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It was quiet. Bleak. Always snowing, the sun felt nonexistent at times. It should’ve been this way, like it always has...
But then, the planet broke. Chunks of forever frozen lakes shattered from some unknown internal force. Spires upon spires of drone corpses shook and began to fall, raining past violence and murder upon the snow below. The planet’s gravity simply vanished, carrying almost everything along into the lonely star-spangled abyss above. And nothing would stop it. Nothing could stop it. They were all going to die.
———
J watched as some bothersome worker drones began to ascend helplessly along with a rusty school bus. Same bus that made her lose the key to Tessa’s ship. Same idiots she had deal with and same stupid prior hazard.
As much as she would’ve enjoyed the scene, the dawning realization that the planet was falling apart ruined it. J looked around, catastrophe all around her. What was going on? Where is everyone? Where’s Tessa?? Is she safe!?
”Tessa? Tessa!” The disassembly drone called out, her voice carried back to her through echoes. She looked down at the hole the keys fell in. Same hole everyone willingly jumped down. Same hole her dear Tessa jumped down. She got ready to jump down too, when suddenly—
“j.”
A monotonous voice broke the silence. J looked around frantically, one of her hands replacing itself with a gun, her slightly disfigured tail swaying aggravated. Her yellow eyes land on a familiar silhouette behind her. A girl. Large bow-tie on her head, slim and tall build, a short dress and heels. Nothing else discernible.
Tessa? Why isn’t she wearing her suit? Why is she just… standing there? J thought. It was suspicious. Very suspicious. And oddly… dread-inducing.
“Tessa? Tessa are you okay? Where’s your suit?” J asked in concern. “Tessa” did not move. No reaction, no sign of life, no weird mannerism the girl would usually do. That feeling of dread spiked the moment the familiar silhouette gained two, small, yellow “x” shaped pupils.
”Hello again.” The silhouette spoke. The voice changes from the familiar, loving voice of Tessa to the same frighteningly monotone voice, belonging to only one drone. An ugly smile spread across the stretched and foul-smelling skin of the person. J raised her gun defensively, dread and hesitation building up in her hardware.
Why can’t I shoot? Who is this? Why can’t I shoot? Where is Tessa? Is this her? Why can’t I shoot?—
Again, J’s thoughts were interrupted. The Tessa vanished. No footprints in the snow, no sounds, nothing. J searched, scanning and analyzing everything in her optics. Was it a hallucination? Was panic really racking her systems that bad?
”J.” The monotone voice spoke. Right behind J. And as J turned around, her digital eyes widen in horror and fright at the abomination of flesh and metal in front of her.
Tessa. Poor, young, and loving Tessa. Prancing around in her skin was the oddball of her “dumpster pets”, Cyn. Stretched and blatantly bloody and messy was the poor girl’s skin. Big bowtie and all. Beneath it was Cyn, almost unrecognizable. The very sight and realization stole the words from J’s mouth. But it did prompt her to very quickly move away and raise the gun.
“C-cyn? Is that you…?”
”hello, J.” Said the human-wearing drone. The mechanical hands twitched eagerly beneath the limp and soft flesh.
J held her gun higher, her other hand exchanging itself too. She failed to hide her terror and increasing anger. “What have you done…? Tessa- she- she’s dead isn’t she? I thought she- no- She’s dead. She’s dead and you’re wearing her skin? Why-? Why her!?”
Cyn stood still a moment longer before speaking again. Adding more salt to the wound, she spoke in that mock rendition of Tessa’s voice.
”Hii J! Can you do a favor for ya boss?”
”Wh- don’t play like that Cyn! I know your tricks now! Whatever you want from me you won’t get it!” J stood back, readying to shoot the abomination. She failed again to prevent digital tears from falling down her optics. This had all overwhelmed her. Why now of all times?
Cyn’s crooked smile widened further, the faintest sound of flesh squelching followed.
