Day 11 - Bleeding the poison out: 4/4
“What in all holes are you doing here?!” 10013’s jaw drops as the cloud of dust from the broken ceiling clears, revealing 99111, 99526, and finally 99380 strapped to a gun larger than itself.
“We came to help,” says 99111 simply, “Excellent job tracking the hive links, 99380!”
“Thanks,” mumbles the drone and forces a weak smile.
“I guess…” 10013 looks at the hole the other team came through, “At least we have an escape route, right?”
“Uhhh…” 99111 scratches its head.
“Nu uh,” 99526 shakes its head, “We just dug as straight down as we could without falling, and it’s too narrow to fly up.”
36658 scowls at 99111 and walks over, their noses almost touching and looking the other drone eye to eye.
“Y-you h-h-had your o-orders!” hisses 36658 through bared teeth.
Never before has 99111 been scared of another drone, but it being 36658 and due to their “contest”, some part of it just wants to win at any encounter, including a verbal one.
“Not exactly orders, more like a suggestion,” says 99111, voice filled with bravado audible to anyone with any social sense, which makes it entirely safe from correct interpretation in its current company, “Besides, aren’t you the one who always says we should be like High Score, and wasn’t one of its big deeds the disobeying of an order from a higher rank?”
36658’s eye twitches but it finds itself at a loss for words.
“Stop that, 36658,” says 10013, “What’s done is done, we just have to deal with it,” it looks over at 99380, “Is that one of the griffons’ guns?”
“Hm? Yes, I took it from the camp…” admits 99380, “I… can’t recall why, it’s all a blur. I just thought I wanted to try shooting with it -JUSTATPAPERCUTOUTS- like I did with smaller guns at the range. I enjoyed that.”
10013 simply nods and turns around.
“Hmm, 10101, would it be possible to break that turret with this kind of a gun? 99380, get over to 10101 and show it, it can’t walk that well right now.”
99111 leaves 36658 who remains standing and staring angrily in the direction where 99111 previously stood, and joins 99380 who shows the griffon rifle to 10101.
“Certainly,” 10101 assesses the weapon, “A projectile rifle with limited ammo, the construction and barrel length should give it a viable range. However, we still run into the problem of being able to fire without being shot first.”
“Well,”10013 rubs its head, “How about, instead of using 36658 as a distraction, we use your hard body as cover while 99380 shoots? Maybe we could take the card out of your head-”
“Excellent idea if the drone can shoot the gun accurately,” 10101 agrees immediately, “We’ll only get one safe opportunity because that turret is powerful enough to break through an istrium chassis as we saw earlier. Anything past that will be dangerous. Unfortunately, to provide proper cover I will have to be in control of the body. Simply pushing a pile of istrium into the hallway won’t work. So, 99380, can you fire that rifle accurately?”
“Can I try it first?” asks 99380, unstrapping the rifle from its back, “I mean, do I have the ammo? I just shot these things before as Mister shooty told me, I don’t know how they work.”
“Understood,” 10101 fiddles with the weapon, “Switched from burst to single-round, ammo check - fully loaded, 20 shots. Armor piercing. The griffons definitely came prepared,” 10101 nods its head approvingly.
99380 picks the gun up and aims it into the hall across the open space and at the side where Smiley and 20100 aren’t, quickly changing its carapace in a flash of green fire into “stability mode”. In the meantime, 10013 connects to 99380 and projects the memories of 10101’s encounter with the turrets.
99380 fires a shot which echoes through the otherwise silent hallways.
“Ooookay, for how big this boomstick is, it's suuuuper stable,” the drone comments and fires again, “Got it, I can hit the ceiling turret thingy easy.”
10013 pats 99380’s head.
“Okay, buddy. Don’t panic, don’t freeze, and keep shooting until it stops shooting back.”
99380 nods, grasping the rifle tightly with the hooves of its forelegs transformed into talons.
“I’ll h-help 10101 get into p-p-position,” says 36658, positioning itself under the robot’s belly. The military chassis is just tall enough for it to work if 36658 crouches.
