Chapter Text
About 50 miles west from home. No life spotted. Body count; 245. The largest body count since the trot leaving the manor. People were dropping like flies. She could only hope it was the drones and not some sort of radiation poisoning. Wildlife left; burrowing animals and insects. Unfortunately misquotes have survived the bloodshed. As they have every major genocide of various populations on earth. Squirrels do not make good food but if she holds her breath she can imagine it's a really small chicken leg. Only eat when there is no other food around. Tessa didn't know if people could get rabies from eating infected species. She was only half sure she had the shots to combat the virus.
Fire at the church is still blazing. As it is all the time. Shouldn't it have burned down by now?? Anyway, this area can be marked off as a safe zone. No drones will get within a 4 mile radius of the fire. Reason; unknown, for now. Maybe they just don’t like fire. She didn’t like fire either. The smell gave her a headache. The sky was still a nasty dark orange color. That black hole void thingy was creepily shining as bright as the sun. On some days she swore it whispered things illegible to her ears. It might’ve replaced the sun. It’s been there for 2 years since its appearance. The drones seemed to linger around it. Strangely enough they popped out of it from time to time? Tessa didn’t dare to investigate the mass. She knew her limits. It was far enough away that there wasn't a need to get close.
What was left of the military pressed still pushed on the mutated drones. Choppers circled the skies. From what Tessa believed the last humans could be living in there. No other humans have been seen for weeks. The last person she saw got eaten before her eyes. Grim but Tessa had a tough stomach. She was more worried about the fact that she hadn't found any of them. Every drone that caught her eye lacked any of their features. They were violent. Hard to come across without being immediately put on the offensive. Tessa always made sure to thoroughly look over their lifeless bodies before moving on with her search.
Luckily, even robots were weak to guns. Tessa was just fortunate to be equipped with a M1911 pistol. Other military personnel dropped their inventory, that included a much more complicated arsenal. However Tessa had no idea how to use them. Plus the heavy artillery had a kick back that she learned was too much for her body to handle. In a moment where she had to use one the pressure knocked her off her feet, damn near giving her a concussion. When she gazed at what was left of the drone that attacked her it was blasted in half. Blew its core to smithereens. Its whole midsection to be specific.
Definitely made note to work out to handle the power of those bad guys.
In the meantime, Tessa stocked up on bullets that apparently exploded? Sick as all hell by the way. They weighed her backpack quite a bit. Being that all that inhabited the storage was bullets, whatever food that she’d stolen from dead bodies and medical aid. Tessa wasn’t happy with her roster to be completely honest. She had a stash elsewhere but even that wasn't up to par. It lacked much needed items like water. Water, oh sweet dear water please come soon. Tessa made it her mission to seek out water at least twice a week. Even that wasn’t enough. Her current source of hydration was near empty bottles often found resting by the dead. She went as far as to start eating healthy looking plants for moisture. Only half the time did she end up inebriated. Once or twice doing so led to a nasty stomach ache.
Enough daydreaming about what she didn’t have. Most importantly Tessa had her life. She’d escaped the manor years ago with the help of humans that specialized in instances with “zombie drones” as they called them. Seems like Cyn actually did have something serious wrong with her and wasn’t just silly and quirky. Obviously now. The humans let her live at their camp. Things went well. Until a year later these upgraded murderous drones showed up at their doorstep. They came in, killed everyone like there was no tomorrow. Tessa didn’t waste time fighting or trying to save anyone. Hell no. She jumped out the window the second she heard screaming. Had to put herself first.
Looted the bodies on her way out. That was where she got some insulated overalls to pair with a cropped hoodie. The only things that would fit her. An egregious pairing but she was happy to get rid of that raggy dress. Thank you random technician that was laying dead by the window. You didn’t die for nothing.
