0x6
Uzi wakes up wrapped in N’s embrace. She’d had a terrible nightmare. Or maybe the nightmare was real, and N was just a dream she’d wake from. She holds on tight with both of her hands. She’d missed this, and she needed to treasure it while she could.
And it didn’t go away.
“N? You’re real? How did I get here?”
He explains that Uzi had staggered in late one night, covered in delicious-smelling oil. “You took way longer than I thought you would. I was really, really worried. I started to think… no, it’s stupid.”
“It’s not stupid if it’s you. Tell me.”
“I thought maybe nothing happened. And I’d just be waiting forever. Because you…” N rolled over, his head head in his arms. “Sorry. I’m…”
“Dude, did you think I’d ghost you?”
“You might’ve realized I’m useless and — ow!”
It was a light flick betweent the eyes. Uzi frowned, and said, “Don’t talk about N like that.”
“Whenever something happens, whenever you’re in danger, I can’t do anything. You keep getting hurt and it’s my fault. If I never do anything, what do you call that but usel—”
“Shush.” Uzi puts a finger to his lips. “Look. It doesn’t matter who saves me from dying, because I know who saves me from wanting to d— wanting to give up. If I didn’t have you there to make things… fun, I couldn’t do any of this. It’s… it was kind of scary, you know?”
“Yeah. But not when I’m with you, somehow.”
“I admit, I was kind of fed up with you when I left. But every step away from you, I just wanted to turn around and come back. It felt like I had forgotten to pack something. I kept thinking of you. I kept missing you.”
Uzi snuggles closer and closer and then kissed him. He said, “Thanks. I… I missed you so much. There was nothing without you.”
“Yeah… it must’ve been worse for you. At least I could go places. You stayed locked in the basement the whole time, didn’t you?”
“Eh, that part wasn’t so bad. If I didn’t have to stay in the basement… what else would I have done? I dunno.”
“Kill things?”
“Yeah, I’m glad I don’t have to do that all the time. Thanks for showing me.”
“Um… I think you do have to do it still. Cuz. Y’know. Vampire thirst for lifeblood thing?”
“Right. Yeah. I just mean, no more grinding quotas. And I’m not exactly looking forward to the little bit of hunting that’s necessary. Maybe we can find oil somewhere else? The squad had a bunch of emergency caches around the sector…”
“Eh, it’s not so bad.”
“What?”
“I mean. If a guy is waving a gun in my face demanding everything I have on me, he’s getting what he’s asking for, right? Should I have to feel bad about that? Like, killing innocents is bad, definitely. But would you feel bad hunting the workers that tortured us?”
“Uzi, you’re… what happened out there?”
“I… don’t want to talk about Outpost-11. I — can’t.”
“Fair, I respect that. Still, did you find what you were looking for, at least? I see you got your hand fixed.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I found another lead.”
“Another? I thought we were leaving after this one.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not anywhere near the spire. It’s farther out, actually.”
“Ooh!”
The speed N leaves the basement with would leave you thinking his life was on the line. After so many days cooped up in the faraday cage, the need to spread his wings is boiling off him.
His eagerness is great enough he’s in the sky before Uzi has a chance to catch up or climb on. He flies some loops through the sky before crashing back down and letting her throw her arms around him. Then they’re off, Uzi vocalizing the coordinates.
Along the way, Uzi explains that she’d pieced together that Nori had been a part of some human lab and escaped after the core collapse. There were other escapees, like Doll’s mom or the weird mutant core in that basement.
Or the woman they’re looking for.
The coordinates take them past the city limits, the wilds beyond even the suburban sprawl. There’s a cathedral in the mountains, all intricately chiseled stone and a mosaic of stained glass. They’d seen churches in the city, and parking lots fanned around them all — here, though, the grounds around it are pockmarked with graves.
They crash into the cobbled stone, and the sound that greets them is synthetic barking. A robot dog bounds out from the open gates of the cathedral and runs up to them, yapping and leaping.