“The turret should identify me as a greater threat and if I bend my neck behind my body it should fire at the center of mass,” says 10101, “For synchronization, 10013 should count us down from three, and we go on zero.”
“Everyone ready?” asks 10013. As they all nod or grunt, it goes: “Three… two… one… go!”
36658 and 10101 move in sync, the robot quickly adapting to the push provided by the drone. 99380 reacts a little slower which works to its benefit as the first beam shot scatters sparks from the point of impact against 10101’s armored neck. Thankfully, the robot was expecting it and the neck is bent behind its barrel so much the head is almost entirely in cover of its own body.
The robot stops mid-way and crouches just as 36658 slides from underneath it across the open area to the cover of the opposite hallway where Smiley and 20100 immediately grab its forelegs and pull it to safety entirely.
99380 lands behind 10101 just as the second shot impacts the barrel and…
…locks up entirely under fire.
It takes only a fraction of a second, but the links of other drones punch into its mind like a digging hoof. 36658’s influence pushes the terror of imminent death to the back of 99380’s head, 20100’s warm belief that 99380 can do it loosens its tensed up muscles, and 10013’s closeness streamlines its scattered thoughts into a series of movements.
99380 lines its own shot. It fires but yelps and twitches on instinct as the next beam hits right next to the rifle’s barrel propped on 10101’s back, and while the bullet hits it does no visible damage as the turret fires again.
This time, 99380 steadies itself better and unloads shot after shot directly at the crystals glowing behind some mesh at the front of the turret. By round five something sparks and fizzles inside it with a loud crack and it finally stops firing.
The drones immediately rush over. 36658’s legs start trembling as it looks at the robot’s shredded body, the barrel full of holes still glowing red, steaming, and revealing sparking wiring inside.
99380 slowly keels over backwards on its butt as it, from the corner of its eye, spots a black groove in the floor right next to its right hind leg where a beam punched through 10101’s body and nearly shot the drone’s hind hoof off.
“Hoof… on… panel. Memory card,” says 10101 in a weak, staticky voice before the lights in its eyes turn off.
“10101… buddy…?” 99526 shakes the robot’s body before shooting everyone around a distressed glance.
Smiley joins in and nudges the motionless robot with its nose before scribbling: [?no]
“It-It’s just a b-body,” says 36658 while 10013 opens the back of the robot’s head and pulls out the memory card.
“It said something about a hoof on a panel,” says 10013 while rushing ahead into the hopefully not deadly hallway, “Take the body, 36658, 20100! 99111, 99526, help 99380!”
The newbie drones help heavily breathing 99380 back up while the remaining veterans minus Smiley pull 10101’s body towards the door. Upon reaching it, 10013 takes the robot’s foreleg and presses it against the black door panel like it’s seen the robot do multiple times. The panel doesn’t react whatsoever.
“What?” 10013 stops, drawing blanks on what to do next.
36658 presses its own hoof against the panel this time. The panel beeps, a small green dot appears on its side, but the door still doesn’t open.
“Huh, that did something,” 10013 hazards a guess, “Maybe you gotta do something with the card as well?”
“Right!” 20100 nervously looks around before pressing the card against the panel too, which does nothing.
“Looks like there’s a slot underneath. Similar to the one by the broken lifty box,” says 10013, its head almost pressed against the wall, “Try shoving it in there.”
The previously familiar features of the underground suddenly feel incredibly alien without the guidance of 10101. However, 20100 slides the card in and they all breathe a sigh of relief as the door opens, revealing a floor 5 with its walls covered in boxes, some hollow but some showing weird light pictures, innumerable buttons, and ground covered with shattered glass.
“Okay, what now?” asks 99111 as all drones get inside and pull 10101’s body in as well.
The door closes behind them and a short pedestal slides out of the floor by the opposite wall.
