FEAR / / / A NEW PROBLEM.

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(A/N: Ain't no fucking way

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(A/N: Ain't no fucking way... I'm honestly flabbergasted I got placed this high in oil of all things. I am actually very very very very very grateful for this. YIPEEE!!!)

V and J finished refueling and cautiously began their flight back to base, both on edge, worried that the creature might ambush them again at any moment.

Midway through their flight, they spotted something alarming. The machine was walking out of one of the better-preserved office buildings. There was something new about it, something they hadn't seen before-it had a new arm.

This new arm was golden and ended in a syringe, eerily similar to the ones on their tails. It even had nanite acid inside it. V and J immediately landed on a nearby building, watching it carefully from a safe distance.

"That looks an awful lot like our tails..." V muttered, glancing over at J. Then she noticed something horrifying-K's tail was missing. Panic set in as she quickly inspected herself. Her own tail was gone too.

"T-that thing stole our tails!" V suddenly screamed, her voice laced with shock and fear. J quickly looked at herself and then at V. It was true-neither of their tails was anywhere to be seen.

"How did we not notice?" J wondered aloud, but the answer soon became clear in her mind. They'd been so focused on survival that they hadn't realized the machine had taken something vital from them.

"Calm down. They'll grow back..." J tried to reassure V, though her own uncertainty was evident. She glanced at the small stump of her tail, which had just barely started to regenerate. "... Eventually."

Determined not to waste any more time, J gathered her courage and flew into the office building, peeking out briefly to signal V to follow her.

V hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly joined her. Inside, J's attention was drawn to the Terminal.

"If this thing really can produce weapons like N said, then maybe this relic from the 80s could be the key to killing that blue fucker," J speculated aloud.

She tried to lift the Terminal but could only manage to raise one side. Noticing her struggle, V stepped in to help. Together, they barely managed to hoist it up and carry it out of the building. They took off into the air, though their flight was considerably slower due to the weight of the Terminal.

After some effort, they finally arrived back at the spire. The events that unfolded with N and Uzi had already transpired, leaving N deep in thought as he contemplated what had happened.

Once they arrived, they dropped the Terminal, glad and relived to be finally free of that weight. However, the Terminal hit the ground a little bit too hard, the impact probably disconnecting something as the Terminal displayed a message.

WEAPON DATA CURRUPTED
REPAIES NEEDED
CONTACT [inset phone number here]

However, they did not seem to notice, as they focused on N, who they knew would be here because he would be to scared to go anywhere else. "Hey, they're back! You-" N cut himself off abruptly when he realized the drone he had been talking to just moments ago was gone. She had vanished without a trace, leaving him standing there, confused. Before he could even process what had happened, the sharp, familiar voice of J snapped him out of it.

"Idiot! Get out here!"

N scrambled to climb out of the pod, only to be met with J's piercing glare the moment he emerged. Her expression was enough to make him tense up. Before he could even respond, V dropped down through one of the many holes in the ceiling, landing with a dramatic thud. N noticed right away that her nanite injector tail was missing, but as usual, V didn't seem the least bit fazed.

"Yo! There's a worker out there I kinda want to practice balloon animal shapes with... What's the deal here?" V asked casually, as if dismembering workers was just a normal part of the day-which, for her, it kind of was.

"Well, Captain Synergistic Liability over here must've tripped over his own feet and shut himself offline." J rolled her eyes as she explained, clearly irritated. Without missing a beat, she slapped N hard across the face, sending him into a sudden rebooting sequence.

"Moron bot, hello?" J snapped her fingers in front of his face impatiently, trying to jolt him back to reality.

N finally finished rebooting, his sensors recalibrating as he blinked in confusion. He quickly ran back through the footage in his memory, piecing together what had just happened. His eyes widened in horror as he realized the drone he had been talking to wasn't a disassembly drone at all-it was a worker! He had completely misjudged the situation.

"Ohhhh no! I-I think I may have... uh... left an extremely dangerous weap-excuse-outside!" N stammered in a panic, the realization hitting him like a ton of bricks. Without another word, he launched himself into the air, flying off in a mad rush.

As he disappeared into the distance, J's face twisted into a mask of pure frustration. "I swear, if he gets any dumber, I'll need a new processor just to deal with it," she muttered under her breath. Meanwhile, V transformed one of her hands into a flag that humorously read, "Literally So Insanely Suspicious," waving it sarcastically as she watched N's chaotic departure.

Meanwhile, Uzi was running as fast as her servos would allow. Every part of her was screaming with panic as she bolted through the snow, her thoughts racing faster than her legs.

"Stupid rebellious teen urges! This was the worst idea I've ever had!" she mentally berated herself, her internal voice dripping with regret. In hindsight, yeah, this whole plan had been utterly insane. There was no denying that now.

Her only focus was getting back behind the colony's protective doors. If she could just make it inside, she'd be safe-or at least, safer than out here. The entrance to the tunnel leading back to the colony came into view, looming in the distance. She was getting closer-just a little farther, and she'd be home free. Maybe she'd even gotten lucky and managed to escape detection.

Then came the sound she dreaded most: a loud crash behind her.

Uzi didn't dare look back. Instead, she forced her legs to move even faster, pushing herself to her absolute limit. The only thought pounding through her mind was simple, primal:

"Must run faster! Run fucking faster!"

N was flying at full speed, gunning it straight for the fleeing drone. The last thing he needed was to screw this up and look like an even bigger fool in front of J and V. His sensors quickly locked onto Uzi-her purple hair stood out starkly against the snowy landscape, making her an easy target.

He had plenty of options. With a single, well-aimed shot from any of his ranged weapons, he could take her down. Just one blast and she'd be erased from existence. But something in N hesitated. If she was running back toward the colony, then maybe-just maybe-this could turn into a bigger opportunity.

"If she leads me back to the colony, that's an opening. A chance to wipe out a whole bunch of workers in one go," N thought, his tactical side kicking in for once.

He grinned to himself, deciding to let Uzi run a little longer. He'd catch her soon enough. And when he did, he wouldn't just take down one worker. He'd take them all.

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