Murder Drones: New Models

Morning had arrived. Sunlight streamed through the windows, illuminating the empty corridors of the house. A door on the second floor quietly opened, and out stepped a Worker Drone. Uzi descended to the first floor and approached the stove. She began preparing breakfast—she and N had work to get to. Technically, they weren’t supposed to be home today. The situation with the core demanded immediate attention. Ideally, they should be there around the clock to react in time. But the real question was: who would stay with Izun? Considering no one knew how long it would take to stabilize the core, they couldn’t just leave their son alone. He’d spent his whole life at home—and now he’d be alone in it. Something had to be done. While Uzi tossed breakfast into the reheat cycle, she figured she could lie down for a bit… Uzi: 0_0 "Oh Robo-Jesus!" She turned around—and saw Izun standing silently behind her the whole time. Izun: Good morning. Uzi: Are you crazy?! Don’t scare me like that! Izun: Sorry… Uzi: Fine, just don’t do it again. While breakfast is heating up, I’m going to lie down in the lounge chair. Izun nodded and settled onto the couch, relaxing. He liked mornings like this. But then it hit him like a jolt of electricity—his mom was heading to the backyard. And after the night before last, the words “Backyard,” “Basement,” and “complete clusterfu—(oops, sorry)” all meant the same thing: parental wrath. Like a wild animal, he dashed toward the back exit. Luckily, Uzi had only just reached the door when Izun pressed himself against it, blocking her path. Izun: Wait! Uzi: What is it? Izun: Uh… uh… the breakfast’s burning! Uzi: Seriously?! Uzi spun around and rushed to the kitchen. Izun slipped outside and ran to the garage. Finding a shovel, he began searching for the bags of soil N had bought recently. Uzi: Nothing’s burning. Maybe you got confused? She headed back toward the backyard. Meanwhile, Izun had just found a bag and was dragging it to the scene of the incident. Hearing footsteps, panic surged through him. Desperately grabbing the bag, he shoved it against the door to block it. Uzi: Huh, why won’t the door open? Ugh, I told N: “Fix the door”—and he’s like, “I’ll fix it, I’ll fix it.” Guess I’ll go around. At that moment, Izun was frantically shoveling soil into the trenches across the yard. He’d never worked so hard in his life. He moved so fast, half the holes were already filled. Tossing the shovel aside, the purple-haired Drone sprinted to the front door—knowing that if not the back, his mom would try the main entrance. Fortunately, he got there first. Squatting down and summoning all his strength, Izun began holding the door shut. Uzi: What the—?! Why won’t the front door open either?! N! Is our house falling apart or something?! From the sound of her footsteps, it was clear Uzi had gone upstairs—probably to wake N. That gave Izun just enough time to finish burying everything. Izun: Looks… inconspicuous enough! There were no holes anymore, but the bare soil strips gave away their presence. Still, at least there were no visible craters. Now he had to return everything to its place—since his dad didn’t allow him to use garage tools. But first, he figured he’d sneak over to the front door and listen in. He pressed his ear to the door. N: All right, let me try something. N grabbed the handle and flung the door open. Izun, who had been holding it, was pushed aside—sliding 90 degrees with the door, still clinging to it. His dad was much stronger than him, which wasn’t surprising—N was a Disassembly Drone. Izun had always admired his father’s strength. One day, he wanted to be just as strong—or maybe even stronger. N: Seems fine. Though yeah, it does open harder than before. Uzi: I’ll go grab the tools from the basement. Izun (thinking): From WHERE?! Oh no, what do I do?! Suddenly, Izun leapt out from behind the door and screamed like he’d been stabbed: Izun: STOP!!!!!! ***INTERESTING FACT: If you compare the strength levels across Izun’s family, here’s how it stacks up: - N — 50 - Uzi — 10 - Khan — 8 - Izun — 4 *** N jumped back in fright, tripped mid-landing, and crashed to the floor, screaming as he fell. Uzi flinched too, startled by the sudden outburst. Uzi: Oh Robo-Jesus! Izun! What are you doing today?! Izun: Don’t go into the basement!!! Uzi: Why not? Izun (thinking): (Yeah… why not?) pauses Because I… I’m preparing a surprise for you down there! Uzi: Umm… what? Izun: Well, you gave me a gift down there, so… uh… I tested it… Wait! I mean, I hope you’ll test my invention! Uzi: Wow! Looks like you’re getting into tinkering just like me. I’m impressed. Izun: Exactly! So go relax in the lounge chair like you wanted! Uzi: But the door’s broken, so— Izun: It’s fine! I just came through it! Uzi: Really? Well, okay then. Uzi turned and headed toward the back door. Izun sprinted down the street in a panic. N was finally recovering. N: Ugh, guess I’ll have to go to the garage myself. Meanwhile, Izun reached the backyard and started dragging the soil bag around the corner of the house with all his might. Uzi opened the door—and miraculously didn’t notice him. Wiping his digital sweat, Izun hauled the bag into the garage. Opening the door, he bumped straight into N’s back. N: Oh, Izun. his display shifted to a stern expression What are you doing? Izun: I, uh… (If not Mom, then Dad’s gonna kill me) I’m dragging a bag. N (laughs): Yeah, I can see that! But why are you dragging it? Did you take it? I told you not to touch anything in here until you’re older. Izun: Well… it was outside, so I figured I’d bring it back into the garage! N: Seriously? Izun: nods vigorously N: And how did it…? Eh, never mind. I’ll take it. Thanks for being alert, son. Izun: salutes Yes, Commander! N: ruffles Izun’s hair Good. I’m off to fix the door. Izun (thinking): Dodged that one… Uzi: Izun! Come here! Izun (quietly): Oh no… He approached his mother, who wore a puzzled expression. Uzi: What happened here? Izun: Uh… what happened here? Just then, N stepped out of the house. N: Uzi, the door wasn’t broken, but I started—oh… They all stared at the lawn, where wide strips of grass were missing. Izun: drops to his knees I’M SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME! Two nights ago I went into the basement even though you told me not to! And there was a railgun—it started pulling me in! Then I discovered I could convert photons and I was training to fire destructive beams! Uzi: Actually, I just wanted to show you how weirdly the grass had wilted… N immediately realized what was coming and quietly slipped away. Uzi (holding back): What did I tell you about the basement? When I heard about your “technology gift,” I thought you— Actually, show me your invention. Izun: B-but it’s not finished and— Uzi stared him down with a death glare. Izun: Ugh. No point hiding it anymore. They walked to the basement. Izun opened the door with the broken lock. What greeted them was not pleasant: everything overturned, broken, scattered. Uzi: Wow. Is your invention a nerve destroyer? Though you did say it would surprise me. I’m surprised. Then they smelled something burning. Uzi: OH FOR THE LOVE OF—BREAKFAST! runs to the kitchen And you, Izun—clean up this mess by tomorrow morning! I’ll come home from work and check! Izun: By tomorrow?! But how?! Uzi: Figure it out! You’ve got two options: either you’re grounded, or you’re not—but you clean everything by morning. Izun: Okay… Izun was surprised things hadn’t gone worse. But maybe that was for the best. As for the cleanup—he agreed. After all, he had disobeyed his parents that night.