Chapter Text
It was cold. Too cold.
Of course, Khan couldn't feel it; he wasn't human, only a mere worker drone. But, the metals on his legs and hand holding the empty gun his daughter had given him still shivered. His other hand, raised to put the keycard to the doors sensor to close the door, lingered. The colony's leaders' white oval eyes refused to blink, as he stared out into the harsh permanent planetary winter outside their safe haven. Watching, without movement, without a sound, for any movement in the storm, his eyebrows furrowed.
The harshly blowing wind was the only sound present between his racing thoughts. It was against the worker drones manual protocol to have such a worried and ungrounded thoughts. The what ifs, and what can I do? Voices, swirling, hurting his head. But they wouldn't stop…
They're dead.
Just admit it.
Just go back to the colony.
Salvage what you can.
You failed her.
How could you let this happen…again!
Sweat emotes appeared on the side of his eye, being distorted by his newly received screen crack, as he shook his head and his eyes closed tightly, teeth gritted in denial. An internal battle.
"No. No. She'll come back. They'll come back",
he muttered frantically under his unreal breath,
" It won't be like last…time. They'll be back. With her-"
Then, there was a sudden scraping noise. Khan's eyes opened and his head shot up to look in front of him, his pupils smallening at what was coming before him.
In the haze and fog of the roaring blizzard of the dark night , he could make out flickering yellow and red lights. In back of the figure, two shadows, going up and down to hold it up, but utterly failing, as with each flap of its wings its flight pattern dipped lower and grew more unstable. As the figure's face came into half visibility, Khan blinked to see bright yellow eyes, a second half circle around the bottom of their eyes, panicked. It was carrying…it was-...no.
In that moment, Khan snapped into action, running outside and throwing the keycard aside to shield his eyes from the blowing wind and snow, almost getting thrown aside in the process. The flying figure finally seemed to be unable to hold up his weight any longer, as he landed into knee high snow on his side; to protect what was in his arms. The colony leader, running, reached him in a half slide into the snow, quickly helping the figure into a sitting position against a large piece of rubble sticking out of the white blanket.
Exhausted and obviously injured in…some way, the winged person leaned back, its eyes tightly shut on its screen, a grimace on its mouth. It shook, as the few yellow bulbs under its now dirty and tattered black pilot hat flickered between bright alarming red and warning yellow. Taking a shaky breath, it relaxed to take a breath, momentarily unbending their legs. Suddenly, a harsh electric pulse shook its body, alarming big red text on its screen, and they grabbed their head to stop the pain with their free hand, scrunching their legs up again. After the electric tremor relaxed , Khan wearying began to get closer, eyeing what was in his hand, a thick blanket. Wrapped around…something.
"N, w-what happened? Whe-Where is Uzi…?,"
Khan asked, trying not to shake more than he already was. A second half circle appeared below his hollowed out eyes, as he slowly inched his movements towards what was in the Disassembly Drones arms, trying not to be noticed.
N slowly opened his eyes, letting out a weak, shaky breath, and looked at Khan; one X eye and the other hollow. Its lights were flickering between dim and bright, matching up with the flickering red and yellow on the bulbs on his headband. It was only then did the worried father realize the state N was actually in. Brown liquid, dried and fresh, all over his dress shirt and pants, which were torn in several places. Hair matted and messy, unlike its usual sideswept, though neat look, under which his screen was now also cracked from what seemed like the topside of his head. Oil all over his face, around his mouth, the place where he consumed substance to avoid overheating, as N had displayed before, and as Uzi had told him when she started to…show symptoms. Uzi…
N opened his mouth to speak, as another shock made him shiver, but all that came out was static. His eyebrows on his dirty screen furrowed as he looked ahead of him, a distant stare, eye glitching once, as though he was replaying a scene in his head, over and over.
Khan could feel something bubbling inside of his programming as he stared at the Murder Drones somber look. His daughter, wasnt here. HIS child. The one his wife had intrusted to take care of when she…went missing. The one who befriended the Disassembly Drones, the ones who had antagonized their own species for YEARS. The daughter that was distant, until she met N and then…began to go insane, like her mother, like HE almost had. And the one who made it her goal, to destroy the Murder Drones, which turned into killing all humans, and then into anyone who messed with her plans. What in her small moments of clarity she had left, went on and on about the Absolute Solver, the hivemind that corrupted ANYONE it touched. But it could only be activated through means of needing to protect, a weapon of strategic murder experiments that had evolved into the uncanny and powerful.
