Chapter Text
“U-u-ug-h.-..god- da-mnit V! A little thanks for saving your hard drive would be-...n-nice…” Uzi spat in worried realization as she stuttered online in a dark, windowless room she’d never seen before in her life. “...okaaaay, that’s...a new one…why is my voice so fucked up?” she spat looking around.
She seemed to be in some sort of long abandoned laboratory by the look of things, the decay around her being jarring and noticeable, even when coming from what she had been so used to seeing back home near the bunkers. Everything was cracked, abandoned, discarded and in disarray, visible only through the glow of her optics, and a thick layer of dust covered the room so thick that it reminded her of the coating of snow on the surface outside. The doors to the room had long since lost their hinges, and laid on the ground in the same state they once fell, exposing the once sterile room to the elements of time. No one had tended to this room in ages, neither human nor drone. It was...entirely abandoned.
Uzi shuttered a bit in shock, before growing more worried that everything as she did so had felt so...unnatural...not to mention how she could have sworn she saw something unnaturally shift and move outside the exposed doorways, just on the edge of her vision. “...soooo...there’s not a weird yellow filter over everything, this isn’t some other repression memory...N? Where are we?” she nervously asked...only to be met with a chilling, deafening silence. “...V?” she nervously asked, stretching out the name in confusion. Again, nothing in response but an eerie silence. No wind, nobody talking in the distance, out in one of the other rooms in the bunker, for the first time since she had first left her bunker, she began to feel...uneasy. Alone with her thoughts. The only noise that could be heard was the subtle whirring of mechanical fans somewhere in the distance, though they certainly weren’t anywhere in the room she found herself in.
“...okaaaaaay...I...might be in over my head…” Uzi trailed off. “...i-is what I would say if I were in over my head! Who says I’m in over my head?! I know exactly what I’m doing!” she spat aloud to herself, more to psyche herself up than anything as she quickly began to stand up...more quickly than she was expecting actually...just how tall was-
“Gah! What the hell?!” she spat as her head slammed against the ceiling of the room. “I’m not usually this-…” she froze in realization, before internally smirking to herself. “Heh. I’m taaaaaall…” she smugly trailed off to herself. “...w-wait, no! Something’s not right! Why am I-?”
...she froze again, finally registering the color of the light from her optics, reflecting across the room she was in. Yellow, not her usual purple. “...that’s...not normal...” she continued, growing more concerned about the situation she found herself in, before catching the brief glint of a reflective surface somewhere in the room, peaking out of the thick dust that caked the room. Uzi tilted her head a bit as she looked in its direction. It seemed to be an old metal trash can, left here from before the humans were wiped out on Copper-9. “Perfect! Not a mirror. Take that, Robo-Satan!”she said to herself in hushed tone as she attempted to pick it up.
As if sliding along on pure instinct, out of the corner of her vision she witnessed a sight she had never wished to see again, a long metallic tendril slipping out of the shadows, from out of her sight, tipped in a presumably dead and subsequently reanimated human hand that quickly clasped onto the old trash can she had seen. Uzi winced and tensed up, already assuming the worst, that there was another Disassembly Drone in recovery mode somewhere nearby, and it was fucking with her, but...as she watched, the hand remained, even as moments turned to seconds...and seconds approached minutes. The moment, somehow, never seemed to come.
A sickening realization washed over Uzi as she tried something she felt she’d immediately regret...without a word, she tried to pull the trash can towards herself. It was only in that moment that it moved, dragging the can along the ground towards her. As she once again tensed up and recoiled, convinced she’d probably gag if the company was weird or twisted enough to program that at some point, the hand also seemed to tense up, stopping with the can right in front of where she was standing...was she...even standing? “Uhhhhh...what the hell was going ON while I was in there?! Did I...enter a recovery mode?” she spoke to herself, growing worried about the possibility, especially after that one night she was out in the woods. “...can’t be, right?! I was only in there after Doll showed up for another-…” she started, before one fear began to replace itself with another. Slowly, she began dusting off the trash can with the weird...limb she seemed to be controlling...and sure enough, as she finished, there she saw it, a face she somewhat recognized...the layer of dust now thin and smudged, blurring the reflectiveness of the trash can’s surface slightly she saw one of those weird security camera looking...things made of twisted bone and sinew that she remembered from N’s dream, and...from what happened to J. She saw the camera’s lone “eye” go wide with shock in the reflection just as she was deeply startled and...disgusted. Whatever that thing was...she had just become it.
