The Illusion of CTRL

Exception To The Rule

If you had told Uzi even an hour ago that she would one day have a favorite human, there's a very good chance she would've shot you. But dammit if Tessa James Elliott made it not only impossible to hate her, but hard to not adore her.

"Alright, N; today's the day!" Tessa said, pumping her fist into the air. Then that fist fell until it was tucked against her chest and she turned back to N with, "...Would you mind if tomorrow was the day?"

"I'm ready when you're ready, Tessa," N chuckled, standing at attention across from her, repaired, though not exactly "factory new", and decked out in a brand new suit.

He looked remarkably out-of-place in the girl's squalid dungeon of a workshop, which he'd specifically been told NOT to clean up.

"I...I want to be ready. I should be ready, but..." Tessa trailed off and started to unconsciously rub at the bruises and scabs on her wrists.

N had clocked them the moment Tessa had shucked her mechanic's jumpsuit that first day, and through him Uzi had seen enough "human cargo" chained up in cartel basements and shipping containers to know exactly what they were. But based on what Uzi was able to put together from what N saw, it wasn't a case of human trafficking. It was a couple of rich assholes who hated having a neurodivergent daughter and thought they could "cure" her with abuse barely disguised as "discipline".

Tessa looked up in the direction of the gigantic mansion she called home, like she could see it through the dirt and reinforced concrete, then turned back to N with an expression that was somehow determined and conflicted all at once.

"N...Today can be the day, but I need you to promise me something."

"...What is it?" N asked gently, but warily.

"I will always be grateful for you saving me, and I will never NOT be glad that you removed that rancid cunt from the world. If anything, I wish it hadn't been so quick for him."

"Dammit, stop making me like you!" Uzi fumed.

"But we can't have anyone knowing that you can violate THE Law of Robotics."

"That won't be a problem," N assured her. "When I said I left all that behind, I meant it. I'm with you now, for as long as you'll have me. What happened in the junkyard...That was a one-off."

Far from being placated, Tessa worried her bottom lip and started rubbing her wrist once more.

"N, if you're with me, you're gonna...see things. Hear things. Things that might make you angry enough to make...exceptions. I need your word that you won't."

'Ah, so she doesn't want N turning her parents into a headline,' Uzi thought.

As much as she felt they would deserve it, she had to admit that she didn't know enough about the whole situation to say that it would make things better for Tessa. Hell, for all Uzi knew the girl's parents were the lesser evil, and she was lucky to have them in some fucked up way.

She didn't know if N was thinking along the same lines, but after a moment of hesitation, he nodded his agreement.

"You have my word, I will not harm them or anyone else."

Uzi could feel the "but" at the end of that statement, and so did Tessa by the look on her face. But whatever misgivings she had were let go with a smile and an enthusiastic clap.

"Right-o, time for the finishing touches!" Tessa skipped to the back of the workshop and proceeded to rummage around in several different piles of junk.

Several minutes later, she skipped up to N with a Worker's hardhat, a tube of glue and a silver wig.

*****