The day Khan had let her out to check the parameters of Door 1 for what he knew now was her "fake school project", he remembered being so proud and..well relieved that his daughter was finally into something that would keep her safe. Away from her parents' rocky past and secrets. He finally thought that he could be happy seeing her, not being reminded of the past; bonding with her on similar interests and possibly closing that distance between them.
But then, she encountered the Murder Drones, and brought them into the colony. He remembered walking around that corner, elevated to speak to his daughter on all the protocols and manuals of the concepts of door mechanics, only to be met with the aftermath of chaos. Oil and body parts everywhere, the planetary blizzard wind raging behind them being the only sound permeating throughout the metal walkway. Dead workers, his coworkers, friends, disassembled behind her. The look of utter fear and guilt she had on her face, her trembling figure and his growing fear that was quickly bringing back shadows of the past and all he could mutter was…
"What have you done…?"
Not "Are you okay?". Not "Are you hurt?" Just the quickly rising fear, trying so hard to turn into anger. But he couldn't, he would have lost control…he would have hurt her.
And then when she was pinned by N. What did he do? When he could've used that anger to protect the last thing he truly had left?
He left her with N. That thing. That murder.
The thing that was currently in front of him, now looking at him with fear in his eyes, trembling and powerless. The thing that was made to prey on the weak, was now weak himself.
Khan's mouth turned into a thin line and his expression dipped into one of rising anger.
"I SAID, where is MY daughter N?"
He asked sternly, hands now balled into fists, sounding more like a statement than a question.
N looked at Khan in complete silence, then looked down to the thing he was holding in his arms. The blanket, covered from view. Then slowly but surely, N silently turned the object over to face the worried father, it still covered by the light blue covering. Small rubbed spots of oil graced it, making him want to run the other way. Shakily lifting his arm, the Murder Drone shifted his body, and then uncovered the…
Khan froze, he couldn't speak. It suddenly felt like the world stopped. Like a arrow had gone through his core. The world was suddenly shaking, breaking, crumbling around him and he was sure if he could cry, he wouldve been. His thoughts screamed and yelled, he couldnt hear himself think. Unconsciously, he grabbed his chest and began to breath heavily, bending down to the very small figure.
A small white oval, the size of a ball, small black screen, typical Warning symbol right under it, and a pair of huge round neon yellow eyes, staring straight at him in wonder.
Khan, was frozen in so many emotions, amazed, hesitant, nervous, disbelief…but most of all, he felt blinding anger as he shook, his balled fists getting tighter. N made a noise, and looked down at the newly made drone in his arms.
"sHe i-Is bEaUTifuL h-hUH? s-ShE hAS hEr m-MoTHeR-s eYeS…bUt j-JuSt a bIt lIGhTeR…h-hAHA…",
N said, his voice stuttering, cutting off and glitching, going through higher to lower octaves with each word. He smiled weakly, and looked from the baby drone in his arms to Khan, his expression tired and worried,
" h-HeR n-n-NaMe iSs m-MeLoDy…
Suddenly, there was a clicking and then there was a gun locked on N's screen. N reeled back as quick as he could in his state,his eyes hollow with two fearful half circles under his eyes, holding Melody closer to his chest and away from the worker drone standing, towering in front of him. Khan held an angry expression, his free hand balled into a tight fist, gritting his teeth, as his eyes weirdly started to glitch.
"m-Mr. k-KhAn? w-WhAt aRe y-YoU-?",
N began, but was cut off by the gun now harshly pressing against his screen.
" I WON'T ask you AGAIN you monster! Answer my DAMN question! WHERE. IS. UZI? "
Khan now yelled, making Melody pressed into N's dry oil splattered chest start to whimper, startled by the noise. N looked down in a panic to the baby, and began to bounce her up and down lightly, repeating the same sentence 3 times…
"iTs o-OkAy…dAd'S hErE, y-YouR sAf-e, y-You wILL a-AlWayS bE sAfe. I-I-I…"
N trailed off the last time and touched his hand to Melody's face gently, beginning to brush it with his fingers as his body shook silently. His eyes seemed to dim darker than they were flickering between light and dark before. Then, he smiled again, the flickering returning.
