Now laying in my bed after a long day of school and even more exploring, I couldn't help but sigh.
School was way more hectic than I remembered it to be.
Kids everywhere, running around, shouting and screaming.
Although that's not what bothered me. What bothered me the most were conversation starters.
Sure, I expected a few drones to come and say hello.
Not being figuratively glomped by a dozen or so drones, all asking if they could be my friends and begging me to teach and I quote one of the kid's words: "Please teach me your ways and my life is yours!".
I had actually paused at that one, pretty sure it was a reference to something too. Since a few kids had giggled after that. Or perhaps, they laughed at the absurdity of the sentence.
Alas, I wasn't good around kids. And I didn't quite appreciate their eagerness.
So at the first sign of weakness, I fled. Making up a half baked excuse as I did.
I chuckled at the thought, the hands that have spilled so much blood they were basically made of it, fleeing from a group of children.
The chuckle extended, my mind feeling at peace after so long. The music helped too, a serene melody without any words. Just sound.
And oh how I loved the sound.
I bet Octavia would have loved all these songs. Being a warframe known for her flashy and extremely loud music.
Alas, my peace was cut short by the alarm I had set up.
"GO SLEEP! DON'T FORGET THE CHARGER!"
Was the exact words that I heard as I lazily rolled over and plugged myself into the outlet.
Still sounds weird.
The next day was much the same, actually eerily similar to the previous one.
I walked into the classroom, took my seat and tuned out the world around me.
A few classes later, I walked to the cafeteria relatively close to the girl once again, all the while listening to music.
I grabbed the exact same food, but a different drink.
Why the different drinks but not the food?
I never plan to try to get used to a single different meal. One was and will be enough.
However, the drink was tasty the last time, so I wanted to try another one. Perhaps find my favorite flavor, lime.
I finished my meal in record time, the PNG staring into thin air. Glaring at it almost.
Then came the drink.
I sipped it slowly, still afraid of it being molten steel.
It wasn't.
It was sweet, way too sweet for my liking, but still tasty.
Pretty sure it was strawberry, but might be raspberry, I could never tell the two apart to be honest.
Then I went back to the classroom, much like I did yesterday. Sat through the remaining classrooms deathly still.
And then? I was free.
Like a bird that was caged for far too long, I bolted out through the classroom's open door in record time.
While the others just started walking out, I was already at the end of the hallway.
I had become the fastest drone alive in those short few moments.
Why did I run? Please no more beggars that would sacrifice their own lives for a tutorial.
And I wanted to explore more than I did yesterday.
Which would take longer, since I explored the nearby areas.
Meaning, I needed to go further. Meaning more distance. Meaning more time. Simple.
I exhaled heavily, now in the abandoned sectors of the labyrinth that was the bunker.
There was a reason people weren't technically allowed here.
The place was a mess, rubble from the ceiling could just fall on you and that's it. You're gone until someone finds you. And in a place like this? It could take days, weeks or even months to find your temporary corpse. Or if you're unlucky, a permanent corpse.
I went into a room without wasting time, eyes scanning the metal shelves covered with boxes and dust.
Picking one up from a higher shelf, I blew on it heavily before opening it, the dust flying about the barely lit room.
The light being my visor. Which was changed to highest brightness output, while a pure white PNG was replacing my usual eyes.
A few keys, accessories and books greeted me.
"Huh"
I picked up one of the accessories, a watch, Painted a dull silver color.
Although I'm sure it would shine far brighter if it was cleaned properly.
I pressed the button on the side, the hands of the clock starting to turn, while a barely audible clicking sound could be heard.
"Neat".
I said, before putting it on my left wrist without worry.
I wouldn't actually use it, it would be useless considering my head could tell me the time.
Suddenly I paused, hearing a whisper into my very mind.
'But imagine fighting, then checking the clock to make sure you have enough time left..'
It whispered slowly into my mind, my body tingling.
Yeah… I may need some therapy.
But the idea was great!
I shrugged, starting to continue my rummaging through the boxes containing items of long dead people.
