Chapter Text
Greetings fellow readers and writers. Your German writer Don Orbit here with a special something.
Man, 1 year since the final episode of Murder Drones aired. I must say I did not see time fly past me this fast and suddenly feel much older. Still, as the quote goes: "Do not cry because it is over, smile because it happened."
And as such I will do so and hopefully move past that sadness. But that is not what is important here. What is important is that I am breaking one of my self-imposed rules here, which is to not make the same kind of story twice in terms of franchise combinations. But I feel sentimental today, so I will break that rule and this idea has been living rent-free in my mind for the past month or so.
So you may think of this as a bit of an AU to my other Murder Drones/Digimon crossover Railgun and Digital Reinforcement as well as a tribute to the Drones of the Deep webcomic by BunixFurs . I do not claim ownership over her work and I will admit that this story idea is also influenced by my other Murder Drones fanfictions like "Drones of a Feather", so except OOC behaviour that does not conform with her work. This is purely a fanbased idea of mine as someone who likes both the general AU idea, Murder Drones and of course Digimon. So please support Bunix Furs' comic on Webtoons or another platform you might find her posting it.
With that out of the way, let's get into it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Murder Drones, Digimon or Drones of the Deep.
Drones of the Deep: Net Ocean
Part I - Who Seeks Shall Find
The exoplanet of Copper-9 was not quite like most of the planets that humanity had attempted to colonize in its years as a spacefaring species. Whereas most planets they came across were lifeless rocks, that were solely populated for the sake of conducting mining operations, this planet in particular was one of the rare cases where the planet already possessed an atmosphere breathable for humans and other carbon-based lifeforms, a stable crust and even large oceans, that dominated the planet's surface not unlike those on Earth. Therefore, it was truly no surprise that humanity began to colonize the world relatively shortly after its initial discovery. Though, due to the few larger landmasses, it came to no one's surprise that most of the few settlements on its surface were located near the shores.
However, this also meant that most of the ore deposits on the planet were located near or in the ocean, proving to be a bit of a challenge for the humans, who mainly relied on autonomous robots or androids known as worker drones to mine far away planets for their resources, construct any necessary structures and in general act as an expendable labour force for all sorts of work to not potentially endanger human lives. So, by combining the baseline traits of the terrestrial worker drones with the traits of fishes and using the mythical creatures known as merfolk (more commonly known as mermen or mermaids) as an inspiration, the company JCJenson IN SPAAAAACEE!, or simply JCJenson, developed a variant of their worker drone to fulfil its role in aquatic environments: the merdrone.
They basically removed the tubular legs of the worker drone and replaced their entire lower body from the hips down with an elongated tail outfitted with synthetic fins based on those of existing species of ray-finned fishes. As such, the merdrones were fully aquatic and could perform the tasks of an average human worker underwater indefinitely. With this new labour force, mankind could easily colonize the planet, construct, mine and expand over Copper-9.
However, this was not meant to be forever when a catastrophic incident on the surface had led to the complete extinction of all human life on the planet, leaving the merdrone population behind. Over time, these androids developed full sentience and established their own civilisation in the absence of any humans...
Waves gently lapped over the sandy shoreline of a once bustling city before retreating back into the sea and returning to crash against the land anew. Half buried in the sands of the tidal flats or already at least partially submerged under the waves laid the remains of buildings. Like the skeletal remnants of great leviathans their concrete and metal bones laid broken and weathered down by years of exposure to the elements in the sands, parts of it breaking off every now and again to be slowly carried away by the tides.
There was something poetic about it. Like the ocean threating to slowly devour the land one tiny bite at a time or perhaps the minerals that had originally been mined from the ocean floor slowly returning back to their place of origin. Further inland, the ruins of the city still stood mostly tall, though the elements had stripped away much of its former glory. Some of the structures had collapsed at least in part, while other still stood strong, defying the erosion of the monuments mankind had left behind. Some stood tilted to the side and would have collapsed already if not for another building next to them on which they were now leaning against, though it was merely a matter of time until they too would collapse, be reduced to little more than sand and dust to be carried away by wind and water and eventually return back to the sea.