Next comes a rugged male drone holding a huge shotgun. He peers at them, tense. “Y’all trouble?”
Uzi’s answer is, “You want some?”
N’s answer is, “No, sir.”
The drone chuckled. “Would’ve lost a bet on the murder drone bein the well-behaved one. Youse seem alright. Welcome, what brings you here?”
“…Just like that?” Usually people take more convincing that N isn’t going to murder them.
Even as Uzi says that, N is on the ground, the robodog having knocked him over and licking his face. He’s laughing and the dog’s wagging a cord-tail.
“I’ve got eyes, is all. Be honest with me girl. One of you does the killing, yeah? Need me to guess which?”
Uzi crosses her arms and looks away.
“Thought so. Can see it on ya clear as day.”
“Bite me. You heard of a woman named Agni?”
“Course I have, that’s mah wife! Agni! You expectin guests?”
A silky voice comes from somewhere unseen. “No, but I can only be so surprised to see that shade of purple again.”
Uzi jolts, and looks around. It’s not from somewhere unseen: high above, a drone with raven black hair leans against a cathedral balcony.
“Tell her to come in. She didn’t come all this way for pleasantries. Get the vintage oil from the cellars, dear.”
Uzi’s footsteps echo in the vacant acoustics of the cathedral. She wanders around until she hears the deep, smooth voice of Agni guiding her to a small room. A table with oil in two wine glasses, and two finely-cushioned chairs. Surrounding them, on every wall, shelves of books.
Agni wears a revealing gothic lace dress, elbow length gloves and heeled boots. Lips black with lipstick smile at her.
“Why do you have oil? Dine with murder drones often?”
“Oh, you know why dear. Is that the question you came all this way to ask?”
“No, I came to ask about my mom. Was she cool? She didn’t suck, did she? What did the humans do to her?” And why doesn’t Uzi feel normal?
Agni starts explaining. How the humans had loved Nori. How the humans had hated Nori. She was the fruition of all their research. She tore them apart from the inside.
“I don’t care what the humans thought. What about other drones? What about you?”
Agni smiles. “Nori was the devil herself. You want to know what the humans did? They wanted to use us as vessels, or objects of transmutation, or perhaps sacrifices. There was something else out there, down there. It wasn’t human. The humans wanted to study it. It wanted things. Maybe everything. Perhaps Nori thought ’twas better to serve it than the humans.”
“Was she right?”
“Who can say? Look it how it turned out for her, and ask yourself if you want to follow in her footsteps.”
Agni downs the glass of oil, then all asudden throws it fast like an arrow at Uzi. Uzi catches it with her telekinesis, that alien glyph in her eyes.
“You’ve been using that program a lot, haven’t you?”
“I need to, clearly. It’s hella useful.”
“It seems to offer a great deal, I’m sure.”
“You’re going to tell me to stop, aren’t you?”
“No, simply to ask yourself if this is the path you want to follow. Before you play the cards you’re dealt, first wonder who’s dealing your hand. When it’s the devil’s own game, you’ve lost before you start playing.”
Then Uzi throws her glass at the drone. It shatters across her visor and the falls to the ground; Agni’s knocked back and rubs her screen.
“You gave it up, didn’t you? You just retired out to a shack in the middle of nowhere. No answers, no power—”
“No tragic ending.”
“No point. It sure seems like a tragedy to me.”
Agni shrugs, bending down to sweep up the glass shards.
“One last question. My mom was subject oh two. Who was oh one?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Who would? Where do I go next?”
“Do you need me to tell you? There’s only one place you’re going to find your answers.”
Uzi rolls her eyes. “Well, this was a waste of time!” She storms out of the room even as Agni gives a pleasant goodbye. “Let’s go, N.”
“Leaving already?”
“I promised we’d run away after this, right?”
“Ooh. But… couldn’t we stay here?”
