so quickly. "Guys, be reasonable, you al know..I...never would've-" My voice glitched, and my visor was glitching terribly. "What's happening to me?!"

Uzi POV

I could sense a disturbance, and I quickly stood up, my dad looking up from dinner. "Something wrong?" "I have to go." I stepped out of the apartment and into the hallway, hearing shouting from down the corridor. "Police!" "Don't move!" I heard shouts from Thad's apartment, and I saw Doll peeking in. "What's going on?" I whispered, and she jumped, no doubt surprised. "Я, понятия не имею, я только что приехал." "No shit..." I peered in, seeing Micheal looking horrified. "Got two casualties here!" My heart sank. What in robo-God's name happened?! Two EMTs rushed past and into a room out of view, and I saw Micheal use his solver to bring a blanket, and Thad scuttled back, and I heard some shouting. "You killed them! He did!" "What?!"

[TRANSLATION: "I have no idea, I just arrived."]

There was a commotion, and suddenly all the other officers had their weapons trained on him. "That's ridiculous! I-" "I knew we couldn't trust him! He was a human after all!" "Shoulda known better." I could see the shock and confusion of the situation. "Guys, be reasonable, you al know..I...never would've-" His voice suddenly began to glitch, and I raised a digital eyebrow. His visor suddenly began to glitch to yellow, and then back to green. ""What's happening to me?!" I could hear the terror in his glitching voice, it was real, and pure.

Micheal POV

My limbs took control of themselves and deployed my rifle and sidearm, rapidly incapacitating the officers, much to my own horror. There were screams of agony and terror as gunfire sounded off, and I suddenly froze, the consciousness of my limbs being returned to me. My visor was glitched badly, and I could see several warning flashing in my peripheral vision. I looked at my hands, then at the writhing drones on the floor, and I saw Thad looking at me like he'd never seen me before. "I-I didn't mean-" I felt my CPU burn again, and I took a step back, before full-on sprinting out into the hallway, nearly running into Doll and Uzi.

"S-Stay back! I...I don't w-wanna hurt anyone else..." I slowly backed away, before busting through the glass and soaring down into the parking lot, where reinforcements were arriving. "There he is! Open fire!" I dove into my patrol car as my visor glitched between green and yellow, and I slammed the gas pedal down, rapidly reversing out into the streets and away as bullets pinged the glass. I turned away from the home, towards the exit. "I have to get out of here...before anyone else gets hurt..."