But there was not only death and decay to be found in a place like this. Various organic lifeforms found a new home within these artificial reefs and settled right in. Crevices and cracks between boulders became home to a variety of species ranging from stationary anemones and corals to smaller invertebrates and fishes, which humanity had brought to this planet. Colourful fish swam above these piles of debris in groups, while a few sea stars crawled over them in search of food. Patches of algae and marine species of plant life grew amidst the ruins of human civilization and life's resilience showed itself in its refusal to simply die off just because the species responsible for them being there in the first place was long gone.
The same could be said about the merdrones, despite the fact that fate seemed to have handed them the shorter end of the stick. Sometime after them evolving into fully sapient beings and establishing their independent society on Copper-9, JCJenson seemed to not appreciate and entire planet full of rogue AI and viewed it as a problem to be solved. Their solution came in the form of sending a natural predator of sorts to Copper-9 to clean up. The so-called shark drones were created for a singular purpose: the complete extermination of any and all merdrones they came across.
After the shark drones' deployment on the ocean world, merdrone civilization quickly began to collapse under the threat of these new marine predators and forced the surviving merdrone populations into hiding in isolated or protected areas that the shark drones could either not find immediately or get access to. Such colonies were the last remaining places where merdrones could live in relative safety.
Inside one of colony laid hidden underneath a dome of vines, which had proven itself to be incredibly resilient from even the attacks of the advanced weaponry of the shark drones and regenerating damages to its tissue quite fast, making it a natural protective barrier for the merdrones. Despite the dome of vines covering the entire colony and thus preventing any attacks from above as well, light passed through the ceiling just fine as if the barrier wasn't there, bating the waters in a warm light-green light during the day.
Sitting on a rock jutting out of the overall sand covered ocean floor, one particular merdrone with short blonde hair wearing a baseball cap backwards and a reddish-brown shirt with a white 0 on the chest as well as a sports jacket of the same colour with short yellow sleeves was watching a recording of the destroyed cityscape and the reef that had taken root on its debris on a small tablet computer. His green digital eyes studied the images on the device, darting from one colourful fish to another and always spotting some new detail. Whether that was a small shrimp darting behind a patch of seaweed for cover after being spooked by whoever recorded it or a moray eel resting within the cracks between the rocks and blending into its surroundings with its darker colouration.
'Hm... I wonder what that place looks like nowadays.' Thad wondered for perhaps the 100th time since he had first watched that recording a month ago. Among his peers, most people knew him as the typical high school stereotype of the popular guy who loved sports and got along with pretty much anyone. Closer friends of Thad also knew about his fascination and interest in organic life forms, namely those that also inhabited the waters of Copper-9. And while there certainly was no shortage of such living beings within the barrier around the colony he had been born and raised in and had lived his entire life, he also would like to see what was beyond those protective walls of vines.
For that reason, the recording in his hand was even more precious. Thad had been born shortly after the deployment of the shark drones on their home world, making him part of a generation of merdrones that didn't know a Copper-9 without shark drones. Everything he knew about the outside world beyond the protective dome was either what had been recorded, whether on paper or in digital form, or had been passed down from the older adults of the colony who had lived through the golden days before the shark drones had come and the chaos that followed their arrival and their decimation of most merdrones.
That detail made him frown a bit before he put the small tablet away into his jacket, making a mental note to return it to the library the first thing in the morning when he noticed the slight dimming of the light above that announced the setting of the sun, and sat up from the rock he had sat upon before heading towards his home. He simply swam with calm strokes of his tail as he passed by other merdrones along his way, some waving at him, others actually greeting him verbally which he responded in kind to.
Before long, he had made his way to a small cave with a flag of an American football club repurposed as a curtain and door to his home. This resulted in his little domain to be marked with the slightly weathered emblem of a football and a red number 0 on the navy-blue fabric. Inside the place was in a general state of disarray with some clothes and blankets laying on the ground, while shelves mounted on the walls held books about marine life and sport items. He smiled a bit at his chaos. As much as it could be better, it was his. He took off his jacket and put it over a chair on a small metal desk when he noticed a baseball glove peeking out from under a pile of pillows and blankets on his bed.