“We need to put the big card and the small card somewhere,” says 10013, looking at the pedestal with suspicion, “10101 didn’t say where, so look for slots like the one by the door and in 10101’s head,” it shakes its head to dispel its worries and approaches the pedestal, spotting a slot on top of it, “That’s convenient.”
The AI memory card fits into the slot and the whole area lights up, followed by:
“Well done, changelings! I’m glad the staff status I assigned you let you through the door, although I don’t doubt you could have just dug your way through,” said by the AI’s voice coming from speakers near the ceiling, “Wait, what is Smiley doing?”
The drones look at the Silent who, upon hearing the voice, flew up to the nearest speaker and is now vigorously rubbing it with its nose.
“I d-don’t think it gets the whole ‘b-b-body switching’ part,” says 36658, “L-let it be ha-happy. What do we d-do now?”
“The entire wall is a control panel for the reactor as well as the machinery further below,” says the AI, “See the small, red square covered by a glass box? Push it up and insert the Forgemaster’s card.”
“Y-you can s-see us?” asks 36658 while 10013 searches the panel for the described… device.
“There’s a working camera above the door. The small dome.”
“Hiiii!” 99380 and 99526 wave at it while 99111 flies to it and examines it up close. Smiley scribbles [fren!] on its tablet, takes it off, and vigorously waves it in front of the dome, almost swatting 99111 away.
“I’m happy to see you too but, please, clear my line of sight,” says the AI, “You won’t gain any useful information by hovering in front of the camera and I won’t be able to direct you if needed.”
“Awww,” 99111 lands again and begins fiddling with 10101’s shredded chassis.
“Done!” reports 20100 and pushes the Forgemaster’s card into the slot.
Immediately, the facility shakes and a whining screech of metal grinding against something equally hard resonates through the halls.
“What was that?” asks 10013 as everyone looks around, worried.
“I’ve taken control of the self-destruct process,” says the AI, “However, you must leave immediately. The heat shielding has degraded much further than the damage reports indicated, and the tectonic control process has gone differently than it should. Plus, someone made a hole going directly through said heat shield.”
“Uh oh,” mutters 99111.
“Exactly,” the AI laughs, “Changelings, there’s no time for goodbyes. I thank you for your service and, if you want to get out of here alive, START RUNNING!”
“MOVE!” yells 10013 as the grinding sound shakes the facility again and the changelings notice the temperature rapidly rise, “Where do we go?” it calls out just in case there’s some secret, quick path to the surface.
“Stairwell. All the way up!” responds the AI, and the changelings bolt with 36658 in the lead and 10013 in the back, making sure everyone is running.
All that remains behind is the whirring and beeping of electronics and a tablet reading [fren!] dropped on the floor under the camera.
***
They rush back out into the central crossroad on level 6, their eyes and lungs burning from the smoke and sulfurous smell that’s suddenly everywhere. The ceiling is cracked and bulging downwards as if holding something too heavy, and magma is flowing through the hole in the hallway to the left which 99111’s group made.
Another tremor rocks the ground, this one clearly an earthquake, and they hear something crumble, followed by some dust kicked up at the end of the hallway directly ahead. While that doesn’t bode well because it means that both short routes to the stairwell might be blocked, 36658 keeps running straight.
They reach the T-section at the end of the hallway and look left. The bad thing is that the left side of the ceiling between the reinforced frames has crumbled and magma is seeping through. The good things are that they can see pretty well with the light cast by the molten rock and that they can still get through if they hug the right wall and don’t breathe much.
There is zero hesitation, the hive instinct connecting all the drones’ links is once again tapping into 36658’s focus and suppressing the horror in the others while using 10013’s organization skills to trace a route, all this through 99380’s more attuned brain. Seven drones, one unit.
The ceiling is made of several massive slabs of istrium partially laid over each other and supported by the equidistant load-bearing frames. It doesn’t look like the blocks broke, the seams on the sides holding them did. The floors above were burning while we were on the way already. The magma must be coming in from there.
