Serpentine Squiggles

Someone above you always knows better than you
There’s something comforting in the stranglehold of a shepherd’s crook
— Subrosa, “The Wound of The Warden”

This was originally a tumblr post.

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.”

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?

Make no mistake: Uzi was a disruption. Unlike Lizzy, she was never one to text during class. Was. Now, Uzi seems to spent 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.

Storm-veiled stars, frozen city ruins, knives in the sky.

Railgun finished early, Uzi hunts.

Uzi didn’t remember the blade-wings in the sky nor the drooling, oil-hungry mouths. Neither did Doll, her former best friend. But their mothers did — how could you forget how you almost died? Yet everyone survived; both families were safe behind the outpost’s doors.

Were.

Khan and Nori are dead. Everyone would be, too — a murder drone had slipped past the doors — but Doll was there to fight them back. Now she wants to take the fight to them. She’s everyone’s hero — except one.

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.

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.

Originally tumblr post. Crossposted since it may be of mild interest.

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?

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.

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 her shadow. But who is the sun?