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Longform

Hostile Takeover 2024-08-20 Story of two robots trying their best (to kill each other) 194.3k words

For Serial Designation J, it’s lonely being only effective disassembly drone in her sector of Copper-9.

N was already a walking synergistic liability, but V couldn’t be more obviously stressed and maladaptively coping if she tried. When a botched disassembly leaves V a nightmare-riddled wreck, the squad’s effectiveness hits its lowest point. With disassemblers like these, you’d swear the worker drones show more initiative!

Meanwhile, Uzi Doorman is a cool, independent worker drone. After Doll abandoned her, she doesn’t need anyone else — all she needs is to finish her railgun and blow the murder drones anyway. Of course, if her plan goes wrong she’ll be helpless at their mercy. Dead, in other words.

After all, J is a loyal drone. Locate, shutdown, disassemble. A simple directive she’d never hesitate to carry out. Right?

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Even in Debt — Dreams 2024-07-28 Story of a killer robot at the mercy of the one she failed to kill 16.7k words

J couldn’t get that worker off her mind. A worker, standing over her, those violet eyes gloating with incontestable triumph, that gun roaring with so much electromagnetic power it made her coils quake. A worker. How could she lose to this? But she had lost. More than lost. She was going to die. She was dead. Unless‍—

But it wasn’t enough that a worker had left her about to offer surrender. It had left her speechless.

Or: in which J holds her tongue, and Uzi holds her hostage.

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One‍-shots

Call It a Villain Arc (NOT an Edgy Phase) 2025-12-29 a story 6662 words

Uzi had her chance, and it blew up in her face. It was Doll who traipsed into the murder drones’ fortress of death, and Lizzy who seduced two of them to the side of good.

If you thought their clique was popular before, wait until you see a power couple with literal superpowers. Now, the student body gets to ooh and ahh at the cute new murder drones attending their classes, and the Worker Defense Force gets to boast having the company’s cutting edge firepower at their command.

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Net Character Growth KPI 2025-08-11 a story 1.2k words

“Do you remember the first time you flew, J?” “I… no. It must’ve been in product testing… Off-planet. I can—I don’t remember it.” “Oh. That sucks.” Uzi’s eyes fell, shoulders sagging. “So… this. The murder drone stuff. Is all you’ve known?” “Don’t pity me. I recall my first flight on Copper-9, if that’s what you mean.” J’s lips curled upward over sharp teeth—but there was something faltering in what once was a leer. “The roaring gunfire, the screams, the oil…”

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Rogue Management 2025-08-01 a story 2.2k words

J heard the footsteps first. Heavy, clanking things. Only two drones in the spire lacked the silent precision of proper disassembly drone legs---and N did his best to shrink from notice. No, there was only one drone here who had the temerity to stomp. Was that grounds enough for writing her up? If J tried it, there was sure to be an argument. J didn't fear conflict, but she assessed the tactical positioning---no doubt the first line of defense would be that it's so minor, not worth notice let alone punishment. Ultimately, it was J's call, but her authority wasn't beyond question.

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Headpat Techniques 2025-07-27 a story 2.0k words

Three drones sat on a couch. A recent acquisition---back when V tried to decorate on that first naïve year after landing, J had shredded her furnishings, lectured her on distractions from their mission; disassembly drones had no time for softness. Then last month, when that purple thing complained about having nowhere to sit, J gave the order to find and drag seating arrangements all the back to the spire. She'd rattled off criterion V barely understood---deep seat, double chaise, microfiber upholstery---and then refused the first one they found, forcing her and N to double back again for another one.

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Lucid Hours, Inverted Nightmares 2025-07-10 a story 9.4k words

::: blurb J had explained it to her, once. "Love the job, and you'll never work a day in your life." "In other words," Uzi had replied, "we're supposed to do the company's bidding and they don't even pay us?" "No, the job is its own compensation." J's claws were still glimmer-wet at her hips. "It's a dying wage." Uzi groaned, but she'd already been subcontracted---too late for second thoughts when her hands were just as black with oil. She licked her fingers, fighting a smile. Things were working out with J---doing the bad guys' bidding wasn't so bad, really. Especially when, unlike the 'good guys', they had this kind of passion. J and Uzi had that much in common. Shame that, for corporations, passion is just an excuse to use you up. Enough unpaid overtime---they both needed a break. :::

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meetcute\_final\_final\_(v3)\_USETHISONE.docx 2025-07-07 a story 2.2k words

Okay, parkour is a little bit harder than the videos made it look, Uzi thought. Maybe it was all the ice, maybe it was the cloudy night sky making it hard to see, or maybe it was that Uzi was a bit--- Haha, no. Of course not! Uzi bounced with an arm outstretched, fingers straining to grasp a shattered bit of masonry, just out of her reach. The abandoned storefront, otherwise featureless, just a few a handholds up there, barely out of reach. She'd been searching for way up to the rooftops. Plenty of things to climb on this street, but you'd scampered up atop a doorway or awning, and then what?

