Chapter Text
We are worker drones.
Autonomous robots helping humans mine exoplanets for our interstellar parent company, JCJenson, in ✨SPACE✨
Sure, It was hard work to meet with the humans demands, But we were always obedient to them. It isn't like we revolted and killed all humans or anything!
Maybe because they ended up killing themselves anyways.
Moving past that! It wasn't too hard to pick up where they left off and soon enough we were living out own lives. Life was perfect.
Unfortunately, our parent company wasn't too fond of the idea of runaway AI and so they brought in the murder drones. They wrecked havoc, killing workers and destroying our property. Eventually, the senseless killing became so bad that we had no choice but to flee inside the colony and abandon the outside world. Praying that we don't encounter another disassembly drone massacre again...
___
"And we've been like this ever since. We hide behind three silly doors while the disassembly drones get to enjoy the rest of the planet!" The boy that was presenting was wearing a black, snow hat and a grey winter jacket. He seemed quite passionate about the topic of his presentation. His eyes glowed bright. "That's why I'm going to face the disassembly drones myself! And when I do, I'll make sure to pop off all three of their heads. Just imagine! A world where we don't have to go into hiding! We could finally LIVE! We could finally have a life beyond these grey-ish walls!"
Niko looked around nervously "I know it's not easy, but I know I can do it. I know WE can do it. I just ask for your support. So? Who's with me?!" Niko said, confidently.
The whole class stayed silent for a minute. Then they bursted into laughter and snatched away any amount of confidence Niko might have had during his motivational speech.
The teacher sighed, seeming to get second-hand embarrassment from the dirt blonde drone. "Niko. Please sit back down. The problem was about watermelons, not whatever convoluted idea you dreamt up this time."
"W-Wait," Niko urged "I understand you guys might have your doubts, but I have something that'll prove that this is legit!"
Niko pulled from his back a railgun. It was something he had been tinkering with for years, trying to figure out how to make it work. Almost everything was complete now. All he needed was ammo. He pointed it to the class and posed. "Tada! Introducing my super cool and totally awesome railgun!"
Most of the class yelped in surprise. The sight of any weapon in the colony was not exactly welcomed. "So not the vibe!" One kid said as he covered his face in case Niko accidentally shot at him.
However, One of those classmates weren't afraid. Her name was Jacqueline. She had two big black pigtails and was the most popular girl in school. Everyone wanted to be her or be with her and if you got on her bad side, you were sure to become an outcast in a weeks time. Unfortunately, Niko was on her bad side...a lot.
Jacqueline raised her hand. "Uhm, yeah, question? How do we even know that dumb piece of metal even works? For all we know, that could just be some toy you're using to make yourself look like hot shit."
Niko gulped. She got him there. The Railgun was no where near ready to start up, at least, without the ammo. But he had just hyped himself up to the entire class! He couldn't just stand there like a fool now. He bit his lip. Hopefully his calculations were off, and the thing would survive long enough to prove his point.
He turned it on and the lights turned green. A sign of stability. He let out a sigh of relief and looked at the class. "See? What did I say? Totally legit!"
Jacqueline hummed and leaned back on her chair "Riiiiight. And is it supposed to turn that ugly red color?"
Niko blinked and looked back at the Railgun. The lights were now red and the weapon started to spark. His eyes widened and he couldn't let out even a surprised gasp before the thing blew up in his face and filled the entire class with smoke.
___
Niko sighed as he sat in the nurse office chair. He held a ice pack to his damaged eye. He looked at his Railgun with slight resentment, as if it was the one who made the dumb decision to turn itself on and explode in Niko's face in front of his entire calculus class.
He seriously didn't know what was wrong with the thing. He had put days into researching and assembling this gun. He poured hours upon hours on his passion for electronics, so why did they always fail?
"Wow. He's still alive? You'd think that explosion would have damaged his CPU." A voice said in slight disbelief and amusement.
"That's the trick. He probably doesn't even HAVE a CPU!" Another laughed. "How the hell is HE related to Ron Doorman!"
Niko turned to see who was talking. It was Jacqueline again, now with her best friend Veronica. The hottest drone on two legs and, unfortunately, another person who saw him as a complete and utter joke. They saw him look at them and snickered.
"Ew! It looked at us!" Jacqueline yelped before the two girls ran, laughing.
Niko sighed and looked down. This school year was a mess.
"Big brother!" Another familiar voice filled his audio receptors, except this voice ignited sparks of joy in him. He turned around to see his little sister running towards him.
"Cynthia!" He smiled and took her in his arms, hugging her tight. He then gave her a noogie. "You better not be skipping class"
Cynthia giggled "I'm not. It's lunch time. I just heard you got sent to the nurse. I had to make sure you didn't, yknow, die"
Niko smiled warmly. The idea that Cynthia came to see her on her own time gave him some hope. It was nice to know someone cared, even if it was just his sister. "I'm surprised you came. I mean, people willingly talk to you."
"Yeah, but why would I not come and see my brother? The best person in the world!?"
Niko hummed and gave a small smile. He was flattered by her words, but he couldn't help but doubt she would have that same sentiment in the future. It wouldn't be too long before she got into middle school, and what preteen girl would want to mess up her reputation to hang out with Niko? The clumsy idiot.
Cynthia looked passed him. The Railgun caught her eye and she tilted her head. "What's that?"