That piece of analysis is meaningless right now, but still crosses 10013’s mind. Taking a deep breath before dodging the magma trickling from the remaining ceiling and hugging the right wall, 36658 leads the way, hoping to stop under the next frame and do a brief check if everyone made it through okay. Immediately, a corresponding waypoint appears on the hive mind map.
Everything goes smoothly and they get through the collapsed section…
…until 10013 passes Smiley who suddenly darts sharply to the left at the edge of the caved-in ceiling.
What?
10013’s legs remain in control, though, almost until the drone leader reaches the relative safety of the frame, upon which it can finally turn around and see Smiley standing over one of the disk-shaped cleaner robots partially crushed under the fallen ceiling, hoof raised and glowing green.
“SMILEY-”
Smiley digs a chunk of the fallen ceiling off and victoriously pulls the robot out.
“-NO!”
The ceiling chunk slides a little due to the loss of support of the dug out part. Smiley twitches and looks up.
“DROP IT AND RUN!” screeches 10013, voice jumping up an octave in pitch.
Smiley finally drops the robot and takes its first steps forward just as the entire ceiling panel simply slides downwards like a hydraulic press. The drones only see a flash of green before a thick cloud of dust obscures their vision but they don’t dare leave the safety of the frame.
Smiley materializes out of the dust, paws for a tablet on its neck that’s not there, and tightly grabs the frame.
36658 waves its foreleg to clear its vision.
“Okay, Smiley made it. Let’s-” it gets ready to run the final stretch.
There’s no way Smiley had the time to run that distance within the fraction of a second.
The dust finally settles enough to see just as 36658 checks all connected hive links.
No…
10013, surrounded by a bright green aura of burning love, carapace shattered and cracked but holding together with the same overload of energy, is holding up the massive slab of ceiling.
“99380, STOP TIME NOW!” 36658 does something it never thought possible, and assumes direct control of another drone. A willing one, of course, forceful control is way beyond anything it can do.
Everyone slips into the darkness of the hive mind.
“Ow ow ow ow,” the image of 99380 is rubbing its head, “I can’t maintain a complete standstill for long, I think. I’ve never tried.”
“S-sorry for that,” says 36658, “Not w-what I was try-trying to do, but it w-worked even better.”
“You should be running,” says 10013, “Don’t try to argue with me. Just go! I did the analysis. If you try to free me in any way, the ceiling will collapse on you. If you try to dig the ceiling into parts, the magma will seep through immediately. I’m holding it only because I’m fully charged and because of the carapace design I upgraded.”
The drones try to come to terms with what just happened, but 36658 just yells.
“Everyone, be quiet!” it looks at 10013, “The m-moment the time s-stop ends, I will r-r-run over to you-”
“No!” says 10013.
“Everyone m-means you t-too, 10013,” 36658 looks the drone leader directly in the eyes, “I w-will run over and I will g-g-give you the rest of Miss Gem’s u-ultra strong paink-killers as well as the ones I m-made based on hers. Absorb them im-immediately. If we can’t s-save you I can at least m-make sure it d-d-doesn’t hurt. G-Got it?”
10013 nods.
“Wait, we must try-”
“Maybe we can-”
“If we all hold-”
“SHUT! UP!” roars 36658, turning away from 10013 and giving others a fiery glare, “We h-have seconds at b-best. 99380 might not e-even remain on its l-legs after we leave the hi-hive mind. All of you w-will do what I-I say, no questions, a-and we will l-lose ONLY one of us. Understood?”
20100, eyes tearing up and teeth gritted. nods, which makes everyone else do it too.
“As 10101 said - no time for goodbyes,” 10013 forces a smile, “High Score did what was necessary and it will be proud of you if you do it now too.”
“99380, st-stop the link-up,” orders 36658.
The burning and agonizing sensations of current reality return to 10013 who, through a haze of energy, tears, and steam barely sees a black blur that must be 36658, and opens its mouth into which a hoof shoves several pills which it swallows.
It only takes two lung-searing breaths, each more difficult due to the crushing weight squeezing it from above.