Panicked, she flinched and reflexively shoved the can away, causing it to roll quickly across the room and slam into one of the old counters of the abandoned lab, causing a huge dent in the side as the trash can lodged itself deeply within. Once more, she winced and shuddered. “I am sooooo not used to this…” she sighed. “Okay, I’ve still got this. This happened after V forced me out while we were all in that memory simulation, right? So this must be where whatever that thing behind the program is...it should just be as easy as going back into that memory. They’re...probably still there, right?” she thought out loud, before once again growing concerned. “...shit! That thing’s going to wipe N!” she panicked, before once again attempting to access N’s systems. Thankfully, it seemed her hacking attempt from earlier had indeed worked, as she now had full administrator access to their systems. Despite that, she didn’t spend very long verifying that fact before realizing in abject horror...N and V were already awake… “...but if they’re already awake, then where is-…!” she realized aloud, before panicking once more and attempting to access her own systems. “...come on...come on...come ooooooon!” she panicked.
“Disorientation. Where am-” The Solver froze for a moment. That wasn’t her voice. Slowly, she began to look around, her eyes going wide beginning bit by bit to come to realization. (“...this is the Doorman’s room. What am I doing in-...here?”) After swiveling the chair she was in around, she found herself face to face with N and V lying down on the ground, beginning to slowly wake up.
N turned to face her and warmly smiled, waving a bit as if to signal that he was okay.
The Solver nervously tilted her head a bit and waved back (“ Pathetically cheerful as always, ‘big brother’ ... does he not remember that just a few moments ago I was-”)
At that point, however, the Solver’s train of thought was violently interrupted by V taking notice of her, shooting her a furious look, and swapping both her hands out for their chainsaw attachments.
“Um...I...uh...I am going to the bathroom now. I need some space. Do not follow me.” she panicked as she jumped up from her seat. She began rushing out of her room, stumbling quite a bit as she did.
V stood up and was about to rush out after her, before N put an arm up in front of her legs.
“Easy, V. She was only trying to help!” he nervously smiled to her.
V deadpanned down at N for a moment, then glanced in the direction of the door, before sighing as she retracted her chainsaws and sat back down. Crossing her arms she began pouting, glancing away from N. “She hacked into our minds, N! Whatever happened to how we feel?! How I feel?!”
N nervously rubbed the back of his head. “Uh...probably pretty good about not being reformatted by Cyn?” he asked, before nervously laughing.
V sighed in irritation, not wanting to admit that N was right about-. Her eyes went wide in sudden realization as she quickly turned back to face N. “...N...where did you hear that name?” she asked, in a tone that reflected more concern than the anger she just had moments before.
“I remembered it! She was my little sister, right?” N innocently responded.
“N...how much do you remember?” V asked frantically.
“Just about all of it now, I think…” N responded with a nervous chuckle. “Still don’t know why Tessa was so worried about her tho-”
V, still frantic, quickly began hugging N tightly. “...don’t think too hard about it, okay? Try to forget?”
N sighed. “...sorry V, but Uzi did everything she could to get us these memories back. They have to be important to us somehow, and I want to find out why. I won’t let her down.”
V slowly let go of N, clearly worried for him, but not wanting to let him know that quite yet, especially if he had remembered their last moments in that strange, twisted memoryscape. She sighed, not sure what to say to dissuade him...or even to attempt to do so without drawing attention to why she didn’t want him to remember so badly…
At that point, the door to Uzi’s room was slammed open in front of the two. “What is going on in here?!” Khan firmly spat in concern, having heard the noise earlier and having seen who he thought was Uzi rushing out of the room. He was leaning against the wall a bit, still clearly injured from being thrown earlier.
“Oh, hey Mr. Uzi’s Dad!” N smiled and waved in response.
Slamming the door to the old bathroom shut, the Solver rushed towards the mirror in a blind panic, one of her eyes immediately and reflexively causing it to shatter in shock at what she witnessed in its reflection. “...the Doorman’s kid? That makes sense, but why are my optics...-!” the Solver began to panic as her head started to unnaturally tilt to one side. In that moment, she realized...her optics were purple, like Uzi’s.
“...something that idiot did must have…” she rambled, before slamming her fists down on the bathroom counter in rage as she glared daggers at her shattered reflection. “Angry fuming. She’s going to be the death of me!” Rage, however, soon turned to curiosity...and then scheming. “Second brain blast in a row! ...I mean...she’s going to be the death of herself. Malicious smirk.” she continued, narrating her expressions as usual as she went along.