"I-I p-pROmISe…"
He nuzzled her, as she finally quieted, those huge Periwinkle eyes in wonder once again, mesmerized by N's soft features, bright yellow contrasting with white, gray, black and brown. The Disassembly Drone relaxed and turned back to Khan, but of course he didn't know that it would be one of the biggest mistakes of his life.
In an instant as he relaxed and Melody was brought away from his chest, Khan's hand opened and shot out in front of him towards the Disassembly Drone, who now bore a confused expression. A white colored symbol, a hexagon, with three lines ending in an arrow at the ends, appeared hovering right in front of his hand. N went to put his hand out in concern, suddenly noticing he couldn't move, his limbs unable to function or defend. Attempting to struggle against whatever came over his body, all he could do was watch, as the white symbol then appeared right on top of Melody. Suddenly, with a glitch and a blinding flash, she was no longer in his arms, but in Khan's, beginning to cry once she no longer had sight of N's distinguishing features. Still able to move his face, his features turned into ones of pure terror, glitching between his normal eyes to his protective X screen and back rapidly.
"K-KH-A-AN W-WhAT A-ARe Y-YoU D-DOINg?!"
N yelled, trying in any way to move his body, bring out his guns, move his nanite tail, anything! Melody cried as he fought with all his might to reach the thing he promised to always protect. What he had promised Uzi before he had to…But he couldn't; he couldn't move as Khan still held up the pistol his daughter had given him before they parted ways in the battle towards his head, beginning to walk back cautiously and slowly. He tried to bounce Melody up and down to calm her, but to no avail, as she kept sobbing loudly. N's instincts were going haywire, but he still couldn't move. What was this-?
Then he saw the white glowing symbol in Khan's hand, looking closely, the hexagon in the middle, 1 line jutting out of each side, with an arrow at the end. Finally, it clicked. The same power that Uzi and Doll had, the one that their mothers had had, and the same one that was recently unblocked in him and V. The Absolute Solver.
N looked up to Khan in alarm, the white glowing symbol of the Absolute Solver residing on the side of his screen where he now held a pretty sizable crack from the battle earlier, while his other eye remained normal, and furious.
"You know what…",
Khan began,
" Your right, her dad WILL always be here, but it won't be YOU .",
Khan said sternly, gun raised between N's eyes. N stared at the Doorman wide eyed and stunned, unable to move and think.
" w-wHat… ",
N muttered. Khan continued.
"I don't know what happened to Uzi… my daughter… but what I do know is that you already made a promise to ALWAYS protect her and be by her side. And you failed N. Disassembly Drones, are NOT to be trusted, and I cant believe…-" ,
his voice trembled as the gun shook in front of N's face,
"...I can't believe I trusted you . The same species who killed the love of my life, and now my only reason for going on…is gone too. So…I'm NOT going to let you hurt her, or leave her for dead, like you did to Uzi."
N's eyes flickered dimly, his mouth slightly open, at a loss for words, eyes dipped in utter sorrow and darkness, as Khan continued to walk backwards slowly and talk sternly, but shakily. No matter how much Khan bounced Melody, she wouldnt stop crying.
"We are going back to the colony now. Or to whatever's left of it after this, 'little rebellion', MY daughter started with you and that other monster. I AM GOING TO RAISE HER, safe and AWAY from all this nonsense. As for YOU N…if I EVER see you or any of your kind around the colony, it's drones, or my granddaughter again, I will MAKE SURE there is no part of you left to be able to regenerate yourself with those nanites of yours. GOT IT?"
N wanted to put his hand out, plead and beg Khan not to take her, the only thing he had left of his only true friend. In the most polite way possible, he wanted to find a way to neutralize him, take his Melody back and run away, far from this place, safe and with him only. But somewhere deep inside, as the cold perpetual winter winds grew suddenly stronger, he knew that if he tried to raise a child outside of the colony, they would never have a chance. They would need upgrades as they got older, and if she ever got hurt, he could try his nanites, but what if it was dire? What if she needed a certain part? He wouldn't even know what he would be looking for on his own.
