Chapter Text
Uzi Doorman laid on her bed, looking up at the blank metal ceiling above her.
All of her recent crazed ramblings, ideas and drawings had been taken down by her Dad, Khan, which deeply irritated the emo worker drone. She thought about recent events and tried putting together a new mental evidence board in her mind. This was just in case Kahn decided to take it down again in his annoying idea of a ‘non-optional family support structure’.
Ever since prom night and her big fight against Doll with the aid of N and V, she wondered about so much. How did Doll get her powers? Why was Doll eating people? And how did she now have the same powers as Doll?
On top of everything, Uzi had started to develop weird new feelings towards N. These new feelings started ever since he showed up to help Uzi get to prom with his dorky ‘Dapper buddies’ phrase. She felt like she could depend on him, she felt safe around him, she wanted to be around him. N was nice to her, not many people had been nice to Uzi in her life. So, it was nice.
Uzi shook her head.
‘Whatever, it’s stupid and weird and… whatever.’
Uzi sighed and sat up from her bed, kicking off her boots and got ready to go to sleep mode.
‘I’ll just try to sleep on it. I think I’ve got some big test coming up soon anyway, maybe that’ll distract me enough to stop freaking out about everything.’
Uzi reached for the light switch by the wall but stopped when she saw something in the corner of her eye. It was under her desk, mostly hidden from view, but it had also been on her mind lately.
It was a backpack.
Just before Uzi left Doll’s apartment with N and V, she’d stuffed the remains of a worker drone killed by Doll into her backpack. She didn’t know why, but after seeing the spilled worker drone oil in the room a dark hunger her compelled Uzi to taste some, and then to take the remains back home.
She thought her newfound hunger would go away and the issue would resolve itself, but days after she returned from Doll’s apartment, she still felt hungry. Uzi tried drinking regular worker drone motor oil, but she still felt hungry. She was hungry for something bigger, warmer, and … chewier.
Uzi shook her head and turned off the light. Whatever she was thinking wasn’t right, she’d just sleep it off and make it tomorrow’s problem. So, Uzi got under the covers, shut her sensors, and went to sleep mode.
However, the hunger persisted.
The following evening, the sturdy steel doors of a small apartment lay strong and sealed, until the sound of triumphant whistling of a middle-aged worker drone reverberated off the corridor’s walls.
The secure doors of the Doorman residence mechanically opened to Khan doorman, arriving back home after a successful evening of cards with the new and inexperienced members of the WDF (Worker Defence Force). He was getting ready to turn in for the evening when he stopped, hearing the familiar groaning and sulking of his daughter coming from her bedroom.
“Uuuuugggghhhh” Uzi groaned.
‘Oh no, she’s in a mood again, better keep distant. Last thing she needs is her old Dad making her more upset than she already is. Besides I’m sure she’s fine, Uzi gets like this from time to time. She’ll wear herself out and then she’ll be as right as ridges in no time.’
Khan nodded to himself and went on his way. This was his usual tactic when dealing with his daughter’s turbulent emotions. Walking quietly past her bedroom and down the hallway he reached his perfectly constructed mahogany bedroom door and reached for the access panel.
But he stopped.
‘No.’
He lowered his hand and looked back down the dimly lit hallway to Uzi’s bedroom, the groaning and frustrated sounds of a head banging against a desk continued.
‘I can’t do this anymore. I couldn’t be there for her at the prom, but I can be there for here now.’ Khan thought, berating himself.
Khan had been doing a lot of thinking since Uzi had left with that Murder Drone. It was the day the 3 Murder Drones had broken into Outpost 3, destroyed the doors, killed most of the WDF, and the same day he left his daughter to die. He’d felt like a not-so-great father beforehand but after that? After leaving his own daughter to die without even trying to fight back? He felt like the lowest of the low. Hell, even that kid in Uzi’s class tried to fight back against the Murder Drones with a rusty pipe when everyone was cornered. Even students were braver than him.
Ever since that incident, since the parent teacher conference, since he got to embrace Uzi after all those missing persons died, and recently since the prom, he realised that he needed to do more for her. He needed to be less of a coward and more of a father.
‘What would Nori say to me if she could see me now?’ Khan said to himself ashamedly.
With that he took a breath, turned, and slowly walked over to the Uzi’s bedroom door. When he arrived, he looked at the access panel still hearing Uzi’s mental anguish inside the room and slowly raised his hand to the to open the door.