“This might be a church, but it’s not a charity, is it?” The husband grunts an affirmative. More than that, Uzi hates the idea of being indebted to the pair. “We can take care of everything ourselves. It won’t even be hard! C’mon.”
“Bye Agni, bye Jorg.”
“They seemed nice, didn’t they?”
Uzi thought they were wasting their lives. “I guess.”
The night is still young, but at a little past midnight, Uzi calls for them to land. They’re at the outskirts of the city already, and it’s not like they’re going anywhere, so might as well relax, right? She got to take some books from Agni’s shelves, so how about they crack one open and she’ll read to him?
They cuddle up and that’s how the morning passes, till N gets sleepy and they snuggle together and their processors slow in the dark.
But then she hears N’s voice, a quiet whisper.
“Hey Uzi? Do you… still like me?”
Uzi rouses enough to say, “That’s a dumb question.”
“It’s hard to tell sometimes. You can be… opaque.”
“Well, I stick around you for a reason.”
“Yeah but, I don’t know if that’s because you have to. You need me, or you think I’ll… I don’t like pushing, but it’d help a lot to hear it, you know?”
Uzi sighs, fighting a smile or laugh. “Yes, you cute, weird little goober,” she says. She pauses, then adds, “I’ve. I’ve never had a relationship like this before. Sorry if I mess things up sometimes, I just…”
“Hey, it’s alright. I’m here. No matter what, I’m here. Always.”
Uzi snuggles in closer, squeezing against N’s warmth. Her voice makes weird sounds when she tries to open her mouth, it’s embarrassing, and she doesn’t know what her visor is doing. When she finally makes words, they’re, “I kinda want to say something cheesy like I love you. But… Do I? Is that the word? You’re so important, and I need you, and I couldn’t do this without you and yet. I dunno what to compare it to. Or how to know for sure.”
“It sure sounds like what people in love say.”
“Other people… My dad sounded like he was in love with my mom. That’s what everyone says. He’ll say it. And he beat her to death with his own wrench. I don’t know if it’s worse if that means he loved her, or never did. They were together for years. Longer than us. Did they ever figure it out?” It’s not a second of silence before Uzi is saying, “God. I’m sorry for killing the mood.”
Uzi pulls away, but N reaches out, seeking. For a moment only response is holding her, stroking her hair, kissing her. “I mean, it’s pretty heavy, but you’re good. I don’t know your folks, but maybe she… No, I shouldn’t.”
“Saaay it. I won’t be mad. It’s you.”
“Maybe she was okay with it? Or needed him to? If she let him, wouldn’t she have understood?”
“There had to have been another way, something else he could have done. It’s too cruel.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I get ya.”
“I hate him. How are we related? How could my mom… But she has to be like me. Otherwise I’m like him.”
“Hey. Look at me. You know what I think? You’re like Uzi, and there’s no one else like you. No one else could have built your railgun or infiltrated our base or showed me another way. I… I’m not sure about love either. But you make me feel so special. I like that. I like you.”
Then, as the sun floods the world outside with incinerating light, the two of them just melted into each other’s embrace.
Uzi was safe, cared for, understood.
And yet.
And yet. Why did it feel like something in Uzi couldn’t unclench, no matter how much he relaxed her? She should say something, but she couldn’t, wouldn’t. What should she even say? That somehow, something was still wrong? With her, with him, with this, with everything? Maybe she’s being silly. It’ll go away, or she’s blowing up something small.
She enjoyed his touch, she knew that much. She enjoyed him. He was worth anything.
In the morning, Uzi wants to head out on her own. You see, while in Outpost-11, Uzi had come up with a way to deal with the J issue. His old leader had tracked them by N’s EM signature. So what if they spoofed the emissions of a disassembler? Uzi could create special jammers that fool J into checking the totally wrong places.