He barely even fought the grin on his face when he picked up a metal baseball bat leaning against the wall next to his desk and ball as he swam back to the door, facing the bed as he started talking like a commentator of a team sport, broadcasting the events of an imaginary game to an imaginary audience. "And from the Great Barrier Dolphins, the one and only pitcher to have launched a ball through the barrier, Thad enters the court. The game is almost over and the crowd is holding their breath. Will he knock the other team out of the park yet again?" He said, throwing the ball in his hand a few times and observing the pile of blankets on his bed shift slightly as whatever was hiding underneath was stirring.
Then he threw the ball up and raised his bat, letting the ball, hit the ceiling of his home just before he hit it light enough with the bat to launch it across the room."
"And another hit! The ball flies towards the edge. Could this be a homerun? Ladies and gentlemen, will the dolphins go home defeated, or will lobsters get served with a side of melted butter?" He said overly dramatic as he watched the ball sail towards the wall behind the bed. Just then the pile of blankets erupted as something swam up from beneath and towards the ball. Lifting one arm with the baseball glove high above its head, it kicked the last remaining blankets off its multi-jointed feet just as the ball hit the glove and got caught. Thad simply smiled as he kept the commentator role up. "Oh, look at this development! The ball got caught and with that Thad is out. Blocked once more by the absolute defender of the lobsters, Crabmon!"
Sinking back down to the bed was a small creature that looked like a cartoonish crab the size of a small dog. Covered in a bluish-gray carapace with patches of red and small spines on its back, most of its body was a head with two relatively large eyes and a broad mouthline, while being supported by six legs. Of those six, the last two were almost like those of a grasshopper. At the front the crustacean being had two asymmetrical arms with the right arm being shorter and ending in a small pincer, while the left one was longer and larger like that of a winker crab. Crabmon laughed as it sunk back onto the bed, taking off the baseball glove with its right claws to reveal the large, blade-like scissor underneath.
"Was I that obvious? I was hoping you'd sit down on the bed and spook you like that." Crabmon said before grabbing the baseball with its right pincer to not cut it in half with its left one and gently threw it back at Thad who caught it with no problem.
"Yeah, maybe don't try and cover your tracks with a chaos worse than anything I'd normally do." The merdrone laughed before putting the ball and bat back down before making his way over to the bed to catch Crabmon launching himself into his arms. He gently petted the crustacean digimon over the back with a chuckle. "Missed you too buddy."
Digimon Analyzer
Crabmon
Level: Rookie
Crustacean Digimon
Type: Data
Attack: Scissor Magic
With that, Thad let himself fall onto his messy bed with Crabmon chuckling slightly at his remark. "You better. It sure is boring waiting all day for you to come back home." The digimon said.
"Really now? You already read all the books I got here? Or did you accidentally cut them into ribbons?" Thad asked, sitting up and leaning against the wall, while Crabmon walked sideways off of the merdrone's chest onto a pile of blankets, giving the green-eyed merdrone a look with its own sea green irises and letting out a clearly faked gasp.
"That was ONE TIME, Thad. I've learned to be more careful with your stuff." Crabmon said, while Thad raised an eyebrow.
"You mean, it was one time and 5 books you shredded. And it took forever to clean it up because of the current that day." Thad replied with a finger pointing at the digimon, who simply turned sideways on the spot facing away from him.
"Details, details. If the library didn't want their books to be damaged, they shouldn't let irresponsible teens borrow them whose pets might accidentally eat them."
"Normally, 'pets' don't talk though." The merdrone replied.
"Then it's a good thing I'm not normal then." The two shared another short chuckled before both of them sighed. Thad's gaze wandered to a shelf on the far wall of his bed, spotting a small rectangular device on it, looking somewhat like a mixture of a smartphone and an old handheld gaming console the humans had made during the very early 21st century. The screen didn't take up the entire screen, although most of it and there were two buttons on the lower half of it. Its colour scheme matched that of Thad with an overall brownish red and the buttons being a duller green than his own neon green eyes. Crabmon followed Thad's gaze before he turned back to the merdrone. "Something on your mind, partner?"