***
Sitting on my couch in the living room because I frankly didn't have anything better to do, I thought of my past week in this hectic yet at the same time calm bunker.
School was school, nothing to mention there other than I still didn't find my favorite flavor.
And yes, I wanted to find it by chance.
The girl was acting more and more weird each time we walked to the cafeteria together. Perhaps she thought I was a creep?
Nah, surely not. Right?
I shrugged off the thought, continuing my inner reflection on the past week.
I have downloaded every necessary math thing required for my needs. Albeit I barely understood the harder calculations.
I tapped my chin, thinking.
I've basically explored the bunker on this level, a huge bonus.
Considering I had found out the matter printer existed.
Basically a giant super charged foundry that somehow could convert matter even better than the universal foundry.
Yes, I'm still shocked by that.
Then I discovered that toilets were in fact needed and not just decoration.
Showers too, albeit I was still sure I would fry myself to death one day.
Oh and my favorite! I downloaded a software that scans nearby objects and shows me their value at the cost of a bit of charge.
What value? The matter printer's. There was some sort of deep coded value system.
Or perhaps just a simpler version of how it calculated items.
Because you see, you can't turn a piece of dirt into a gun, but you can turn a gun into a piece of dirt. A lot of dirt pieces actually.
And yes, that was the first thing I tried. To get a gun.
Because as I have found out.
The WDF, short for the "worker defense force" were a bunch of scared brats that didn't even have guns.
So yeah. I just knew that one day, one of those supposed monsters properly named the "murder drones" would get in, and slaughter without us even being able to defend ourselves.
So now my first objective is to get a weapon, and hide and protect it with my life.
Just in case I ever need to do something.
But if the stories were to be believed, I wouldn't stand much of a chance in this body.
Sadly, warframes were still a far far fetched dream.
The resources and power required just for a single part are astronomical.
Luckily, all the resources did exist in the matter printer's capabilities, which meant the warframes weren't an actual dream, just very far away.
I also doubt I'll be kindly received if I randomly show up in a giant body, capable of tearing the entire bunker in half.
Or perhaps able to hit every single thing I wanted to in merely a thought.
Yeah, the drones may fear these so-called monsters. But they haven't seen what warframes were truly capable of. Not many have.
So it was best to leave them behind for a while.
And focus on a weapon that should be able to put these rabid dogs down.
The question was, how.
Where and how the hell am I supposed to put a foundry here. Because I'm sure as hell not making my guns at the printer. Where dozens of eyes and cameras were all the time.
So. I needed to make the foundry piece by piece. Somehow get it into my hab, build it. And somehow manage to hide it as some sort of furniture, or make it hidden entirely.
Great…
"Fuuu-"
I was abruptly cut off, as my doorbell rang twice.
Then there were two knocks.
"Ckkkk"
I finished the curse silently, praying to Lotus herself that my apparent visitor didn't hear it
Slowly standing up, and slightly hurrying my pace at the another pair of knocks, I opened the door.
Foolishly not checking who was outside.
I was punched straight in the gut, the intruder rushing inside, pushing me with them while closing the door behind them.
"Man what-"
I stopped my sentence short, staring at the two bright purple eyes.
"You're not a man."
I stated blandly, only receiving another smack to the top of my head.
"Ow, what's your deal?"
I asked, rubbing my head.
It didn't really hurt, my pain receptors having been lowered a while back.
"Mine? What's your deal?!"
I paused my rubbing, raising a brow.
"Mine?"
I asked, pointing at myself.
"I'm not the one punching people!"
"Oh yeah? And you definitely don't follow me around like a creep?!"
She snarled back, hand raised and prepared for a punch.
I fucking knew I was acting like a creep. But surely. Surely that didn't mean this couldn't be resolved with words.
"Well you could have said you hated it!"
I finally shot back, slowly standing up and stepping a few steps away from the beanie wearing kid.
"I just thought of keeping you company while you're walking, nothing else."
I said, walking towards my old ass couch and dropping on it heavily.
Her fist lowered at the words and the obvious disregard for the danger she presented, but it did not fall to her side.
