Don't Teach Kids Murder

The Plot

"I can't believe it's only been a week," Addie says, admiring the sleek, geometrical shape of the stun gun laid out in the blueprints.

"Well, I can," Nora retorts, slapping Addie's hand away to get a better view. "It doesn't take that long to make a technical sketch. I'm surprised we needed a whole week. A whole week. Seriously, we only got assigned three weeks to finish this, the project's due in fourteen days!"

"That's a lot of time to build a stun gun-" Addie starts, but Nora cuts her off. "Only if we have all the materials! Where are we going to find the metal? It's not like there's a huge pile of scrap lying around somewhere! Or the EMP charges? How are we even going to get ahold of those!?"

"Take a breather," Addie reminds her. "Remember, everyone else is doing stuff like a mini wind turbine or simple exoskeleton designs. We've got the most complicated project, and we're the furthest into our plan."

"That still doesn't mean we're going to be able to get-" Nora's eyes widen in realization, and she lets out a long groan of exasperation. "I'm going to have to ask Uzi where she's getting her stuff."

Addie winces. The last time she met Uzi, it did not go well. Mostly a mix of Uzi yelling at Nora about the blueprints - which, inevitably, they forgot to return - and yelling at Addie about being a 'jerk in general' and telling her to 'stop making my little sister an insufferable toaster', which was kind of insulting considering Uzi was the one doing both of those things.

"You're sure we have to ask her? Can't we look around ourselves before... well... engaging in such a dangerous and risky activity?"

Nora snorts a laugh. "Fine. One day. One day to sneak around and hope we stumble upon some secret stash of materials, although I highly doubt we'll find anything."

* * *

It's almost too quiet, the only noise the sound of ice crunching under Addie's shoes. Addie's not really surprised that there isn't anyone on surveillance when she leaves the residential area at 3am. The WDF didn't do anything except run when that Murder Drone broke in five years ago, why would they bother keeping watch when they could do the same thing?

Nora's waiting for her near their engineering classroom, as they agreed. She looks agitated, though, which is definitely not on the radar. "What happened?" Addie asks as soon as she gets close enough to whisper.

"Uzi's going somewhere. Follow me, quick!" Nora hisses, turning on her heel and sprinting down the hallway back towards the residence.

Addie sprints after her, feeling mildly confused, until Nora grabs her collar and drags her into the shadows behind a corner. A shape walks past, purple eyes flashing in the dark. Uzi. Something's hanging from her hand - surprise wells up inside Addie as she realizes it's one of the master door keys. Uzi's going outside? Why would she be- oh-

A huge pile of scrap lying around somewhere.

"That's where she's getting the metal from to make the railgun!" Addie whispers as softly as possible. "The corpse spire!"

Nora's eyes widen briefly before she smacks herself in the forehead. "Classic. I should've known that's why Uzi keeps looking like she's barely charged. Sneaking out at night fits her perfectly. Come on, let's go."

As soon as Uzi disappears around the next corner, the duo walk quietly after her, setting their feet down gingerly. Addie notices something strapped to Uzi's back - a lean, long shape with green triangles flashing reflected light.

"Is that the railgun?"

"Yeah," Nora replies. "She's gotta be looking for the right power source. Uzi can't be looking just for metal, because the frame and internals are already done."