Burning of magma dripping down its barrel fades.
Pain of chitin and bones being ground to dust stops.
10013 finds itself in pitch darkness again, this time without the silvery lines denoting the “floor” of the hive mind.
It feels normal but can’t sense anyone else.
“Guys?” it speaks out.
“I’m afraid you’re on your own now, 10013,” says ‘the voice’.
“That makes sense,” the drone leader shrugs, “I just hope they all get out.”
“You know you made quite the wrong choices, right? You were ready to let 36658 sacrifice itself to destroy the turret instead of Smiley, and now it ruined everything. I must admit I agree with 387 in this case - losing a veteran drone will be significantly more painful for the hive than losing a Silent.”
“I just… couldn’t. You wouldn’t understand, voice. You didn’t exist in the old days,” says 10013.
“Enlighten me, then.”
“Whenever we made a mistake, we died. Whenever we got hurt too badly to work, we died. If drones hatched with any visible sign they wouldn’t be worth the love, they died. Tunnel monsters, high ranks… there was no difference. There were no second chances, often not even first. Smiley is the embodiment of all these problems, it was specifically created to die, and yet it still is alive. How could I say that times have changed if I did the same thing a high rank would do in the old days?”
A sudden wave of dizziness strikes 10013, making it lie down.
“I was the leader. As 65536 would say - I was responsible, no matter if we succeeded or failed.”
“I… think I understand,” says the voice after a while.
Silence lengthens as 10013 is slowly losing strength to talk. Even just breathing is becoming quite the chore.
“Voice?”
“Hmm?”
“You can tell me now that it’s all over - are you sure you’re not High Score?”
“No, I’m not,” the voice laughs, “I know that for sure. Do you want to know how I know?”
“How?”
“Because you are. You faced way too dangerous enemies. You saved drone after drone during your life. You were a prime example to your peers as well as a leader. You disobeyed a high rank. You saved Smiley just like 9999 did and-”
“...and I’m dead… because of it… too…” 10013 lets out a single chuckle before there’s not enough air in its lungs anymore. All it can do is silently mouth, “36658... was right. It doesn’t… even… hu-”
Stats
Page generated in 0.056 seconds
Total duration
1,067 users online
1,408,346 hits today, 1,960,719 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Ho no :(
NOOOOOOOOOOO
Chrysalis would need a heck of a power fill to get the remains of 10013 out even if she wished to as a Full Dragon conversion.
Oh yeah! Somehow, I had completely forgotten that those three were looking to join the party. Silly me!
*everyone glances at the three 99s drones*
Oh no! Smiley's tablet! Well, we'll have to get it a new one then.
Also...there's the sacrifice I was admittedly dreading was coming...but sort of figured it was inevitable. You could just sort of feel it coming, you know? In a good way. Regardless...*salutes* farewell, 10013. You did good.
...though if this keeps up, I am going to start to wonder if the position of de facto "drone leader" is as cursed as Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts position, because, uh...there does seem to be a similar pattern happening there, what with High Score and now 10013.
11634254
11634336
It gets worse
11634352
Thorax transformed into a rock so if Chrysalis just transforms into that drill from Armageddon...
We know from the show she can spin her head around.
11635160
- Deus Ex Anti-material Rifle
- The AI can't get angry because not even dwarf firewall is wibble-proof.
- Suuuuuure...
- There's being predictable because of lack of imagination and there's being predictable because of a good setup, I wonder which I am. Aaanyway, I would re-read the chapter name. Something should feel a bit off...
- If I ever start writing short stories about the drones, they'll run out of room for statues back home pretty quickly.
11635311
In this case, I would definitely think the latter one.
I suppose that is the drones' lot in life, isn't it?
Why?
The sad never ends!!
11641227
What? Pretty sure it ends in the next chapter.
Not again! Not like this!
11665536
A trade must be made.
The AI laughing was such a great touch
11688194
It was a good guy after all! Not just someone using drone helpfulness.