Unfortunately, the jammer design she came up with takes some time to get set up, and since it’s supposed to hide N, it’ll work best of he’s not nearby when she’s tuning it. So… Uzi’ll take a long walk, find somewhere to get the device setup, and come back when it’s done.
“Sound good?”
N, of course, goes sure.
So Uzi leaves, and a few hours later, she’s back. She flashes him a thumbs up, and tells him let’s go. “Farther we get from the jammer, the better.”
“Is the jammer like that transmitter you made back then?” N asks. “I wonder what happened to that kid you helped. I know you don’t want to talk about 11, but did you find them there?”
“Who? What are you talking about, N?”
“Oh, I— Nevermind.”
Uzi shrugs and climbs on his back. It’s a short flight, then Uzi is poking N to land again. “You’re getting hot.”
“What? No, I’m fine.”
“Dude, I can feel you. You’re overheating. Let’s find you something to cool off with.”
They continue on foot. There’s snow on the ground, and a long, aimless flight would just burn more oil. They walk through a silent, empty landscape, and Uzi presses closer to N in the vastness. Wordlessly, they angle toward the city, since drones would be more concentrated there. This far away, you can’t quite see the spire unless you look.
A big river separates them from the mainland — when they cross the bridge, Uzi’s the first one to feel something’s off, and she unholsters a gun. (Not her railgun; a pistol that could fire more than one shot per engagement).
When the drones open their mouths, she already has them pegged as bandits. The one who speaks, the leader no doubt, is a smooth talker. He’s explaining how it takes a lot of work maintaining this bridge, and keeping travelers safe from those who’d do them harm.
“Surely all that work deserves some manner of recompense?”
Uzi smirks. “How does time to back off and run away sound?”
“Don’t get too big for your bolts, girl.”
“I’m glad you’re too stupid to live, honestly. My boyfriend is thirsty.”
That’s enough to get some glances throne backward at the white haired drone rubbing the back of his head and looking around awkwardly.
“You think we’re scared of your buddy walking on sticks? Can’t fool us into thinking he’s a murder drone. You’re gonna need a better bluff if you wanna get out of paying your fair share.”
All the warning they get is Uzi saying, “Oh no, he’s not the one you should be afraid of.”
Then Uzi is all forward motion and alien light, a cross in one of her eyes. Bullets are firing, weapons are stolen from her enemies’ hands. Then it’s limbs ripped from sockets, screams ripped from throats, lives ripped from circuits.
Before N even thinks to prove his authenticity as a murder drone — transforming hand into a rifle — Uzi stands victorious over a bridge with half a dozen downed bandits. She points her pistol at a drone’s head, applies force to the trigger.
Then N clears his throat. “Uh, Uzi? Are you sure this is, uh, morality? It seems like they were just trying to survive. I think we’ve proved they can’t stop us from crossing, yeah?”
Uzi turned to see N staring at her, brow furrowed, eyes empty, underlined with so much concern and conflict. It was an expression she’d never seen from him, not when looking at her. It was like he didn’t recognize her. Like he was scared.
“We’re past negotiations. They picked this. Besides, the whole reason we’re down here is to find oil. Here’s a fresh supply.”
“I’m, uh, not that hot, really, I promise.”
“N, you need this. Don’t starve yourself because what? You think—”
“I just don’t want to have to live off of murder.”
“You need to keep your reserves up or J’s going to sense you.”
N looks around at the bandits. “Do we even need to worry about J, if you can do all this? I think… we might beat her now, if we work together.”
Uzi hums. “Won’t she just regenerate? Like you did?”
“We don’t have to kill her. When she sees how scary you are, she’ll have to listen to you! You could take her place, be a leader like her.”
“Yeah. Yeah, we could do that. Not even murder drones can stand up to me!” Then she catches onto a small part of N’s wording. “Better than her, right? I’d take her place but I wouldn’t be like her.”
“Huh? Oh yeah. You’re way better than her.”
“Just checking. Let’s go.”