Don't Teach Kids Murder

I'm Not Your Sister

Nora hisses through her teeth, struggling to take steps with Addie's weight on her back. It's not that far to the evacuation area, but with Nora's injuries and the fact she's a bit shorter than average, it's hard to carry someone all the way there.

"Are you awake?" she mumbles tiredly, then mentally slaps herself. Of course she isn't awake, idiot! Addie's literally just had both her arms crushed and mutilated! Would you be awake after that? Nora mulls it over, deciding on a firm no.

The general sounds of chaos and screaming hit Nora's ears just as she turns the corner. It takes a moment for her eyes to process what's happening as flashes of yellow dash around the evacuation area. She squints, noticing a glint of purple. Is that... Uzi? She's alive. How?

Nothing's making sense. A group of Workers is hiding off to the side - Nora can see Thad, Lizzy and Doll from here. There's two Murder Drones fighting in the air, V and another one that she hasn't seen. Why are they fighting each other? Aren't they on the same side? Uzi's pinned under another's foot, and Nora feels panic choke in her throat, but then Uzi grabs the Murder Drone's tail and stabs the needle through their foot. They stumble back, tripping and falling to the floor with a thump.

As she watches, Uzi raises something lit with green. Her railgun. She finished it?

"One more buzzword and I'll do it!" Uzi threatens, pointing the railgun directly at the Murder Drone on the floor in front of her. Nora starts, her eyes narrowing as she recognizes J. Come on, Uzi! Finish it!

Just then, Nora's legs give out under Addie's weight, and she collapses to the floor. Uzi's head snaps up at the sound, distracted, the railgun's barrel swerving as her hand pulls the trigger.

The light seems to dim as the railgun exudes a low rumbling, before a jet of green rockets out the front, blowing through J's side and snapping her head back, her visor going dark. Green light ripples through the air, and Nora feels the literal ground shake under her. Woah. That's good. I'm jealous. Not only is the railgun actually effective, unlike their stun gun design, Nora's pretty sure Uzi's just wiped J off the face of Copper-9 completely.

"Holy hell, Uzi. That was insane! And you, too, uh..." Thad squints, gesturing to the last Murder Drone that apparently isn't feeling very murdery.

The Murder Drone blinks. "Huh? Oh! Uh. N! I'm an angsty, rebellious Disassembly Drone now." Nora internally scoffs. Yeah, right.

Uzi flings the railgun to the side, her eyes wide and panicked as she sprints towards Nora. "What happened? Are you alright? Nora-"

Nora winces, her chest burning with emotion. She let them in. Uzi let the Murder Drones in. "Why did you go out?" Her voice trembles. "I- I told you not to- I thought you were dead-" She stiffens as Uzi wraps her up in a hug. Why- why does she care? She's not supposed to care...

It's suddenly too much. Nora shoves at Uzi's arms, desperate. "Get off me!"

Uzi recoils with a wounded look, but Nora doesn't care about her sister's feelings right now. "You don't get to be nice!" she shouts, her voice raw. "You ignored me! Yelled at me! Put me down for five years! What's wrong with you? Make up your mind! Do you care about me or don't you!?"

Nora remembers being so excited when Uzi confided in her that she was making a railgun to fight the big, bad Murder Drones. She remembers learning mechanics, engineering, everything, straining to help her big sister in her mission. She remembers coming up with half the schematics, laughing with Uzi as they tested it out. She remembers Uzi pushing her away when she decided to go out to look for parts for the first time. Uzi spending less time with her and more time on the railgun. Refusing to share the improvements she'd made. Ignoring her pleas. Ignoring offers of help. And then, finally, ignoring her completely.