There was a time when Uzi thought taking a life would be no big deal. Yes, having to go full serial killer just to survive would definitely suck, and mass murder would be on a whole different level. But taking one person out, like an enemy who left her no choice, or even some clown who got what they were asking for back home? Surely she wouldn't lose a single night of sleep.
Now she wondered if she would ever sleep again. Because even though she hadn't recorded it, thankfully, that didn't seem to matter in the least.
She could still see it. The shield rocketing forward after her desperate push to overpower Carla met no resistance. Every little mangled part flying through the air as Carla's internal components became external ones. The abject horror on Chris' face as he held the dying core of someone he once called a friend.
She could still hear it. The sound of a drone being...shattered. And the screams. Carla's wail of utter agony as the Solver started its hostile takeover. Chris' gut-wrenching howl as his self-sacrificial mission claimed a life that wasn't his own. Her own horrified shriek as the reality of what she had done crashed over her.
"Uzi."
Her life played out so much like a video game, complete with side quests, cool companions and boss fights. So where was the pause menu so she could load a save?
"Uzi?"
Where was the console command to bring back a dead NPC? Where was the resurrection spell? Where was the button to undo her fuck-up and let her try again?!
"Uzi!"
The girl tried to jerk away from the hands grabbing her shoulders, only for the back of her head to crack painfully against the wall behind her. But the shock of pain brought clarity, allowing her to register Chris' concerned and anxious expression.
"We have to move, Uzi," the male drone said. "There's no way something didn't hear all of...that. Probably several 'somethings'. You're gonna need this," Chris reached down to pick up Uzi's sword and put it in her lap, "and..." he trailed off, visibly cringing as he looked at something on the floor to his right.
Uzi knew what it was and had no desire to lay eyes on it ever again, but she followed his gaze like someone had physically grabbed her head and turned it. The mewling whine she let out upon seeing the murder weapon would be yet another sound burned into her memory.
It was clear Chris had tried to clean the shield off, but it was literal oil; there was only so much the filthy sleeve of a twenty-year-old security guard outfit could do.
The pragmatist in her told Uzi to stop being a baby and take the shield. She was a veteran scavenger! She had pried weapons and tools out of the cold, dead hands of fallen drones. Carelessly tossed severed limbs, heads and whole bodies aside to get to what she wanted. She hung out in the freakin' CORPSE SPIRE like it was a clubhouse! This should have been nothing!
But then those dead bodies had never been anything more than dead bodies to her. This was different. Uzi was different. And when this was all over, and she was safe in the confines of her room, she would cry and scream and curse until her compressor malfunctioned.
Until then, survival was the name of the game. So she took her weapons in shaking hands, stood up on quaking legs, and released a shuddering breath.
"I...I didn't mean to-"
"I know," Chris interrupted with a deep scowl. "I knew that Carla spent most of any given day in her old apartment. I knew this route back to the colony was the same one she used. I knew that it wouldn't end well if she saw you. I knew all that, but I was too excited. Too in my own head to think about it or say anything. All you did was defend yourself. This is on me, and we're not gonna talk about it anymore."