"Well! Stop doing it!"
She finally shouted, after a long pause. Shaking her fist threateningly at me before walking towards the door.
Well, it wasn't threatening that's for sure.
She grasped the handle and pulled it downwards,only for it to not open.
She tried again which resulted in the same result.
She turned towards me again, but I already had walked into the kitchen, staring at my admittedly depressing food supply
Or rather, drink supply. That's all I had inside of it.
A whole box of those delicious drinks.
I selected one randomly, punching a metal straw through the top, my lips already on it and sipping.
"Huh, bananas."
First time getting this one, pretty flavorful.
I walked back into my living room, music already blaring inside my head, taking casual sips of the drink.
I laid down on the couch, closing all four of my eyes to rest.
'Peace at long last'.
I barely formed the thought before something slammed into shin.
My eyes snapped open, glaring at the attacker.
The music stopped, and I placed my drink onto the floor next to me.
I stood up slowly, glaring all the while.
"You intrude in my personal space. You attack me. And once I graciously explained myself to you, you have the gall to not leave and do so again?"
I asked menacingly, towering over the drone even though we were almost the same height.
She slowly stepped backwards, audibly gulping.
Although after a mere moment, she rallied.
"Bite me! Also your door locked itself!"
I stared at her, my face a perfect deadpan.
"I already said I don't do that, why do you keep asking?"
I asked, walking towards the door, card in hand.
I looked back at her, her optics hollowed.
"That's my catchphrase! It's not a literal request!"
I stared at her, dumbfounded.
"Weird ass catchphrase."
Then I waved a hand towards the door, beckoning her to leave my sanctuary at peace.
Albeit, I have forgotten something vital.
"You just cursed!"
She pointed her finger at me threateningly.
I paused, then nodded.
"I did, technically."
"You have your parental controls off!"
She continued, her fingers still pointed at me like a gun.
"I do."
I confirmed.
"Did you hack it?"
I cocked my head at the side, actually thinking about it.
"Technically yeah?"
I said, more questioning myself than answering her.
"I did too!"
She finally ended her pointing, pointing at herself this time. A proud grin now on her face.
"Good for you, impressive even. Please leave my home, I wish to rest."
I deadpanned at her, although I did acknowledge her skill to be able to do such a thing at a young age.
Her grin faltered, but she nodded.
At least she realized that she was intruding.
Before she left, I gave her some advice.
"Please be sure no one sees you leave, I'd rather avoid such rumors."
At that, the girl glared at me, as if it wasn't a totally sane request.
"Bite me!"
Then she walked through the door that had just opened.
I immediately shut it with a bang, going back to my couch and drinking with a drained sigh.
Well there goes my study material. Not that I require it anymore.
Also now that I thought about it from her perspective, it was definitely creepy as hell.
Lotus please help me in my moment of struggle.
I mockingly prayed, sipping more of my delicious banana flavored drink, while searching for another song to listen to.
My brow raised at the strange name of the song.
"Bad boy?" I snorted, starting it.
'Remember the feelings…'
I immediately passed out.
The next morning, I woke up like I had drunk myself to sleep yesterday.
My mind was weak in a way that was hard to explain, but someone who had felt it before would be able to immediately recognize it by the description.
I got up groggily, the first time in over the two weeks I've been in this bunker.
I let out a yawn, also the first one in this place.
Stretching widely, I got up from the couch, reaching for the back of my neck to unplug the charger.
Only to grasp at nothing.
"fuuuuuuuck" I groaned, dragging a four fingered hand on my face, already standing up and walking towards the kitchen.
I needed the blessed drink for this awful start to a day.
I checked my watch, confirming that it was indeed morning and not midnight.
Then I checked my battery, still easily capable of carrying me through several days.
Alas, the impact of a chargeless night was obvious.
I let out another pitiful groan, reaching into the open fridge and grabbing a drink.
Wait, open fridge?
My eyes snapped wide, and the drowsiness vanished in an instant.
Although all that vanished once I realized I left the fridge open myself, after the whole nuisance with the girl. Who's name I still don't know.