Niko looked at the gun before smiling at Cynthia. "Just my handy dandy railgun! Do you like it?" He picked it up and presented it to her. Cynthia looked in awe and touched the hard metal of the gun. He had decorated the yellow gun nicely with hello kitty stickers, a dog keychain, and many space themed accessories. "This bad boy is a killer! Just one shot and your head's clean off! I'm going to the murder drones base tonight to get the last piece, and once my invention is completely done, I'll finally get the respect from the school, I'll be classified as a hero, and my dad will finally be proud of me!" N cleared his throat "A-And saving all of worker drone kind would be neat too"
Cynthia blinked. She stayed silent for a moment before she laughed. "Oh my big brother! You really are a comedian! Hahaha!"
Niko furrowed his brows, a little hurt that Cynthia wasn't taking this seriously. "I-It's not a joke Cynthia"
Cynthia immediately stopped laughing, which was followed by a long pause of silent staring. She then chuckled nervously. "Wow. Those teenage hormones really messed with your CPU processors, huh?"
Niko sighed, "Cynthia. You know that's not how that works, and I promise you! It'll work. I just-"
"N." Cynthia interrupted. "You know I support you on all your pretty projects. Their cool! But it NOT going to win against a disassembly drone! They got razor sharp claws, and are 10 feet tall, and have machine guns that come out their mouths! At least that's what Stacy says" Cynthia said. Stacy was a girl in Cynthia s grade who claimed to know all about disassembly drones after surviving a murder drone attack herself. Niko never believed that. Stacy was simply a girl seeking attention from her peers.
Cynthia smiled. "Daddy already made the doors to fight against the worker drones. There's no need for saving. You know what they say. We're workers. Not fighters. So please don't go into the scary murder drone den. I'm.... Afraid you'll go in and never come back out" Cynthia frowned, genuinely worried.
Niko frowned, now feeling quite guilty and selfish for his wants. He sighed. "Okay Cynthia" He gave a forced smile "I promise I won't go out. I'll stay behind the doors"
Cynthia's face seemed to light up happily after the reassurance. "Thank you." She relaxed "I have to go. Don't get yourself hurt again!" After N nodded, she gave him a small kiss on the forehead before leaving to go to class. N sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
___
Niko walked with Cynthia back home. Thier designated apartment wan't actually too far from the school wing, but Cynthia insisted that he walks with her. There were fliers reminding students of Prom Night, Some fliers for jobs that needed workers, and of course, lots of fliers about the WDF. Most of them had dad's face on him. The one and only Ron Doorman. As the inventor of the hydraulic door that kept the Murder drones out, he was basically a hero to the worker drones. While all the other worker drones panicked, Ron was level-headed, and was able to make a plan so that their kind wasn't completely whipped out. He was an inspiration to aspiring inventors. A brave soul and a light in the darkness.
And then there was his son.
Niko grimaced and looked down. He rather not compare himself to his dad right now.
"What do you think Dad is making for dinner?" Cynthia asked her big brother as she skipped down the halls.
"I'm not sure. Something good" He replied. The worker drones didn't exactly have to eat, but eating stuff was always pleasing to them. Food was just what Niko needed. Something to give him pleasure and distract him from the events of the day.
Niko and Cynthia finally got to their house door and N opened it.
"DAD!" Cynthia giggled as she rushed to Ron, who was sitting on the couch. He had a charming smile and happy, observant eyes. He was also wearing the same clothe Niko was wearing. He chuckled and picked up Cynthia in his arms. "How's my little Cyn doing?"
Niko dropped his bags and joined his family by the couch. "Uh...hi dad" he said nervously
"Oh. Son" He smiled and put Cynthia down. He ruffled Niko's hair. "I almost didn't see you there. How was your day?"
Niko frowned, fixing this hair up. He made sure that the front had perfect, wavy swoops again "Uh. It was fine. I-"
"And what is this?" Ron interrupted him. He grabbed Niko's railgun and rotated it. "Is this the new arts and crafts project your working on. Showed it off to your friends, eh? I have to say, the details are amazing"
"DAD!" Niko yelped and took the gun back. He blushed in embarrassment and hid the gun behind his back. "It's just another invention I'm tinkering with. It's not a school thing."
Ron let of a firm, upbeat chuckle. Niko tried to copy it multiple times on his own time, but his laugh always came out more awkward and squeaky. "Oh you and your inventions. I should have known some of my love for robotics would go onto you. Of course, some of the knowledge of robotics could do you some good too" He laughed and patted Nikos back. Niko frowned.
"But dad! It really does work this time. I only need a-"
"Listen son" Ron quickly interrupted him. He put a hand on N's shoulder. "It's nice that you look up to your old man. Really. I'm honored. You're inventions are...cute, but I think it's time you stop before you..." Ron made a rolling gesture with his hands. "embarrass yourself again. Not everyone has what it takes to be a great engineer and this?" He looked at the railgun and let out a soft sigh. "It's not cutting it. You get me son? I'm not trying to be mean. I'm just looking out for you"
Niko's face gradually darkened with every word that came put of Ron's mouth. It hurt. Badly. It felt like got stabbed in the chest and he had no idea why. It wasn't like he was wrong. Unlike his father, none of his inventions were ever proven to work. Niko quickly looked down to hide his face. He just nodded.
"Good. I think its best you spend your time doing something you're good at." Ron clasped his hands together. "Well, enough of that. I need to go make dinner. It's your favorite, Cyn" Ron said with a smile as he left for the kitchen
"BATTERIES!" Cynthia jumped up and down. She sang to herself happily. Niko tuned her out. He frowned as he looked at the railgun in his hand before clutching it. His digital eyes were pricking with tears.
Suddenly, he didn't feel very hungry.