"Just thinking back to when we first met." Thad replied. "One moment I was chilling and minding my own business..."
"And the next I tried clawing your face off for hitting me with that football of yours." Crabmon added, snapping his bladed scissor together as if to give his words more weight.
"That was an accident and I apologized for that!" Thad said in an overly dramatic tone, before shooting Crabmon another look. "Plus, you snipped it in half."
"Because you deserved it."
"That was my favourite ball."
"Shouldn't have thrown it then, should you? But hey, you got a great deal out of it. You lost a football and you got a new best friend."
"Nah, Lizzie, Uzi and Doll have you beat on that front- OOF!" Thad smirked when he was hit in the face with a pillow thrown by Crabmon. Pulling it off his face, he still smiled at the crustacean digimon crossing its arms at him. "I got an awesome roommate and buddy though."
"Hmpf!" Crabmon huffed as he turned around and backed into Thad's side, who started petting the crab. "Just don't think I will forgive you for not even introducing me to them."
"You know how girls like Lizzie are. They freak out when they see an octopus or a shrimp in their closet. Imagine what her reaction would be if I shoved you in her face." The merdrone rolled his eyes at the mental image of him holding up his digimon partner like a pet dog. By the way Crabmon shuddered, he had apparently the same mental image in his mind. Thad barely understood the concept of having a digimon partner and from what Crabmon had told him, it was actually some sort of big deal for them to have a partner and growing stronger from their mutual bond. Yet, he couldn't even take his friend out to do anything other than exploring the colony in the middle of the night when most other merdrones slept. In a way, Crabmon was just as much kept in a dome of his own as Thad was in the colony, while both wanted out.
"Yeah, you're right. Plus, I think I mastered the arts of hiding beneath your bed when she or Doll is around to visit and keeping myself busy during the day."
"You literally complained not even 10 minutes ago about being bored."
"That was then and this is now!"
"Why are you so crabby all of the sudden?"
"I am a crab!" Crabmon closed his eyes and nodded to himself with crossed arms, before speaking up again. "Why are you not just inviting Uzi out then? Maybe that will take her mind off from... you know..." Thad frowned a bit at the idea. Sure, the whole gang was busy lately with their own stuff and they didn't hang out as much as they used to. He'd still call them close enough to consider the three girls his friends, but lately Uzi seemed to be more... focused on her revenge plot against the shark drones for killing her mother Nori when she was young.
Memories of a young purple merdrone girl flashed in Thad's mind from way earlier. A girl who would isolate herself and never truly belonged anywhere. One that Lizzie and him had to practically force into a friendship by not leaving her alone. That and Lizzie's best friend Doll also shared the same past as Uzi, leading to the two quieter loners to bond faster with one another than the two pushing for a bit more of a friendship.
"You know what?" Thad suddenly said as he suddenly picked Crabmon up, making the digimon yelp and kicking his legs in surprise as Thad sat up. "We do exactly that."
"Do what?" Crabmon blinked in confusion.
"Invite the gang to spend some time together. For old time's sake, you know? And if things go well, I'll introduce you to them."
"You swear?" The digimon looked at him sceptically. Thad held out his ring/little finger of his four fingered hand for Crabmon to grab with his right claw.
"I swear by Neptune and if I break it,..."
""I/you'll cut of your/my fins and make soup out of them."" Crabmon and Thad said in unison like two children in kindergarten, before both smiled broadly and laughed again.
"Alright, a deal's a deal." Crabmon added before wriggling out of Thad's grip and landed on the ground next to his bed with a soft thud, before grabbing a pillow from the ground and dragging it into a small hollow underneath the bed. "See ya tomorrow then, partner." He said before disappearing underneath the bed.
"Alright, night partner." Thad replied before dialling a number on his build-in phone. He had a few calls to make to some old friends.
Meanwhile, the warm glow of the setting sun bathed the skies above in hues of orange and yellow as they painted the white clouds above in their colours, while the light-blue of the skies slowly began to fade away for the darkness of the night. Below the waves of the shallow waters near the coast, however, another colour joined the otherwise warm and soft symphony of the blue and green waters of the sea. Black. Tendrils of pitch-black oil drifted off into the current like a cloud of ink.