‘Oop wait, better knock first, just in case.’ Khan thought, remembering all the times he had previously barged in on Uzi, much to her dismay.
Khan knocked on the door 3 times in succession.
“Uzi? Are you ok in there?” He said cautiously.
The groaning stopped and the muffled voice came from inside.
“I’m fine Dad, it’s just dumb homework for a dumb test tomorrow, just leave me alone!” She called out.
Khan stood there in silence for a moment, not knowing what to say next.
“Uzi, are you sure? You sound a little extra frustrated? If you need anything I could maybe help?”
“Dad I’m fine just go away!”
Khan stood behind the door with a concerned expression on his face, he knew she wasn’t ok. After everything that’s happened no one would be, but he didn’t know what to do. All he knew was that he couldn’t just leave her this time.
“Look Uzi, if somethings the matter, you can talk to me about it. I know we don’t really talk a lot about, feelings. But if you need anything please, just tell me. I’m here.”
Khan waited for one of Uzi’s dramatic teen hyperboles about how cruel being a teenager was, but nothing came. No sound, no groaning, nothing.
“Uzi?” Khan asked concerningly.
Quietly the sound of footsteps grew closer, suddenly the door opened revealing Uzi standing with her crossed against her chest and eyes narrowed.
“You’re here for me? Really Dad? After everything that happened? After you took all my stuff out of my room and sent me to prom with Lizzy and Doll of all people!? You didn’t even ask me if I wanted to go!” Uzi exclaimed angrily.
Khan took a step back and looked down in shame.
“I-I just thought that you might have wanted to go with some of your classmates and thought there’d be no harm in asking around. I mean after everything that’s happened with those Murder Dro-“
“You mean after they saved me at Prom! Unlike you, they actually stuck around and helped me!” Uzi reprimanded Khan as she uncrossed her arms to point at him, taking a step forward.
“Uzi I-I tried to go back in after the crowd left, but the doors locked, and I couldn’t get in! I tried! I really did but-
“Just save it Dad! If I need your help I’ll come to you. like I said before, if you want to help now, stay distant!!” She proclaimed and swiped her hand through the air to emphasis her point.
However, Uzi also accidently caught Khan’s red goggles and threw them off his head to the ground with the flash of a 3-pointed purple symbol. Khan looked stunned at the red goggles on the ground and back to Uzi who looked surprised by her own actions.
Khan looked down to see the purple symbol in Uzi’s hand disappear, the very same symbol that his wife had occasionally used but never liked discussing what it was or how she got it. The same symbol he realised that Doll had used on the door to lock him out, he just didn’t recognise it at the time because of the different colour, size and speed of its use, but now he remembered clearly.
“Uzi, that symbol, when did you-”
“It’s nothing ok! just leave-”
“Your mom could do that too.” Khan stated seriously.
“…What?”
“Your mom Uzi, she had that exact same symbol too. She called it a ‘solver’, sometimes she used it to grab things around the apartment. But She didn’t use it as much after you were born. But I remember.”
Uzi looked at her dad is quiet disbelief and down at her hand, activating her solver powers again with the spread of 3 fingers.
“You- You know what this is?” Uzi asked sceptically.
“Yes, well, I know bit and pieces. Nori never really liked to talk about it.”
Uzi looked back at her hand, thoughts racing through her mind until she closed her hand turning off her solver powers. She looked back at Kahn.
“Wait here.”
Uzi walked back into her bedroom. Kahn peaked around the corner to see that Uzi was foraging through her desk. Eventually she stopped and pulled out a small collar which Uzi returned with in hand.
“Do you have any idea what this is?” Asking while holding the collar by her thumb and index finger.
Khan studied the collar in Uzi’s hand, it was red and made of leather with a small metal skull symbol within a triangle, with the number 048 engraved on it. Khan’s eyes hollowed, he had seen this collar before, but not in a long time.
“Uzi, where did you get this?”
“Doll was wearing this during the fight at prom, she lost it, and I just picked it up after everything was over. Then I- I mean, N, V and me went to Doll’s apartment after prom to see if there were any clues about why she had these weird solver powers. When we got there, we found a lot of dead worker drones, including her mom and dad. Her mom was also wearing key card around her neck with the same number on it, 048.”
‘Yeva.’ Kahn remembered with flash of old memories.
Khan hadn’t thought about Nori’s Russian best friend in forever. But thinking about her now a lot of dots seemed to connect. Yeva was Doll’s mom, she had the same style collar as Nori and possessed the same solver powers too. And now Uzi had the ability to use a solver too.