Ugh.
Hopefully, I stopped bothering her, she would stop bothering me.
Grabbing a random drink, slamming a straw through it with unnecessary strength, I walked straight to the bathroom, leaving my drink next to the door.
I stared at myself in the broken mirror after a few minutes, noticing the changes.
The digital eyes had grown smaller vertically, and there was a line below each of them. As if representing eye bags or stress lines. Not quite sure which is it.
For some reason only Lotus knows why, I decided I liked it.
It made me look more mature, more older, which I was.
I kinda looked like the teacher too.
I finally decided that the man's eye color was bright orange.
"Delightfull…" I muttered silently, exiting the bathroom and picking up my drink. Going straight for the couch again.
The only plan I had today was to get different clothes, something I somewhat enjoyed.
And that's about it, tomorrow school starts again. Which meant I would need to see the gremlin again.
I groaned again, deciding to just get my plan done and go to bed early.
Taking out the straw and then taking off the lid, I chugged the drink to its last drop. Only now realizing it kind of tasted like cucumbers. Which surprisingly wasn't bad.
Walking into the kitchen and throwing it into the trashcan, I popped a battery into my mouth, already going for the entrance door.
The quicker I'm done, the quicker the rest arrives.
***
I stood in my bedroom, an hour later. Dressed completely differently. Two more sets of the same clothing being neatly placed on the bed.
Standing in my room, I couldn't help but appreciate the quality of the fabric.
I wore a white turtleneck, black cargo pants with twelve functional pockets, and a strap on each side, which were more for looks than functionality. For shoes I chose black combat boots for some level of functionality, and a long black leather winter coat to finish it off. Perhaps a little feminine with the coat, but who cares?
I looked actually decent with my slightly long black hair, the outfit being mostly black, except the turtleneck of course.
I let out a sigh, picking up and sipping on the now usual drink.
This one, lemon. Slightly more bitter than I like, but still better than pure sweetness.
With the thing I wanted to do out of the way, I quickly finished off my drink and went to sleep.
It came swiftly to my tired mind. It being tired enough for an important detail to entirely miss.
And considering it was still early in the day, he hadn't yet turned on his alarm.
***
Walking through the hallways like the mentally dead man I was, I glared at anyone who even dared approach me. If I miss one more charge, I'm lopping off my head.
My teeth gritted ever so slightly, although my expression did not change.
I quickly approached the door, it being easily pushed aside.
I entered the classroom, glaring at the world itself.
It was so silent I could hear a pin drop, and that's how I heard the hushed whisper.
"Looks like someone didn't get his beauty sleep."
The pink eyed drone whispered to her friend that sat besides her.
Only for both of them to freeze, as my half litted optics, as well as the eyeballs beneath them, bore into their own.
I ignored the two children, turning to the teacher, who raised an eyebrow.
"I apologize for being late, there were some unfortunate events that kept me from arriving on time."
The teacher nodded slowly, merely waving a hand towards my seat.
I quickly walked to it, sitting down and immensely dropping my head onto the table. The sound bouncing off the walls a couple of times before subsiding.
***
Two or so dozen pairs of eyes stared at the boy's form, realizing that he in fact, had just fallen asleep. In barely a second.
There wasn't much fuss, the teacher continuing his lecture without worry.
Albeit a single purple eyed drone stared at the sleeping form of Tenno with suspicion.
The few classes ended, and it was now time for lunch, so someone had to wake him up.
Alas, not many were willing to even approach the obviously irritated boy.
And so, even as the teacher left the boy to sleep, only two remained in the classroom.
One obviously asleep boy. And another, an emo gremlin.
She sighed, muttering something under breath that suspiciously sounded like a curse, then approached the prone form of Tenno.
She hesitantly outstretched an arm towards his shoulder, deciding not to attack him in a public space.
Just centimeters away from his shoulder, his own hand snapped forwards like a snake, grabbing onto her wrist and stopping it cold.
Her optics hollowed, as she stared at the slowly waking up boy.