It wasn't ink though, but oil. Merdrone oil to be specific. The crunching and slightly screeching sound of metal being torn apart under rows of sharp teeth mixed into the water alongside the noise of the waves above. Hovering in place just a short bit above the white and beige sands was a shark drone eating the last remains of its last victim. With a last greedy bite, the hand of the merdrone disappeared in his mouth before he started chewing on the appendage, savouring the sensation of the metal cracking under his teeth and the oil spilling from the finger joints like juices from a grape. The yellow X that replaced his digital eyes from his visor during his hunting mode disappeared shortly after swallowing, leaving him with neon yellow eyes as he looked down at his still oil-stained claws, before he licked it off with his forked tongue like a white sea snake drifting in a cloud of blood.
"I think that was number 49 of this month. Or was it 48? No, I'm sure it was 49. Good thing I keep a list in my head." N said to himself as he finished licking his claws clean and switched the three razor-sharp claws for normal four-fingered hands like those of a normal merdrone. Earlier he had found one such drone out in the open waters, maybe looking for something salvageable among the wreckage of a boat that had sunken during the incident leading to the human extinction on this planet. His initial plan was to simply shoot at them with a harpoon and reel them in as usual, but the merdrone had noticed him just in time to evade the attack and only get their fin torn. After that, N had given chase and the merdrone had thought to be safe by swimming into shallow waters.
Needless to say, they were wrong. Still, N enjoyed the hunt. More than once, he had almost lost track of the merdrone by them swimming into the ruins of a sunken building and trying to hide within. However, much like the oceanic predators that the shark drones were named after, N's senses were very sharp and he easily picked up on the merdrone's scent from the oil spilling from the wound he had initially inflicted upon them as well as their frantic electric signals from the contractions of synthetic muscles. After that, it was quick and painless or at least N would think it to be so after shooting the merdrone in the head with his tail-mounted harpoon, nanite acid instantly destroying their processors and delivering a quick death before he even started to reel his latest catch in.
'It's getting dark. Maybe I can catch another drone at night trying to evade me and the others.' N thought to himself as his mind immediately drifted over to his two fellow shark drones of his squad, J and V. Despite shark drones being deployed in groups or shivers of 3, J, N and V rarely ever hunted together these days and even before then it was so that everyone hunted for themselves and their own food. 'Well, we are sharks after all... Still...' N caught himself thinking as he swam over to a cluster of boulders, scarring away a group of shrimps as he looked up at the still shimmering surface of the sea.
Sure, they were shark drones and sharks were in general not very social animals. Despite that he couldn't help but feel sometimes as if J and V didn't want him to be around them. And with that he began to look at himself more critically as to figure out why they might not want to spend time with him. Was it because his monthly quota was too low? Was it because of the way his short white hair looked combined with his jacket and his hat? Was it his voice or perhaps because he was the only male member of their group?
Questions upon questions piled up and they all had the same underlining question: What was wrong about him specifically that made them not want him to be around them? And what could he do to improve that relationship?
Now, N was a bit embarrassed himself to admit that, but he wanted to get along with J and V. Maybe a bit more with V than J due to a crush he had on the former, but he would also like to get along with his squad's leader. For whatever reason, it felt like he was all alone with this desire to be closer to them at least as friends, because despite them often not being around him, he cared for them. And he secretly hoped that, maybe one day...
N quickly slapped his hands against his cheeks as a neon yellow blush crept up his visor, snapping him out of whatever daydream he could have had if he had finished that thought. 'No! No dreaming on the job. First, let's see if there are anymore merdrones around. Then worry about getting along with V and J... I hope they are doing well... No, stop worrying about them... AH!' He told himself as he quickly shook his head and sat up from the boulder, his shark like tail whipping around from side to side to quickly swim around to make scan the area for any other indicators of any merdrones nearby...
