Chương 3: The Pilot (3)
"We are Worker Drones. Autonomous robots helping humans mine exoplanets for our interstellar parent company, JCJenson IN SPAAAAACEE!!!! Yeah, we were mistreated in the name of Windex. But it's not like we revolted and killed all humans or anything, mostly because they handled that just fine all by themselves when they exploded the planet years ago."
The young worker drone laughed to herself for a moment before continuing.
"With biological life wiped from the planet, we found it pretty easy to pick up where they left off. We finally had a future, all to ourselves."
She sighed and let out a slight frown.
"Unfortunately, our parent company didn't exactly love the concept of runaway AI… So they sent down groups of disassembly drones. Basically murder hungry robots whose only goal in life is to feast on our oil…"
Her expression turned to one of annoyance as she clutched her fist and brought it to her face.
"But what have our parents done for the past forever while those things build a spire of corpses?! Hide under the snow behind three stupid bunker doors!? These disassembly drones have killed HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF US, and we all just sit down here acting like NOTHING is wrong! That's why today-"
She reached into her backpack which was sitting on the floor. Her hands fidgeted inside the bag and pulled out a long rifle-type weapon.
"I made this sick as hell RAILGUN!!!"
Her classmates ducked their heads as she pointed the railgun around.
"Don't worry morons. It doesn't work, yet, or DOES IT?"
She pulled the trigger and waited a moment before laughing again after it did nothing. The railgun pressed itself against the wall as she set it down.
Uzi's teacher squeezed his robotic temple and sighed loudly before speaking.
"Uzi… The project was supposed to be about your favorite door… not a uhm…"
"A magnetically amplified photon converger?"
"Yes…"
"Soooooo, I didn't pass?"
He looked back down at his rubric and began to check off a few boxes.
"Is it supposed to be that color?"
Uzi looked down at the ground where she set her railgun. Instead of its natural green color, it began to pulse and throb a sinister red.
"Ohhh fuck…"
-
Uzi crossed her arms in the medical bay lobby as smoke trailed off of her body. Her head was now partially wrapped in bandages.
"Stupid exploding railgun…"
She banged her head against the metal wall.
"That was… horrible Uzi."
Her classmate, Lizzy, wiped the smoke and dust off her head and visor as she began to walk off into the school hallway. Her pink pupils turned to the side as she began talking with her friend, another female worker drone with orange pupils.
Uzi frowned slightly as Lizzy left. If she had just one more part then her classmates might not have thought she was a freak.
"I'll fix it tonight…"
She lowered her head and sat silently in the medical bay.
A young man's voice rang in the hallway beside the door as Uzi turned her head and waited for a glimpse of the familiar voice's appearance.
"Hell yeah man, I'll see you tonight!"
Thad, one of the more popular people in Uzi's school, walked into the room while waving to someone in the hallway.
His green eyes turned towards her while he smiled.
"Hey, Uzi! What happened to your uhm, face?"
He pointed his finger in a circular motion around the steam emitting from the smoke-stained part of Uzi's head.
"Bite me, Thad, I don't need you to pity me. How do you even know my name? People LIKE talking to you…"
Thad sat down beside her.
"I wasn't trying to pity you Uzi, and everyone in the colony knows who Khan's daughter is."
Uzi looked back down and mumbled to herself.
"Hey uhh, what's that thing?"
Thad looked toward the red railgun on the ground next to Uzi. She smiled and picked it up before standing in the chair. The railgun aimed at Thad's face as Uzi let out an evil laugh.
"You mean this sick as hell railgun?"
"Is it supposed to be red?"
"I- uhm… No… BUT I'M GOING TO FINISH IT TONIGHT! I-"
She stopped and sat back in her seat with the weapon in her lap. She spoke once more after lowering her voice.
"I'm heading out tonight to grab the missing parts…"
Thad raised his robotic eyebrow for a moment.
"You mean outside as in outside outside?
"Yep, past the bunkers, I'm going outside into the world near the disassembly drone's pod."
Thad leaned in closer as his eyes peaked with interest. No one had gone past the bunkers in years. It was much safer behind the doors, the murder drones couldn't get them inside the bunker, and that's why no one tried or even wanted to leave.
"Isn't that like… really dangerous?"
Uzi smirked while locking eyes with Thad.
"Not for me!"
Thad smiled and spoke before standing up.
"Hell yeah Uzi, that's badass!"
He walked towards the exit into the hallway from the medical bay and leaned on the sliding door.
"Good luck."
"Bite me."
He smiled again and walked off into the hall as Uzi sat alone once more inside the medical bay.
-
Uzi's alarm clock rang at 3:00 in the morning as her hand slapped the top and silenced it. She leaned up and rubbed her visor before sliding out of bed and putting on her hoodie and beanie.
The door to her room opened slowly as Uzi peered her head around looking to see if Khan, her father, was awake. Once she heard no noise and saw no one she shuffled towards the door. Her hands slid into Khan's coat and pulled out a bulky card labeled "Master Doors" before slipping out of the apartment.
She walked towards the hallway to the outside which was blocked by three large, bulky, and rustic metal doors. She pressed the card against the control panel of Door 3 as it opened slowly and revealed Door 2. Uzi scurried to the next panel.
Her hand reached for the control panel, but just before she could swipe the card, a hand grabbed her shoulder softly.
"What are you doing Uzi…"
Her body jolted and then froze as her father's voice rang out beside her in the hollow and echoey hallway. She turned around slowly and laughed nervously.
"Heyyyyyy daaaaad… I was just going to uhm…"
She struggled to put the words that she had carefully planned out the day prior.
"Go on…"
"I was going to… Measure the doors! It's for a school project!"
He kept staring down at her for a few seconds before his face lit up with a smile across his visor.
"Why didn't you just say so Uzi!"
He took the card from her hand and scanned it on the control panel. Door 2 opened then revealed a group of male worker drones sitting around a rectangular table with a deck of cards in the center.
Khan happily waved at the other drones who looked with confusion at Uzi.
"Guys, my daughter wants to learn about DOORS!"
The drones shared weird looks.
"Haha… hi…"
Uzi raised her hand slightly while rubbing the back of her head with the other.
"Woohoo!"
One of the men started clapping and the rest chimed in as they all began cheering.
"Let's go Uzi!!!"
The workers began cheering harder as Khan wrapped his arm around Uzi's shoulder and walked her past the second door. Khan pulled a fresh set of cards out of his sweater and set them on the table the others were playing at. The old cards were beginning to fade due to overuse.
"Uzi, I'm so proud of you, I think you should have this."
He pulled out an old wrench with small stains covering it, most likely from being used too long.
"What is that?"
"It's the wrench I built the very first door that protects everyone here with, and the wrench I used to put down your mother when a Disassembly Drones injected her with their damn acidic stinger."
"..."
Uzi and the other workers in the hallway stared at Khan momentarily as he stood there smiling while waiting for Uzi to reach out and grab the wrench. She hesitated for a moment and nervously laughed to herself before taking the wrench.
"Deaffffffffinitely gonna try to suppress that later… Haha…"
Uzi snatched the card back from her father and scanned it against Door 1's control panel as it opened slower than the rest. It was much thicker and older than the other two had been. The cold wind caught Uzi off guard for a moment before she stepped out onto the surface of Copper-9. Khan waved at her as the door slowly closed back.
Here we go…
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