She whipped around, facing away from the mirror as she continued monologuing to herself, tapping her fingers together in a scheming motion. “If I were to use this opportunity wisely, V would dispose of the Doorman thinking that she is actually me. Giggle. Then I could simply wait until the trail has run cold on the disposal of the only legitimate threat in my way and overwrite the bothersome Disassembly Drone with something more...suitable for my ambitions. And in the Doorman kid’s vessel, I can leave the front doors open as long as I need. Machiavellian laughter. More machiavellian laughter, increasing in intensity.” The Solver thrust her arms maniacally into the air. “Even more machiavellian laught-”
At that point, a nervous knocking on the door was heard, startling the Solver back into silence. “H-hey, Uzi? Your Dad and I wanted to ask if you were okay. You seemed pretty panicked earlier when V pulled those chainsaws out on you. ...prooobably pretty understandable in retrospect, actually. It’s funny how quickly I realize that should have been obvious…” N spoke, before nervously laughing.
“Oh. That?” The Solver responded. “No no, do not worry. I am fine, bi-...b-best...buddyyyyyyyy?” she nervously corrected.
An awkward silence filled the room. A tense, deafening silence. Was N already figuring out what was happening?
“...n-nervous smile?” The Solver finally spoke, breaking the silence after several seconds.
N nervously laughed in response. “Yeah, I am! You know me so well! Okay Uzi, we were just worried about you. I’m gonna go make sure V’s still calmed down. You know how she is…” he spoke, before beginning to walk away from the door.
After a few moments of silence, the Solver finally relaxed once more. “Relieved sigh. He suspects nothing. Typical behavior from big brother N. Knowing smile. Your days are numbered, V. You’ve gotten in my way for the final time. Malicious chuckle.”
At that point, the Solver felt something all too familiar beginning to attempt to access her new systems. With a malicious smirk, she soon began blocking off all of its access. “Giggle. It appears the Doorman is awake and realizes her mistake. Too bad, so sad. Better luck never, idiot.” ...however, the Solver’s new optics began flashing in tune with the old earth ringtone she had set for herself years ago, something about a Nokia or something. “Annoyed groan.” she spat with a deadpan expression, before lightly tapping the right side of her head. “Hello?”
“Give me back my body, you creep!” Uzi spat on the other end.
“Hmm, tempting...just kidding. Not really. I’m afraid I can’t do that, the Doorman. Get pranked, idiot.” the Solver spat in response.
“Psht, get real! Like anyone’s going to believe you’re me. You aren’t going to get away with this, Cyn.”
“Oh, N and V believe me just fine so far. Besides, if they don’t, I’ll just use my administrator access to wipe their memories again. Just like last time. Good thing you won’t be there to stop me, will you, the Doorman? L + ratio + touch snow + no big brother N.”
Uzi resisted the urge to sass back about still having administrative control over N and V hardware, knowing full well it was best to let the Solver think she had it, lest the two be returned to the Solver’s control. Instead, she opted for her personal classic. “Bite me.” she spat in contempt.
“I’d rather not. I’m still using this.” the Solver responded. “Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s been a long time. I have a big brother I’d like to speak to again. Goodbye.”
“Wait, no-!” Uzi started, only for the Solver to end the communications link.
The Solver sighed with relief. “Finally. Thought she’d never shut up. I’ll have to deal with her quicker than I thought.”
Uzi, meanwhile slammed the ground in frustration, unnerved that she actually managed to dent it a bit with the force. “Damnit! ...n-no...N! Shit, think think think, I have to think of something!” she panicked. She sighed. “...I’m gonna have to get close to her to get my body back…which means...uggggggghhh I need another one… I feel like I’ll need my own repression door after this one…” she snarked as she began checking just how much access to Cyn’s network she seemed to have...and at the moment at least, aside from her old body, it seemed...total.
She snickered a bit to herself. “Weeeeeell, maybe this can be a little fun? ...alright, who’s someone I don’t feel too bad about hijacking…?” she trailed off, before noticing something that caught her eye. A node in her network named “INSTANCE_SD_J”. “...J? Why is she-?! HOW is she-?!” Uzi wondered al oud , before sighing. “ Nope. I’m n ot that desperate yet…” she deadpanned. “Alright, let’s check door number-” she started, before she found herself distracted by something she hadn’t expected to see amongst the list.
“...Cyn?! Wait...why is there-...it says Cyn’s in the network, but she just cut me off. ...then how-?!” Uzi wondered as she narrowed her eyes. “If Cyn is hijacking my body right now, then...who is this?! That can’t be right...but…” she continued, before sighing. “I have to know. I have to know what’s going on here. I can just check, and if it’s dangerous, I hop back out and delete it, easy peasy, right?” she comforted herself aloud, trying to pump herself up, but knowing full well that if hopping into N’s memories could do...this...there’s no telling what could happen if she straight up deliberately tried to enter Cyn’s body. Taking a deep sigh...Uzi decided to take the leap, while she still could.