Then movement caught in the corner of his eye, making him stop dead in his tracks and look towards where he had just seen it. Something had just disappeared behind the same rocky outcrop he had sat upon not even a minute ago. He had not been able to see what it quite was directly, but he definitely had picked up on its white colour which was rather out of place for this part of the ocean with most of the fishes and other critters being rather colourful. So, either he had just stumbled upon some unknown creature or that was a merdrone he had completely overlooked while caught up in his thoughts. Something that J would never let him hear the end of if she caught wind of that.
Immediately, N slowly began to circle the outcrop, the triangular fin on his back almost skimming the surface of the water above him as he tried to get a better look. Unfortunately, though, just as he was about to see something and caught another glimpse of it, this time a tuff if red hair, it ducked between the rocks disappeared from view again. However, it confirmed that he had indeed seen something and that it was playing a game of hide-and-seek with him.
"Okay, you want to play? Ready or not, here I come." N said more to himself than whatever was starting to get on his nerves as his eyes were replaced by the same yellow X again, before dashing around the corner.
But just in that moment, a school of large colourful fish appeared out of seemingly nowhere and swam in his general direction. The X on N's visor disappeared in an instant when he shielded his head with his arms instinctively. That was until he noticed the fishes didn't even as much as touch him once or twice, accidentally bumping into his tail as he brought himself to a full stop. Once the school of fish had passed him, he looked around to see nothing out place again. Just a bunch of boulders jutting out of the ocean in the shallows of Copper-9. N let out a sigh, more out of disappointment with himself than being tired.
"Maybe J was right and I really am not cut out for this..." He thought out loud, hanging his head in defeat and looking down at the sandy ground below. That was when he noticed a second, smaller shadow just behind his own and then felt how something gently touched his shoulder. Confused, N turned his head around and came face to face with a small white creature, looking directly into his yellow digital eyes with organic green ones. The sudden unexpected sight made N almost jump as he backed away to get a better look at the thing looking at him.
It was covered in short white fur with violet markings on its head, back and feet. On the top of its head, N could see a short tuff of orange or red hair extend from the forehead to the back of its head and a pair of almost rabbit like ears or antennae, giving it an overall mammalian-like appearance. It also had four legs with its forelimbs being larger than the hindlegs, but both sets tipped with three black claws on each feet, although the ones on the flipper like front legs were also longer, almost like fingers. Finally, the body ended in a short tail.
All the previous tension in the shark drone's body disappeared, leaving N with a bit of a surprise. Now as a shark drone he was a ruthless killer of merdrones, but that bloodlust did not extend towards other living or organic creatures. Sure, he could technically eat organic marine fauna and flora, but he didn't take any pleasure in that sort of thing. And as much as he was slightly disappointed to not be looking at his 50th merdrone kill this month, he actually found the creature looking at him with big and curious green eyes a cute in a strange way.
"Oh, sorry buddy. I thought you were something else..." N said, before chiding himself in his head. 'Oh c'mon N. You are starting to talk with wildlife again. It's not like it can understand you, just because it does look cute...' However just as he was thinking that, the seal-like being replied.
"It's okay, I did sneak up on you there, didn't I?" The creature then said, laughing sheepishly and scratching the back of its head with its clawed flipper-like arms. "Sorry about that." In response, the shark drone actually mirrored the creature's apologetic and sheepish behaviour, scratching the back of his own head.
"Nah, it's fine. I was sort of on my work break there and..." N stopped what he was doing as he looked at it with wide yellow eyes as they hollowed out in a shocked expression. "Did you just... talk...?" He asked slowly, not sure whether he was losing his mind from a prolonged social isolation and his desire to be closer with his squadmates. But the strange animal did reply again.
"Uhm... yeah? Shouldn't I?" It asked, blinking in confusion.
For a moment, neither of them said anything and just looked at each other, while the only sound came from the waves crashing against the rocks jutting out of the water above them.
"Do you... uh... need a minute?" The creature asked. N didn't reply as his visor replaced his eyes with a line of text reading "Mind dot exe stopped responding. Reboot in progress...". At that the white marine animal looked a bit concerned and swam over to the shark drone, before patting him on the forehead with one of its flippers. "Oh dear. There, there."