Murder Drones: New Models

Rock Valley — 36 km from Izun’s Home Izun was panting heavily, dragging his feet. Izun: Aunt J… how much farther? I can’t go on. J (stopping, turning): What did I tell you about calling me “Aunt”? Huh?! And quit whining. (finishes a bottle of Freezer, crushes the plastic, and tosses it away) Izun: Hey! Littering in nature isn’t good! J: So what? Who told you that? Izun: My dad did! J: Your dad’s a bore. Izun: But plastic takes forever to decompose and harms the environment! J (mocking): Ohhh, look at you! Don’t be such a buzzkill. Izun: Didn’t you think about the living creatures here? They could die when the soil gets poisoned as it breaks down—all because of you! J (laughs): Ha! Wake up! I’m a Disassembly Drone. I was made to kill everything alive around me. If this were the Frost Era, we wouldn’t be chatting—I’d have ripped your head off. Hybrid or not, you look way too much like a Worker Drone. Izun (shocked): Wait—you were created to kill Worker Drones? You were one of the first Disassembly Drones on this planet?! J: Yep. Along with your father… and V. But you don’t know her. Izun (sad): … J: Oh, come on. This valley doesn’t have a single living soul. It’s all stone, no soil—so littering here isn’t exactly catastrophic. Izun felt heavy-hearted. His father really had been one of the first Disassembly Drones, exterminating Workers for years. So Uncle Ted’s stories were partly lies? Why would he lie? J: Hey, kid. Izun: Hm? J: Let’s move. Izun: Right. J: Actually… why don’t we do a mini-training while we walk? Izun: What?! J: Why not? Izun took a defensive stance, ready to block. J (smirking): Don’t worry. I said mini-training. I won’t attack you. Izun (surprised): Then what? J (thinking): Hm… let’s see. Her eyes landed on a huge boulder—about her height and just as wide. J: Oh! Got it! Izun: What? J: Come on. They walked to the rock. J snapped off sturdy stems from dry bushes. J: We’ll tie this boulder to your back. You’ll carry it the rest of the way. Izun: I can’t lift that! And even if I could, my legs are already dead. J: I said you will! Izun: No! J: Yes! Izun: No! J: Yes! Izun: No! J: Yes! Izun: No! J: Yes! Izun: No! J: Yes! They argued like this for a long time. Izun: No! J: Yes! Izun: No! J: Fine—no! Izun: No! Wait, what? J: I changed my mind. Let’s keep walking. Izun: I didn’t know you could be persuaded, Aunt J. J (shouting): DON’T CALL ME AUNT!!! They were about to continue when J suddenly stumbled and fell. J (grabbing her leg): Ow! Ow ow ow! Izun (kneeling beside her): Aunt J! Are you okay?! J (grimacing): Don’t call me Aunt. Izun: This isn’t the time to argue. Can you stand? J: Of course not! I think I broke my leg! Izun: Can’t you fly with your wings? J: To take off, you need to push off with your legs. Izun: Then what should I do? J: I’ve got an idea. You don’t know where we’re going anyway. So I’ll ride on your back and point the way. Though… you probably won’t want to carry me— Izun: Of course I’ll carry you! You broke your leg… glances at her spike …if you can call it that. That’s a good reason. Izun crouched down with his back to her. J wrapped her arms around his neck. He hooked his arms under her legs and lifted. Izun (straining): Whoa…! You’re heavy! J: Hey! That’s rude! No wonder you’ll never get a girlfriend. Izun: Sorry, Aunt J. I just didn’t expect that weight. J (punches his head): Ow! That’s for “Aunt.” And second—lifting me means lifting all my gear too. Izun: What kind of gear do you have? J: If I listed it all, we’d never finish today. Now move. Izun trudged forward, following the directions J gave from his back. ***INTERESTING FACT: After Copper‑9 was restored and the endless winter finally ended, the planet divided itself into ten distinct natural sectors. Since Copper‑9 is only half the size of Earth, its full circumference measures 20,004.25 kilometers. To travel around the entire planet would mean covering that distance step by step. Each of the ten sectors occupies an equal portion of the planetary surface, which comes to 2,000.425 kilometers per sector. This division created a balanced planetary structure, where every sector represents a unique environment, yet together they form the complete restored ecosystem of Copper‑9*** Sunset Journey The sun was already setting, yet Izun kept walking with J on his back. She sat cheerfully, pointing the way and tossing out motivational phrases. J: Okay. Now that way! Izun: But there’s a cliff. J: Then climb it. Izun: No way! I’d rather go around. J: Ow! My leg! It hurts even more just thinking about walking further! Izun: Fine… looks at the cliff Maybe you can endure it and we’ll go around, Aunt J? J (smacks his head): Izun: Ow! J: You know why. And never refuse to help a girl in trouble. That’s advice for your future. Besides, it’s only five meters. Izun grabbed the rocky ledges, J holding on tighter. The purple Drone pulled himself up, straining. Izun: Aaaah! Ow ow ow! The heavy weight on his back was brutal. His frame creaked loudly, metal grinding. Coolant fluid streamed from his systems like sweat. His cries turned into a fierce growl through clenched teeth, determination pushing him upward. By the time the sun had vanished, Izun made his final movements and collapsed on his stomach at the top, nearly passing out. J: Well done. For the first time, J’s voice sounded soothing instead of signaling another trial. Izun forced himself up, wanting to continue for her sake. But when he looked down the other side, something felt strangely familiar. At that moment, J climbed off his back and calmly stood. Izun: Wait—you can stand?! J: Yes. Izun: But your leg…?! J: Broken? Izun (slaps his own display): How could I forget?! Disassembly Drones can regenerate! Damn! J: Finally figured it out. But I didn’t even need to regenerate. Izun: What do you mean? J: I really did trip, but nothing broke. Izun: WHAT?!!! J: What else was I supposed to do? You refused to carry the boulder. So instead, you carried me. And I’m about half as heavy. Izun: You… you manipulated me! How could you?! J: Ha! I could—and I did! Izun: And where are we? Why does this place look familiar? J: I have to praise you. With my height and gear, I weigh 63 kilograms. And with that weight, you walked an 8‑kilometer loop in 8 hours. Even my son didn’t manage that fast—it took him 8 hours and 7 minutes. Izun: You said loop?! We walked in a circle?! J: Yes. We’re back where I first climbed onto your back. Izun: No! No! NOOOOOOOOOOO! J: Let’s camp here. The sun’s down, and walking at night is pointless. --- Night Izun sat by the fire, J resting in the shadows. Izun: Why light a fire if you don’t sit by it? Is it for me? J: If I stay near heat, I’ll overheat and die. And Freezer’s gotten expensive. Izun: Oh… makes sense. Silence. Izun: Still, what you did was wrong, Aunt J! Don’t you feel guilty?! J: I’m a killer. I don’t have guilt. And don’t call me Aunt again! Now sleep. Tomorrow’s another long day. Izun lay down and entered sleep mode. --- Morning Izun woke to see J standing by the same boulder, drinking Freezer. Izun (sleepy): Good morning, Aunt J. J (smacks his display with the bottle): Morning. Ready to go? Izun (wiping display): Yeah… J: Then… In a flash, J was behind him, shoving him toward the boulder. She tied him to it with strong vines, leaving his arms free. J: There! Lift it! Izun: I can’t! J: Try! Izun strained—and to his surprise, he managed to lift it. It was just as heavy as J had been when he carried her. Izun: Ahh… heavy! J: Good. Now let’s move. Together, they set off again across the rocky terrain.