"Oh, I'm sweaty. Who programmed that!?"

"You good, Uzi—?"

"I'm good— better than good! I am GOD!"

Uzi finally turned toward a familiar green-eyed worker drone, who'd been standing there pretty awkwardly for.. who knows how long, really. She laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Hi.. hi, Thad," she mumbled, before taking her railgun from him, "thank you..."

A quick shared thumbs up with N.

"Of course, Zi!" he said, before briefly turning to N, "N and M's. You two saved my life! I don't think the colony is even serious about all this banishment stuff. More just.. confused, especially with—"

"The fact I'm too rogue to re-enter society now?" Uzi finished for him, "I can never return." She posed dramatically.

Thad blinked at her, "The recent disappearances?"

"...the huh?"

Thad rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, a few kids have gone missing recently, and it's a little... concerning, to say the least. And I don't think they ran away or anything!"

"Why not?" Uzi asked with a deadpan glare, "They were kids like us, right? They probably just found how cowardly the WDF are and left."

Thad shrugged vaguely, "Yeahhhh.. but I'm not too sure Chad would even think of running away.."

Uzi cocked her head, "Who?" She moved to lean against the car N was sitting on.

Thad all but glared at her, "You know..."

"Nope."

"Chad? My best friend?"

Uzi took a few moments to think.

"Ohhh right!" she looked a little less than happy at remembering him, "...him."

"He's not that bad!"

N perked up nervously, "Who exactly are we talking about again?"

Uzi groaned, "A typical star-student bully that Thad has a crush on."

"I DO NOT!"

Uzi ignored him, "He's a popular, stereotypical jock type who likes picking on anyone and everyone smaller than him. I mean, except for Thad and that one other kid, but even they get bullied a little. That jerk can bite me..."

N hummed slightly, turning to Thad with a perplexed look, "..why are you friends with him again?"

Thad huffed, "He wasn't always like that. It mostly started a little after I first met him... and besides! It's affectionate bullying, okay!"

"Even when he shoves you in a locker?" Uzi deadpanned.

Thad shuffled on his feet a little, "...he always helps me out afterwards."

Uzi rolled her eyes, turning to N, "Sounds kinda like you and J."

The disassembly drone thought about it for a moment, "Oh! Hey, you're right!"

"Is that a good or bad thing?"

"Good—!"

"Bad."

"—very bad!"

"What even are you..?"

M groaned from his spot on the ground, voice muffled by the floor, "Mmmmm... don' remember..."

Chad all but facepalmed as Aiden poked at the larger drone's tail, earning a quick warning flick which they promptly ignored.

"Anything you do remember?" Chad asked, crouching in front of the moping drone.

"...fuzzy."

Chad sighed, turning to Aiden, "Whaddya think's causing this?"

"His coding's probably still processing the update," they explained, flinching back as M's tail flicked toward him menacingly, "he's likely unconsciously fighting against the override protocols."

"And what does that mean?"

Aiden sighed, "I thought you were a star student, Chad."

"Hey!"

Aiden ignored him, "Basically, part of him is still preventing a complete override of the drive I put in him," they stood up and gestured toward M's now flickering screen, "which means, he's a little unstable."

As if prompted, M jumped up, visor now displaying the usual pink X. He chirped, looking around confused.

Chad sighed, "Great. So all we've gotten outta him is a name and some pronouns."

"Hey, at least we got something— hey!"

Aiden yelped as they were suddenly picked up by the hood of their jacket by M, who proceeded to play them back in the nest. Chad was about to snicker at his friend, until he was the one being picked up by his "scruff."

Aiden smirked as he was placed beside them, M quickly moving to sit in between and wrap his wings around the both of them. The sun rose behind a window, casting a very light orange glow on the ground, just out of reach of them.

"Karma."

"Go suck on a wrench."

"Chaaaaad?!"

A young worker drone dressed in a pastel pink bunny onesie trudged through the snow, calling out her brother's name. She yelled without caution, not yet aware of the dangers that lurked outside the colony.

"CHAAAAD!!"

"Bah?"

The drone looked down at the baby strapped to her chest, limbless thanks to their untrained form.

She sighed, "I know Liam. I miss Big Brother, too," she held an arm over her eyes, squinting at the snowy landscape, "sorry for bringing you with me too, but it's not like Mom and Dad would be home to take care of you. Looks like Big Sis Isabella's the one for the job."

As she struggled further through the blizzard, pulling her matching bunny hat further onto her wig-less head, she didn't notice a pair of radioactive yellow X's creeping along from the shadows.

"Do we really have to kill this one, X?" one of them complained in a feminine voice, "It's so small and cute!"

"You know our job, L," the other responded in a hissing masculine voice, "we disassemble worker drones."

L groaned, "But look at its little costume! Are you sure we can't keep it or something? Like a pet?"

"L," X warned.

"Please?" L tied her clawed hands together, the X in her visor replaced by dilated sparkling eyes, "We can kill it later, promise!"

X didn't respond, simply glaring at the tiny worker drone so carelessly shouting in a predator's territory.

"I once read that pets help with anxiety~"

X shifted his glare over to her, "And where did you find a book like that?" he hissed.

"A human book actually!" L chirped, "It was mostly about dogs, but it also stated that several other kinds of animals could be used for therapy!"

X mulled it over for a few moments, tail twitching in the air.

"Fine."

L went to cheer before her teammate interrupted her.

"But. You're gonna be the one to capture and take care of it."

"Uh-huh—"

"You've gotta make sure it eats, charges, doesn't make a mess, AND you've gotta train it to obey us. Understood?"

L nodded eagerly, already spreading her wings in anticipation.

"Alright then, go down and get—"

L instantly shot off in the direction the worker drone went.

"...it."

X sighed, standing up and retracting his wings. Moonlight washed over him, revealing his general's coat, covered in glittering badges. None of them really meant anything, but that didn't stop him from using them as a sign of status. His hair was clean and sideswept as per usual, unlike many of the other disassembly drones he's seen. None of them seemed to care much for grooming, hair unruly and tangled with dried oil. At least he got his own teammates to clean themselves after a hunt.

Suddenly, a strand of X's hair shot up. His breath started to pick up.

He forced himself to stand completely and utterly still.

He couldn't lose himself, not now. Not while M was still missing.

He hated to admit it, but for some reason, the other disassembly drone was the only one who could calm him down from his incredibly annoying and inconvenient "panic attacks." Even if L knew how to fix him, he wouldn't dare ask her. She often did more psychological harm than help.

Until M turned up again, X would have to restrain himself.

How?

Honestly, he didn't know.

M always said that trying to stop his erratic breathing never helped, but it wasn't as if M ever let him try.

With a shuddering sigh, he licked his hand and slicked the strand back down.

Then, as he unfolded his wings again and shot off toward their pod, he held his breath.