Tessa truly escaped by the skin of her teeth. Drug herself around with a broken ankle for months before it healed and she became a scavenger. Since then things have only gotten worse. Tessa didn’t want to believe she was the only human on the planet, but the feedback on the radio indicated the human race was coming to a close on this rock. However, she’d heard talk of other exoplanets. Humans lived there. Thrived. It seemed like a long shot but if Tessa wanted to live another year, it seemed like she had an objective added to her queue.
- Find V, J & N. Kick their butts and rewire them (if necessary) so they don’t kill you on sight— Ongoing
- Find a steady source of water Multiple failures but keep searching Find any fucking water!!
- Find a way off this damn rock— Pending
Seemed easy enough.
Find three drones that you haven’t seen in years, expect them to look similar enough that you can recognize them, and drag them with you to the nearest planet. Yes. That was the plan.
Tessa closed her notebook and shoved it into her bag. She’s tried everything to find them. Called out to them, left batteries with rope around it in hopes of catching them in a cartoon trap (she really thought that would at least work on N), asked other drones before she finished them off. They didn’t, or couldn’t, talk. Just made animalistic sounds. Another stick in her ass, prepare for your three not so innocent not so little anymore drones to lack the ability to communicate! Assuming they got the same upgrades as everyone else. The most she knew was that V had fleshy wings and claws and sharp teeth the last time she saw her. Those versions of drones were rare now. All of them having a more sleek design.
Ha ha ha. What else universe?
“Maybe I’m thinking too hard. What haven’t I tried?” Tessa thought aloud.
At the same time she stepped on something. A book under some rubble. She wiped off the cover. Rebel Ladies Who Brazen Rocked The World by Pénélope Bagieu. She gasped, clutching the publication.
“Hehehe I gotcha now sucka.” Tessa ran out into the open manically giggling. She whistled with her fingers waving the book in the air. “Woe is me! It appears I’ve stumbled upon feminist literature! Ya hear that ya ol’ sticky beaks? Oh— whaaaats this? Additions from women of color? What a bloody coincidence!”
The ruckus attracted some company. Three drones appeared from within the clouds. Tessa squealed, thinking that she’d gotten all three in one go. On second thought, taking on all three at once without killing them would be a challenge. Task accomplished, she retried the book into her bag.
Two of them crashed down, looming in the shadows. Tessa made a mental note that one still covered high in the air. She gripped her pistol, shooting one in the chest immediately. These things severely lacked real battle iq. All their moves were the same. Rigid. Made up for with brute force strength. The other drone lunged at Tessa with its claws aiming for her face. She side stepped out of the way, blasting a bullet in the side of its head. It faltered, using its wing to attempt to cut Tessa’s side. She parried the attack by whipping out her sword from her tool belt. Thank goodness for keeping that beauty. From the major damage it slumped backwards. A final bullet blew a sizable hole in its chest to finish it off.
Clearly those two weren’t any of her drones. Well— not the ones she was looking for. These didn’t even have hair or clothes.
Tessa looked up into the sky for the final drone. It was.. gone? No. Impossible. They never just disappeared. That’d be too easy. Tessa kept her guard up. Sword in one hand, pistol in the other. She forced herself to slow her breathing, listening for any sounds that might indicate an attack. A minute passed by of her frantic searching around her, the skies, the ground, squinting at weirdly shaped objects. Then, a high pitched trill pierced the silence. Tessa turned around to a drone coming full force at her. It cackled manically. She used her sword to take a swipe at its neck. That of which was performed too late. It grabbed onto the blade and swung Tessa into a fit of disorientation. She landed bodily against a surrounding car. The drone was on her tail, crashing into the vehicle when its target moved out of the way. Tessa hopped onto the hood in a squat, getting a good look at the drone. Two two tails accentuated with very familiar bows. Was it really??
“Is that my girl J?” She’d asked the dazed drone.