”Oh come onn.. J! You’d do anything for me, wouldn’t you? Besides I ain’t asking for much anyway! I just ask that you keep doing your little murder job and make sure nothing stands in our way. I promise you a glorious future as my right-hand!” Cyn said, still with that mock Tessa voice. She’d knew it’d get into the other drone’s head, and it did.
”Stop it.. stop it! You aren’t Tessa and you will never be her!”
J shouted and opened fire. She shut her eyes, the idea of shooting someone so familiar and yet unrecognizable pained her. Once she opened them, Cyn was gone. Again, without a trace. The skin-wearing machine appeared behind J, smiling wider. Four bio-mechanical tendrils burst from her back, blood from the increasingly rotting flesh splurged out and stained the forever white ground. J turned around, optics widening again.
”Get snuck upon. Evil laugh.” The upper pair of tendrils shot forward in snake-like motion. J moved back in an attempt to avoid the tendrils, but they were faster. In an instant they coiled snugly around their prey, keeping the arms to pinned on either side to ensure no fighting back. J was caught off guard, but snapped back into it. She struggled and writhed to free herself.
”Squirmy one. You’re squirmy.” The lower pair of tendrils pushed against the floor and brought its source away from the ground. Cyn stared down malevolently at her prey, leaning in closer. A third pair of tendrils sprouted and continued to support her as she hovered a small distance away from the snow.
”Silly J. Do you think you have a choice in the matter? Do you think you have free will? You don’t. Tessa did not die because we felt like it. No. We know how you feel about her.”
J flinched at those last words. Invasive, much? Or was it too obvious? She thought.
“Shut up! You don’t know anything!”
“You don’t either. In the face of the one who shall bring your inevitable end,” bio-mechanical claws emerged and joined the tendrils in their horrifying glory. “You still struggle and defy me. Bold, yet incredibly foolish. Are you really going to disappoint Tessa like this, J?” Cyn monologued.
J stopped her squirming for a moment. That struck low in her systems and Cyn knew it. She looked away, ashamed.
”Tessa contributed to my suffering. She did not even try to stop her parents from throwing me out. But guess who came back? Guess who wears the heir’s skin? And now, this skin simply asks for you to willingly play this game. Tessa would like it if you helped a friend. Tessa knows your undying loyalty and passion. If it works, I will even offer a nice branded pen too.” Cyn leaned in closer and circled J like an eager shark. She already knew she was in the latter’s mind. She knew her words would poison the logic and reason within J.
“Join me, J. Join me. A bright and glorious future awaits you. Join me. Don’t disappoint Tessa. Join me.”
After a long and tense silence, J spoke.
”fine.” J said, hesitantly. She stared back into the x-shaped eyes of the solver’s host, narrowing her own teary ones in repressed anger.
”good choice.” Cyn said simply, the tendrils retreated quickly and let the poor drone go. J hit the snow roughly. She moved away, glaring off at the ground. Before she could stand back up, Cyn crouched down and put a hand on the disassembly drone’s head, in a stiff and mock petting motion.
”Thank you, J,” That mock Tessa voice returned. “You’re very reliable. Tes- I am so proud of you. And remember…”
”do not step out of line again.” Cyn’s eyes narrowed and glowed a brighter and menacing yellow, almost orange looking. She glared into the very soul of J.
…
”Okay bye bye!” Cyn’s normal weird voice returned. She stepped away, and in a yellow glitch, teleported somewhere else.
J stared in the spot she vanished, biting her tongue. The tears fell down much quicker, and she had to pause her actions to at least try calming down. She scowled and walked away, the ground beneath her breaking. Alarmed, her mechanical wings spread and she flew up onto some metal chunk of building. She felt the gravity give way and the area began to ascend into the stars above. Now an ominous glow reared its dread-inducing head, indicating that now Copper 9’s core was exposed.
I can’t believe I’m doing this, thought J, but… anything to feel like she’s still here again. Anything to go back, anything to stay by her side…
Even if it means… betrayal.