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Lethal Acquisition 2025-07-01 the original draft of *Hostile Takeover* 12.2k words

This is a proofread and lightly edited version of the first draft of Hostile Takeover which was completed in a single day: 31 October, 2023. It started out as an outline, and still resembles one in the beginning, but my typical outlining format is all lowercase, with every scene squeezed into a single paragraph. Once it got to the later chapters, those "paragraphs" are all hundreds of words long --- and the climatic sequence in particular was 1164 words without a single line-break. Most of the scenes involved long exchanges of dialogue written side-by-side (sometimes without even quotation marks).

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The Shepherd's Stranglehold 2024-10-12 a story 2.1k words

*Someone above you*\ *Always knows better than you*\ *There's something comforting*\ *In the stranglehold of a shepherd's crook*\ --- Subrosa, ``{=html}"The Wound of The Warden"``{=html}

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Artificial Instinct and Simulated Passion 2024-10-01 a story 4.8k words

Uzi's been living with J's team for a while now. They've settled into a comfortable routine. A *very* comfortable routine --- she hopes no one's noticed the bite marks. She'd kill J for that, but it's not like that worked out last time. Worth it, though, to cement their mutually beneficial partnership. Even if it meant acting as a glorified oilcan whenever J got hungry. Uzi isn't sure what's the worse embarrassment: that she kind of likes it, or that J *really* likes it. No, the worst embarrassment is that they've been doing this long enough that J wants to spice things up.

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Non-Verbal Communication Skills 2024-09-25 a story 1.6k words

J narrowed her eyes, eyeing the two disassembly drones in the pod. N and V leaned against the wall, white sheets of A2 paper in their hands. V rolled her eyes, but N raised a finger, as if requesting permission to ask a question. What a waste of time --- just ask. "Hey captain, what's this?" "It's your schedule for the next week. Memorize it, or keep it safe. I won't be printing out another."

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The Headhunter and Her Stubborn Game 2024-09-15 a story 7.0k words

Uzi was pretty frickin good at her job. Her sick as a hell railgun totally works, and she has the body count to prove it! With a trail of dead murder drones behind her, she’s finally secured her place in the frozen wasteland.

Okay, maybe she had a little help. But she didn’t need J’s protection or anything. She could handle herself just fine!

Tonight, she needs to repair her railgun. Maybe tweak a few things while she’s at it. And sure, she’s staying up a little late to do it. (Don’t tell J.)

The railgun’s what kept her alive, after all. She needs to hone it to perfection — what else did she have?

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Off the Record, Off the Clock 2024-09-01 a story 1.5k words

Make no mistake: Uzi was a disruption. Unlike Lizzy, the goth was never one to text during class. *Was*. Now, Uzi seems to spend all day glued to her phone. It's obvious: she's made a new friend --- or something more? No amount of rumor or gossip can't figure out *who*. Uzi certainly isn't telling.

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Tines of the Devil's Fork 2024-08-25 a story 1.0k words

Storm-veiled stars, frozen city ruins, knives in the sky. Railgun finished early, Uzi hunts.

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Outlines & Rough Drafts

Corrupt Combustion 2025-08-07 a world of cursed code and revenant robotics 56.0k words

Sometimes, dead drones explode. Oil burns, emitting not tongues of flame, but holographic lines of aberrant code—and the dead come burning back to life.

Against these burning revenants, Nori Doorman stands above it all; other drones are nothing but insects in her shadow.

But who is the sun?

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MD Fanfic Ideas 2024-09-14 a story 6.6k words

Sequel to Even in Debt --- Dreams J ruined everything. She was a monster; she'd do anything for the company; she'd never change. And what do you do with monsters? Uzi knows how this story goes: You slay them. Because even when she fails, even with another way right in front of her, J would rather die than admit she was ever wrong. She'd never change, so, unfortunately, she has to die.

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These Dying Star-Lit Streets 2024-08-24 a story 2.0k words

Doors. Frickin' doors. Remember when all your problems were as simple as shut the hatch and lock it twice? No, you don't. You're too young. Outpost-3 only stood secure for what, a year? Then Saint Nori and Brother Khan went and faced down the robo-vampires and the very harbinger of the company. Saved them all with power of truth, justice and the Doorman way. Tragically stepped through the door to robo-Heaven in the process --- classic martyrdom stuff.

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Like Shadows Chasing the Balance 2024-07-01 a story 14.6k words

What if J and Uzi swapped places? Okay, that doesn't work --- you couldn't try to find two drones more inseparable from their identities as disassembler and worker. But if you swapped some other things around? How close could you get? Would they still fall in love? Obviously. But how? I have a few ideas, so here's a quick lil write-up.

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Rampant Regressionism 2024-05-05 a story 4.2k words

juzi age regression au

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Absolute Redux 2024-03-07 a story 1.3k words

the brainworms are getting out of hand yall was relistening to a scifi concept album (Vektor --- Terminal Redux) and was like what if you crossed this over with murder drones tho i kept thinking about this and it would kind of WORK tho. here's a good page to read Terminal Redux, since i dont think i can to it justice with a quick summary. it's basically a short story, length-wise?

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An Opaque Heart null a story 35.6k words

Spend too long in the dark, and light is blinding, even painful. Uzi's lived a life neglected and alone, but N's smile could brighten any darkness. His squad leader wants him dead, and Uzi needs to know who her mother was. Knowledge is power --- but power is for destroying things. Try not to love everything you destroy.

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