Unlike the other bots, she wasn’t just mutated and fleshy. She’d gotten a whole new upgrade. Five strange bulbs glowed on her head. Her limbs were larger— she was larger. Taller and more sturdy. Causing patterns outlines the edging of her arms and bottom of her— pegs? Not feet. Who on earth designed that? Her old maids outfit was scrapped for sleek business casual dress ending at her mid thighs, over a yellow dress shirt with a tie fastened around her neck. The dead give away this was in fact J was the band around her upper arm that marked her for disassembly. Bingo. Now time to get serious.
J shook her head then peered up. Much like the rest of the drones an amber X replaced her eyes. She smiled wide, displaying rows of choppers Tessa did NOT want to be on the receiving end of. This would be about as hard as she expected it to be.
“I’m guessing you’re not a total dunce like your new pals, eh?” Tessa chuckled.
No answer came as J took to the skies, switching out her arm for a laser that split the car clean in half. Tessa stumbled off of it as the parts fell. Shellshocked, she stared up at J. She almost wanted to praise the drone for the skill.
That’s not good. So wasn’t expecting them to have lasers.
Not giving Tessa a chance to breathe, J hurdled back down with a sword of her own that clashed against Tessa’s. The human was forced backwards by the force being put up. Her eyes widened at the ever present grin on J’s face. Losing concentration, and subsequently her footing, she slipped onto one knee. At this point Tessa feared for the quality of her spine from the daunting angle her back was being bent at. In a quick, and childish, moment of thinking Tessa looked down at J’s shirt.
“O-oh my! Is that a meticulously placed wrinkle on your shirt?? Not very professional.” Tessa ridiculed, managing a halfwitted smile. J took the bait, comically looked down and the other blew a raspberry as she slid her blade away from the drone, causing her to stumble forward. Swiftly she rammed the hilt of her sword onto the top of her head. J yelled out, holding one of the bulbs that was busted in the process. “Ha ha made ya look, silly.” She taunted.
Celebration was cut short when J’s tail wrapped around Tessa’s legs, dangling her a couple feet in the air. Caught off guard Tessa dropped her gun, sword and bag in the attack. She grabbed at the wire, equally impressed by the strength of it and petrified by being caught. The yellow vial pointed at her side. She grabbed at the hazard curiously. Twisting and turning it around. Regardless of the severity of the situation, Tessa couldn’t contain her excitement about the technological advancement. The vial was brighter up close. When J wasn’t in the process of killing her she’d find a way to study the liquid. For now she oughta focus on surviving to do so.
“Darn. Ya caught me. What’re the chances you’re vegan?” Tessa shot finger guns at J.
She was met with being lowered to her mouth that was unhinged enough to take Tessa’s face off with one bite. Horrifying but also cool! Such conflicting feelings! Who knew her cute little maid had the capability to become creepypasta adjacent?
“Holy Hanna! Wait wait!” Tessa smacked J’s visor, causing her to draw the woman back. “Damn Cyn that cunt. Uh— let’s see— J my bestest friend, ya really gonna have me for tea without any veggies? Wait no— I think I’d fancy being a sanger than pot roast.” She posed with two peace signs. Totally not breaking into a cold sweat.
If J didn’t have a miraculous moment of strength she'd be shredded rather than turned into a proper meal. Actually becoming a warm bowl of chicken noodle soup was better than both options! What was she thinking?? A universal comfort meal that everyone loved and perfectly paired with crackers. Now what would be the drink on the side? Ginger ale for if you were sick. What if you were in good health and wanted the soup? Wine? An untested combo. Way more time was needed for this decision than previously anticipated.
J froze. The X glitched in and out between her usual optics before blinking and settling on hallowed eyes. Her aggression died down, fazing into disbelief. “Boss?!” She dropped Tessa on her head. The woman groaned, laying flat on her face, nursing the knot to come on her scalp.
“When in doubt, use cartoon logic. Gaah…” Tessa sat up, rubbing the sore spot. Now hopefully a peak didn’t spew from her head using that same logic.