Melody would need to get a proper education like Uzi had in her colony, have the chance to have connections and friends. She would need a place where she could run around safely, explore her surroundings without the threat of the rogue Disassembly Drones still working with the humans and JCJenson hunting them around the clock. She needed someone who could actually take care of her, and he knew it would take…quite a bit to fix himself up after that horrible battle with the injuries it left him with. One of his wings was shattered for robojesus's sake and he couldn't fly away with her if there was danger. He would have to run, and walk to find them shelter, always be on the move, as well as it would be him and him ALONE raising her. Uzi was…gone. He hadn't seen V since she had told him to go save his "purple haired freak girlfriend" and continued to protect the hallway leading to the stairs. For all he knew, she could be gone too.
It was then that he realized that Khan taking Melody was probably the best thing that could happen to her. Even if he knew Mr. Doorman had not treated Uzi with much care when he first met him…he had learned alot, and this time could be different. She would be happy and safe and away from someone like him. Someone made to be dangerous.
" o-oKaY….o-oKaY…I-I pRoMiSe…p-pLeASe aT lEaSt l-LeT mE sAy g-gOodbYe…",
N said solmnly.
Khan stopped walking back, but did not lower the gun from N's face. He looked away for a quick second, as if contemplating, squinted his eyes at the disassembly drone, then nodded.
"Fine. J-Just don't do anything stupid or rash. I WILL finish what we started all those years ago",
Mr. Doorman said sternly.
"I-I wOn'T. I-I p-Pro-MiSe."
Khan moved towards N, who was now able to move his arms slightly and neck. N tried to activate his weapons, body or tail, even if it meant going against his word, but there was no use, he was still locked up. The doorman walked over to the injured drone, and leaned down so that Melody could see N's face. In an instant after seeing his bright yellow eyes, headband of yellows, reds, oranges, and white hair, she stopped sobbing, her cries turning into a whimper, then full of wonder again. N shakily put a hand to her smooth white body, which would one day become a face, and forcibly smiled at her. The small drone warbled sweetly as the injured drone felt a pang in his core.
"H-hEy lil BuIScUit, sTaY s-StroNG o-oKaY. L-like your mOtheR wAs, l-LikE I sTiLl wiLl bE. M-Mr d-dOorMan may proTecT y-You i-In t-ThErE, bUt I w-WiLl prOteCt y-yOu frOm oUt hEre-",
N was suddenly interrupted by the sound of Khan clearing his throat, glaring at the murder drone with a disatisfied look. N shrunk a bit and looked intently at Melody,
"I-if y-YoU eVeR nEeD iT oF coUrSe, wHiCh yoU pRobaBlY woN'T, bECaUse dOwn iN tHe cOlOnY thEy aLl h-hIde bEHinD s-ILLy dOoRs!"
The Dissasembly Drone shot his arms out wide, waving them widely and sticking out his tongue playfully. Khan continued to glare at the other drone with his little uncessary insult as the small drone in his arms now seemed to have a bent line under her Periwinkle gems of eyes with amusement as she giggled sweetly. A sweet little melody. The doorman turned to her from N, smiling slightly of how much the name fit her even though he had only known her for a few minutes, his daughter had done a good job with it. She would be a light for many, that he already knew.
"I-I wILL aLwAyS bE wItH yOu and sO wiLL y-YoUr motHeR…."
N looked away, and was silent for a moment, then shakily sighed. If he was able to cry like a human, he wouldve been balling his eyes out, but instead the pain in his chest kept growing and growing, until it almost hurt to speak anymore. He hadnt drank ANY oil in about 3 days, was incredibly injured and in tremendous pain, physically and mentally. He felt so warm, like he could just lay in the snow blanket below him and never wake up. Everything hurt. So much.
" I-I wiSH I c-cOuLd mOvE tO hOlD y-YoU…a-aNd sEe y-yOu grOW u-Up….I-I…"
N looked down slowly, then looked up again as his head twitched once and then twice as he grabbed his head with his hand. On his screen, a warning sign replaced his bright topaz eyes in red text.
OVERHEATING.
SYSTEMS SHUTTING DOWN TO COOL IN 1 MINUTE.
N shivered as Khan turned to walk back cautiously, towards the colony door he had been waiting in minutes prior. He bent down to pick up his door keycard off the snow and holsted his gun back into his worker belt. When the Dissasembly Drone realized Khan was backing up, he slowly and shakily put his hand up as if to reach for little Melody. But of course, once again, he couldn't. Just like he couldnt with Uzi.