'He did that asleep? How?!'
She couldn't help but think, her optics locking onto the boy's once he raised his head.
"Attacking me while sleeping now?" He mused outloud, his other hand grabbing a drink from robo god knows where.
He then continued after taking a sip.
"That's low, even for you."
The girl glared back, snatching her arm away once the vice-like grip on her wrist had lessened.
"I wasn't attacking you! I was trying to wake you up…"
Tenno raised a brow, then looked around.
The realization that lunch period had arrived visible in his optics.
"Thanks."
He paused, taking a long, a very long sip.
"What's your name?"
He finally asked after swallowing the liquid.
She stared at him, dumbfounded.
"I'm an angsty rebellious kid! Bite me!"
She shouted, suddenly being caught off guard by the question.
However, Tenno only rolled his optics.
"Yeah yeah, I get that. What's your name though?"
The girl froze in place, optics wide and hollow.
Then she glared.
"I'm Uzi. And you better not get any other creepy ideas!"
She finished off with a shout.
Then abruptly, she spun around and quickly walked off.
Albeit she stopped in her tracks once she heard the tired snicker.
She whirled around, already ready to snark back.
But once she did, she saw the boy staring at her with a devious glint in his optics.
"You're named after a weapon? Strange but cool."
Then he grabbed a second drink, the first being obviously empty, flew over her head, landing straight into the trashcan standing by the door.
She lamented inwardly that it was pretty cool, but quickly snapped back to reality.
"Bite me!"
Tenno however, used up the last shreds of his energy, walking towards the door silently.
"You sure do say that a lot.."
He mumbled so quietly that Uzi barely heard him.
She watched him leave the room, and a half a minute later, she followed suit.
Even with the short wait, she saw him not far off, walking like a drone on death row.
Suspicion grew anew, the thoughts of him waiting on her festering.
She quickly passed him, and continued walking at her quick pace.
She didn't look back, she had used too much of her lunch period wasting her time, she needed to hurry before all the food was gone.
Although, once seated alone on a stool and eating, she only then saw Tenno enter through the large white doors.
Him looking even worse for wear.
Surely, this wasn't what she thought it was, right?
Surely, he wasn't idiotic enough to miss enough charges for his battery to wane?
Surely.
She confirmed to herself.
Even if she hated to admit it, Tenno was an academic genius, acing every test without even trying. Not to mention his proficiency in cracking captchas.
She dismissed the thoughts, quickly finishing up her own meal, then taking the tray to its designated spot.
She still needed to get the right books and all that.
***
I walked back to the classroom, begging for release from this torment.
My eyes flicked to my battery meter.
27% so why then, was I feeling like I was at 2%?
This is ridiculous.
Further down the hall, I noticed a gathering of kids, laughter and sentences that I couldn't understand being audible from even this far away.
Curious and begging for some sort of amusement to wake myself up, I quickened my pace.
Although, the hope of amusement was quickly shattered once I saw the scene.
And I quickly remembered a part of school I truly hated. Bullying.
By the lockers, there was Uzi, trying to cut away at what looked to be glue leaking between the gaps of the locker.
My optics dulled even more, noticing that not a single person tried helping her.
Filled with a sudden annoyance at the kids around me, I pushed through the crowd with barely an effort. Void energy swelling.
Drones noticed me and quickly stepped away, curious of what I might do perhaps. Or perhaps, aware that I didn't bully the poor girl.
I approached the locker and the girl, gripping the handle tightly in my right hand.
And with a loud creak, ripped it open, the glue with it.
I gave a tired glare at the students that were all around me, then walked off without a word.
Not yet realizing the strength I showed was supernatural to drone kind.
***
School ended as it always did, chatter rising into the stale air of the bunker.
Usually being the first run off, I slowly rose from my chair and stretched.
audible creaks being heard.
I yawned into a clenched fist, then slowly walked out.
God I hated school and students. Everything about it.
But more than everything, even more than my lack of charge. I despised that I had run out of drinks from my over a dozen pockets.
What a cruel world this is, truly.
Thanks for reading!