Attempting to overlook the thumping at the top of her head was a taxing task. One that took several seconds to succeed in. J was having a bit of a breakdown. Rightfully so. She was staring down at Tessa with more fear than she’s ever seen on her face before. Looking at her body like it was the first time she’d ever seen it. Was it? She hyperventilated, staring at the other before her like she was a ghost.
While on the ground Tessa made sure to pick up all her belongings. Pulling herself upwards, she stood before J. Now surely concussed, heaving with her hands on her knees. “Finding you was worth the onslaught of brain damage. Was it the feminist literature or just my big mouth?”
“Wh- what?” J stammered anxiously.
“Yapper mouth, got it. Saving pleasantries for later, any sight of Cyn?”
“She—“ J was cut off by her own sobs. Her arms wrapped around herself. “Are you real?”
Tessa put both hands on J’s shoulders, snapping her to attention. An unimaginable amount of sympathy was felt for her girl. Woefully they stood in an active war zone. No time to have a therapy session. That could be arranged at a later date. “J, I know you’ve been brutalized and traumatized and a whole lot more ‘ized’s while also turned into this— weirdly hot thing, but I need to know where Cyn is? Do you know?”
“I-I—“ J squeezed her optics tight in thinking. They morphed into an error symbol. “Administration blockage on her location.”
“Administration block? Who superintend that lug of baloney? My parents are dead.” Thank the stars for that. They were the only admins the drones ever had.
J tensed, looking side to side then displayed on her screen. ‘She is listening.’
She? No freakin’ way. So not only did Cyn massacre at least a hundred people in a matter of minutes, mind control every drone in the area, rebuild those drones into killing machines that might’ve taken over the planet, now she was all of their admins?? That would explain the mind control bit. Tessa’s head would explode if she didn’t get a proper explanation some time soon. How did this one freaky drone cause so much destruction?! She should’ve listened when J said to get rid of her at the initial incidents. The overwhelming impending sense of doom whenever the devil entered a room should’ve been enough of an indicator. She was beginning to think the drone could’ve broken out of the basement but chose to stay for some “me time”.
“Ah, that ain’t good. Come, come. Follow your savior to salvation.” Tessa grabbed J’s noticeably larger hand, pulling her along. If she didn't do so surely the drone would've stayed stagnant.
5 miles behind the blazing church. An abandoned camp stood behind some foliage. Tessa figured if no drones would go near the location then she might as well keep what wouldn’t fit in her bag elsewhere. Also what wouldn’t fit on her tool belt.
With the rest of her tools she could crack open that little head of J’s and reset the administrative settings since there was no way she’d find any computers to do so. Suddenly Tessa halted to a stop. Rethinking her choice. Cyn, having such control, meant she surely could track J. And if Cyn could track J while they were together, she would be tracking both of them. That wasn’t good.
“On second thought.. Can ya access your control center panel?” Surely there wasn’t a block on all of her internal commands. What are the odds? Cyn is cheeky, not that smart. Right?
“Negative.”
Okay so smart and cheeky. Bad combo. Also a pain in her butt. Leaving Tessa to take part in drastic measures. No camp. No kicking Cyn out of J’s head here and now. Leaving—
“Ugghhh. Okay! This is fine. I’m going to do something but ya need to trust me. Ya still trust me right? I know it’s been a while. I would understand if the answer is no.”
Tessa left out how heart broken she’d be. Utterly crushed. Not a moment passed without Tessa thinking about if her drones were still up and running. With J okay the chances of collecting N and V increased exponentially.
“I— trust you. Always boss.” J said with certainty.
“Righty’o! Onward to—“ Best not to tell her where they were going. Just in case. Even if it were somewhere Cyn might not be able to access. “—infinity and beyond!” Tessa proclaimed. Hand in hand they walked to the next location. The sound of bullets flying and nearby explosions filled the silence. Nothing like the sounds of the world ending to make a girl feel secure.