" I-I loVe y-YoU litTLE biScuit…"
N said quietly, the wind and snow whipping around him too loud for the others to hear. As Khan walked away, the only thing he could through the blizzard fog, were those big bright neon eyes eyes slowly fading…fading, until he could see nothing but snow and the distant lights of the colony's door they were heading towards. The drone waited…and waited…and waited until he finally heard the distant sound of the colony door shutting underneath the blizzard winds.
Thats when finally, he let out a shaky breath, collapsing backwards into the rubble of the old building behind him. His overused and exhausted processors were finally starting to shut down, one by one, coressponding to the bulbs on top of his head.
As the blizzard intensified around him, he began to go over the events of the last year or so in his head, so when he woke up, he wouldn't forget. He promised he wouldnt forget.
J and V. Their hunts and how they would always pick on him. The day they went out to hunt with each other, after he was put on sentry duty due to his little mistake of focusing more on finding old human outfits then the iradtication of the worker drones. Him not listening and going out to hunt anyway, to prove he was focused on his work and he was useful. Coming back to the pod to feed, when he realized theyre was a worker drone hanging out around their pod. The chase. The railgun blowing his head off. The famous "Bite me" line he would learn to love…
OVERHEATING.
SYSTEMS SHUTTING DOWN TO COOL IN 30 SECONDS.
Meeting Uzi. Becoming rebellious with her even though he thought she was a Dissasemmbly Drone like him at first. Getting his memory restored by being smacked in the face by J, their leader. Him chasing after the mistake he made. Killing the workers at the colony door, Khan leaving Uzi for dead and feeling horrible. Rebelling aganist J and V. Fighting them. Uzi confronting her father after the fight. Her banishing herself. Capturing V. The Eldritch J monster. Thad inviting them to his party. Uzi being scared of him and him being scared of hurting her. Becoming dapper with Uzi and beating up Doll at her Prom. Sacrificing himself for her. Their dance fight. The way Uzi sounded worried for him while she hugged his waist. The monstriousity of Doll's apartment. Uzi almost getting shot. Her first instance of using her Absolute Solver. Their camping trip. His fight with V. The zombie drones tape. CYN. Uzi's transformation. Their falling chat in the sky. Their hug. The bus. Him finding out the truth. The solver activating in him and V. The cabin fever labs. Tessa coming back with J. Doll. Getting seperated from Uzi and V. The sentinals. The choice he needed to make, choosing Uzi over the universe. V convincing him to leave the labs. Uzi starting to act really… really weird. Fighting the absolute solver and…something else; beginning to lose herself… His own HUGE meltdown. Him almost losing himself. The colony beginning to act like mindless zombies…
OVERHEATING.
SYSTEMS SHUTTING DOWN TO COOL IN 20 SECONDS.
Everything rushed by as suddenly his eyesight began to glitch, then finally turning off after such strain. All he could see was darkness. The only thing he could hear and feel was the whipping wind and snow around him; until those finally turned off too.
OVERHEATING.
SYSTEMS SHUTTING DOWN TO COOL IN 15 SECONDS.
He was surrounded by vantablack. He could hear nothing but his own last thoughts. He couldnt feel anything but the linger of stinging pain from his core. Soon, his thoughts began to fizzle out too. He couldnt think, he couldnt associate words with memories and memories with feeling. The pain was gone and it felt like h E w a s
f l O a t in g I n e P ty sP ce
No t i G h r t A y or e. . .
OVERHEATING.
SYSTEMS SHUTTING DOWN TO COOL IN 10 SECONDS.
"N"
V o i c E ?
"N."
W e r E? v i C e?
" N!"
M s T f nd v O i e !
"N! I SWEAR TO ROBOJESUS IF YOU DIE AFTER EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN THROUGH I'LL HAUNT YOU!"
OVERHEATING.
SYSTEMS SHUTTING DOWN TO COOL IN 5 SECONDS.
4 SECONDS
A flash…circular amythest eyes…violet hair…gray hat…dark purple sweater…a-a white square with bones on each end…p-pur p l e s o C k S…
3 SECONDS
" N! YOU IDIOT!"
2 SECONDS
" P-PLEASE N…I LOVE YOU…WE NEED YOU… "
1 SECOND.
U Z I . . . ?
SYSTEM RECOVERY SHUT DOWN ACTIVATED…
GOODNIGHT SERIAL DESIGNATION ___.