‘This isn’t a coincidence.’ He thought worryingly, knowing there as another connection the two women shared.
“Dad? What do you know?”
Uzi looked at Khan whose face had gotten exponentially more curious and serious. He handed back the collar to Uzi, picked up and placed his goggles back on his head and walked past Uzi to his prized mahogany bedroom door down the hall and opened it.
“Follow me, there’s something I should show you.”
Uzi was confused but curious, she followed Khan into his bedroom. It was filled with blueprints, measuring tools, and colourful sticky notes everywhere. In front of Uzi there was a closet door labelled ‘Nori’s Kooky Insane Stuff’. Khan opened it and stepped inside, rearranging some pictures and creepy drawings to set up a display within.
After finishing he stepped out with two photos in hand passing one to Uzi, it was a photo of 7 people in the snow and immediately she recognised four of the figures. Doll’s Parents who she only met recently as corpses, and her mom and dad.
“This was first time I met your mom. It was after the core collapse on a WDF rescue mission to find stranded worker drones. After some searching, we discovered a place called Camp 98.7. After investigating we found some people who had apparently been living there before the core collapse, including Nori and Yeva.” Khan said nostalgically.
Khan exchanged photos with Uzi, who studied the new photo which featured Khan pulling his Nori out of the snow, behind them was an old cabin and a big wooden sign that read ‘Camp 98.7 EST. 3002’. Uzi began connecting the dots in her new mental evidence board and came to one conclusion.
“Dad, I need to go there.” With determination in her voice.
“Uzi-”
“There might be answers there! and I can’t sit in my room doing nothing now that I know about this!”
Kahn sighed, he knew there was nothing he could do to stop Uzi now that she knew about the Nori and Yeva’s connection to the Camp.
“Okay, I know I can’t stop you from going, but there’s a little more I should tell you.” He continued, looking back down at the photos.
(MOMENTS LATER)
“Just, be safe, ok?” Kahn requested as he handed Uzi a second collar that once belong to Nori.
“I’ll… try to be Dad.” Uzi assured Khan, clutching the silver collar in her hand.
An awkward silence passed between them, neither knowing what to immediately say or do after such an unusually honest discussion. Khan spoke first.
“Wait, maybe you should take someone with you. I’d go myself but I’m still teaching all the new WDF members how to efficiently operate and repair the hydraulic systems. Maybe you could take one of your classmates with you? How about that kid who stuck up to those Murder Drones with the pipe! It was Thad, right? or maybe even that nice classmate of yours, Lizzy, right?”
Uzi cringed at Khan pairing the word ‘nice’ with Lizzy. Uzi would never consider teaming up with the popular blond even if they were the last two worker drones in the universe.
‘There’s no way I’m asking Little miss popular to come along with me. Thad might be a good idea, but it could be dangerous, and I don’t want him nearly dying again like last time. I’ll just ask N to come with me… maybe V too.’
Uzi looked back at Khan thoughtfully and knew that it would probably be best to keep her opinion to herself for now, she didn’t want to ruin the moment.
“I’ll ask around.”
“Alright kiddo.”
Khan and Uzi exchanged a smile, and both stepped forward and briefly hugged.
‘Hmm, nice parenting Dad.’ Uzi thought to herself, feeling the warmth of Khan’s arms wrap around her. It was nice not being mad at him for a change.
They separated and Uzi still smiling, with the collars in hand, went to leave the room when Khan suddenly moved to his desk.
“Oh, wait a minute!” he exclaimed as he started writing something down on a piece of paper among the mess of door blueprints on his desk.
“I just remembered something else, you’ll need this too.”
Khan handed Uzi the paper and realised that it was a brief letter for student absence with Khan’s signature on the bottom.
“Just remember to bring that to your teacher tomorrow, I’ll call him too but just in case he doesn’t pick up, take that with you. Between the two of us I don’t think he takes his job very seriously.” Khan grinned cheekily with the back of his hand by his mouth as he spoke.
Uzi couldn’t argue with that, her teacher seemed apathetic to not just his job but to life in general.
‘Still, he shouldn’t have a problem with me being absent for one day of class. Heck he might actually like not having me around.’ She realised with a bruised self-esteem.
With that Uzi returned to her room and continued to study for the test tomorrow. All the while she tried her best to ignore the backpack beckoning her to consume its contents.
The hunger grew stronger.