Murder Drones : Born From Ashes REDUX

The Circus at the End of the World: Part 2

--

 Nermel forgot something as he traded out his patrol cap in favor of a Jungle M1 helmet. It fit snugly as he clicked the straps on. It was slightly harder to see, as it went down to his visor, which was good now that he thought about it.

"Hey! N-boy!" Nermel jolted as she said that. He turned around to see Uziel wearing his trophies, the yellow armband and a black trench coat. She gave him a smug grin as her right arm violently jerked up again. This time it was on purpose, she locked her knees together and straightened her stance with the arm.

"Sieg Hai-!" Nermel covered her as a group of children ran right past them into the photo booth.

"Don't let them see you!" He hissed.

"Why not? Everyone deserves to be told the truth, you know?" She looked right into his eyes as she said this.

"No- its not what you think, ok?"

"What is it?" Uzi tapped her chin as she crafted a story, "I know! You killed one of those disassembly drones, didn't you?"

"Yeah!" Nermel said, remembering his own history, "Listen, I felt something when I killed one, so I wanted to keep it as a reminder."

"How did it feel?" Uzi asked. Nermel held his breath.

Serial Designation L...

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh? Did it make you feel good?"

Nermel was desperate to move on from this subject, he wanted those items back, he wanted to do anything to make Uziel stop forcing him to look at it.

"Yeah, whatever-"

"Hey! Let's take a picture with these!"

"O-okay!" He said, anything to keep being happy.

--

The two strolled out the booth, having put away their costumes while Nermel put his trophies back into his bag. Uzi caught the photo strip as it churned from it's slot. Something odd washed over her now that she looked at herself in that photo. She felt so uncomfortable, but the photographed version of her felt so warm and safe that it passed onto her. It felt right, but wrong at the same time. Did she want to become a Murder Drone? Those Doll Bitches that she would soon be able to crush and destroy with her righteous fury? No, of course not, she would stay here, the rage made her feel something she had never experienced before, she felt more alive now than ever.

--

They go to a movie theatre. The screen play for Aliens(1986) was meant to be here.

She saw how the marines were united with the whole world as one. The xenos, their weapons, the company that brought them these tools of war and their death warrant. It was so electrifying, so comforting, and it made her feel something for the first time in forever. The screams of her mother came from the screen accompanied by shrieks of extraterrestrial predators and cracking of techno fetishism, it lit her capacitors beyond their limits.

The embrace of Radiant heat.

It filled her with happiness, a willingness to partake in the program that was The Long Pause. She wanted comfort, and this was where she would find it and make it hers.

Uziel looked to her fellow units, each one blindly embraced by this same ecstasy.

Her mother was a hero.

–

N began to overheat and ran off. Uziel looked away from the film and followed Nermel closely. He saw him inside the club as he followed someone who was staggering out into the backdoor exit.

at this point uzi follows N through the district to a night club.

–

N ripped the drones throat out with his teeth, gobbling the flesh into his stomach. His head goes back in a second time to start lapping at the oil spewing from his neck.

"Hello, N." Nermel said with a pang of disgust. N looked up from his crouched form and scrambled to hide his act from him. Nermel rolled his eyes. He didn't know how two people born the exact year could act so differently.

"I-is noone-"

"N, somethings wrong with Uzi."

"Wh-what do you mean? She's happy, that's all that matters right?"

"I'm not going to babysit her all day." He pauses, "Why do you of all people care about the well-being of this girl? You can just admit you love her, I'm only friends with her anyways."

N started blubbering about a series of excuses, which made Nermel stare off into space. He climbed over a crate and hopped over a fence wondering why the architecture of this complex was eerily similar to JC Jensen's brutality architecture- which the master told him about, he remembered that just now.

"But you're so happy with her! Right? I mean, you should be thanking me! I gave you a new life!"

"My life long goal was to kill your kind. Friends are great, but they won't define who I am as a person."

"B-but, you need me. You couldn't have gotten this far without me. You're just a drone!"

Nermel hated to admit it, but he was right. Luc- L was his first and only MD kill. N had been helping him get closer to the battle, but he for some reason could never get close to any of the MDs. But at the same time he wondered why N, manager of Dante company would want this of all things. N owed him, he did kill his parents and ended the world after all. But his instincts warned him there were ulterior motives, which he could not discern yet. Being turned into one of his comfort pets was not one of them.

"Uziel's infected." he said

"Wh-what?" N said, visor showing the expression of horror.

"She's showing the signs. Deep infatuation towards violence. Drifting in personality. Body atrophy, she's hiding it through replacing parts of her body."

"But Uziel has always been like that!"

"Why don't you go over to her and see for yourself? Maybe you can help her. I sure as hell can't."

The door slammed open.

Nermel saluted him with a smirk and retreated into the deep recesses of the dark.

–

Describe the scene of the club. It's nostalgic, reminiscent of the old human society that gave them the gift of these buildings and systems that be. This used to be a recreational facility, where the low-grade Jensen workers could live the fantasy of being respected, powerful, and comfortable. Everything here was once automated by Worker Drones specifically made to fill jobs of what humans would do. The live band group is done by Worker Drones who are welded to spots onto the stage, the bartender is moved across a rail system, never to leave his post.

The more visceral imagery has been removed, the caravaneers that work here are able to move freely, though it is as though navigating their place of work is built into their routines, as if those old Worker Drones who were imprisoned here never left.

There is a warmth, from the hateful cold of the outside war, but it will never be the same bio-organic life form-based heat that was here before.  A group of Worker Drones whose limbs are specialized to play their instruments place their feet and instruments where the predecessors once stood. The lead singer is Reese, a drone wearing an old-world red dress sewn specifically for her body. 

"N-boy."

N held back a scream, not even able to wipe the oil from his mouth. Uzi dragged the boy back into the synthetic colored lights. Music fills their ears, as N watched her become possessed by a force corrupting the minds of every drone there.

"Be quiet, don't speak. We don't have to say a word about it. When I first saw your kind, I realized how weak I was, but today, I've come to accept they are the strong and I'm meant to be killed, without meaning. But with you. I can be someone, I can be happy with you."

"Midnight, at the rendezvous" the Entertainer Drone sang. The poly saccharine voice became horrifying at the utterance of those lyrics. He wanted to run away so badly.