Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Ah…sweet, delicious oil. It’s more savory when they try to run.”

V had just finished ripping through a ton of stray worker drones, just another average work day for her. Nearby, N and J were busy cleaning up the stragglers. V couldn’t love this job even more than she did already, she got to kill drones and get paid for it. What more could she ask for?

Walking around, she carefully surveyed her handiwork, observing the hundreds of dead drone carcasses lying on the ground. Some of them she was rather proud of, like one she’d ripped open and force fed its core to. That one made her emit a tiny snicker.

She was interrupted by a sound coming from the rubble. The sound of…crying? Looking around a little more, she spotted something small hidden among the mess and picked it up.

It was a small baby drone, its small purple eyes looking at her in terror. From the cries, it sounded like a little girl.

Did someone leave their baby out here to die? What parent does that? V thinks to herself as she looks down at the droneling in her claws, helpless and at her mercy. Her normal programming was telling her to kill the baby and move on, but a second part of her didn’t want to cause harm to it. It was just a baby after all, it didn’t know any better.

When she finally does reach a decision, V slowly retracts her claws back into her hands to show she won’t hurt the baby.

“Shhh, it’s ok…I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise.” She whispered to the small droneling, rocking it as she spoke. She honestly had no clue what she was doing, either her secondary programming was now active or it was some other outside force. The baby’s cries slowly subsided as she was cradled. Once she had calmed down, her eyes were now wide and full of curiosity. Not sure what to do now, V began walking off to join the others, the baby still in her arms.

“What is that thing?” J asks, a mix of annoyance and confusion in her tone at seeing V holding the droneling. “I’m pretty sure the company specifically instructed us to eliminate the worker drones.”

“Ugh…J, I didn’t want to hurt this one. It’s a freakin’ baby, it’s not even capable of going rogue.” V grumbles. J’s confusion only grows. V, the most violent and crazy of the trio…didn’t want to kill this one drone specifically?

It just didn’t compute. But she was gonna hurt her brain thinking about too much so she just sighed. “Does it have a name?”

V looked down at the baby to find a tiny nametag on her shirt that said ‘Uzi’.

“Guess her name is Uzi.” V says.

“That worker is…awfully little.” N pipes up.

“Again, it’s just a baby. It hasn’t grown yet.” V says, not amused by N’s obliviousness, before turning back to J. “Anyway, I could probably raise her as my own and grow her into one of us or something…”

J thinks it over for a moment. While she hated the idea of bringing a stray droneling with them, having another team member could be beneficial. And she wasn’t gonna say it, but the damn thing was cute…

“Fine, we’ll play ball. But she’s your responsibility, V. I don’t wanna be the one constantly feeding her and changing her diapers or whatever.” J instructs.

“Okay, okay, I know. I should probably find a guide to raising baby drones, then.” V says before everyone flies off.

PACIFY PROGRAM NOW RUNNING

ESTABLISHING LINK TO NEARBY DISASSEMBLY UNITS

The fly back home wasn’t a long one. The bunker issued by the company did come along nicely and it provided protection from the sun. As they went inside, V was still cradling Uzi, who was now fast asleep.

“So that baby’s actually imprinted itself onto you, hasn’t it?” J asks, mildly amused.

“Yes, it has. You absolutely sure the company won’t care about us raising her?” V asks in response.

“Yeah, I’m sure. They wouldn’t have installed that pacify programming if they didn’t.” J replies. “But does she have parents?”

“No clue, I couldn’t find any near her. Best guess is that they accidentally left her in the scuffle to escape.” V says.

“Well, it’ll be nice to have a new team member. I can’t wait to show her around.” N says excitedly.

“She’s sleeping right now, N. And I’m not trusting either of you with her yet. You may end up accidentally killing her.” V says sternly. N looked down disappointed.

“Well, we should probably hit the sack. We better be up bright and early if we’ll be teaching that thing to be loyal to the company.” J says as she walks to her bedroom.

“Yeah…night, V.” N says, following suit.

V opted to just sit on the couch and lay down with Uzi still in her arms, slowly allowing herself to enter sleep mode. She wasn’t too sure what the future held with Uzi in her life now, but this would definitely be a new chapter in her, N and J’s lives.

Chapter Text

Come next morning, V felt her systems booting up again as she left sleep mode. Her eyes opened to see that N and J had already left, leaving her alone with Uzi. Uzi was beginning to awaken herself, a purple glow coming from her eyes.

V climbed off the couch, carefully helping Uzi down. “Okay, Uzi. Time to figure out how to help get you accustomed to being with us.”

Uzi merely responded with happy looking eyes. V patted her head as they left the bunker, going to meet up with N and J not far away.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” V asked.

“We better go find supplies for Uzi.” J replied. “I don’t exactly know what drone kids need, so I really hope we find a manual.”

V then looked around to see that N wasn’t anywhere in sight. “Speaking of which, where di N go?”

“He’s off at that abandoned mall a few miles away. Asked to meet us there.” J answers. Soon after, V and J fly off, V holding Uzi carefully.

Arriving at the mall, it didn’t take the two of them long to find N, who was in one of the many JCJenson branded shops on the 2nd floor.

“Hey guys! I found this neat place! Could have everything we could need for Uzi!” He calls to them.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure, N.” J replies dismissively as she and V make their way into the store. Inside it were shelves upon shelves lined with different parts and upgrades for worker drones and disassembly drones alike, as well as guide books written around them. A copious amount of human skeleton litter the floor in pieces, which Uzi looks at with a sense of curiosity only her 6-year-old mind could produce as she pokes at one of the skulls.

V looks over and picks her up. “Sweetie, what’s with you poking those things?”

“Hoomans gross.” Uzi babbles, pouting in an almost endearing fashion.

“Yes, yes, I’m aware they are.” V says, laughing a little.

N and J, meanwhile, went around the shop picking up Disassembly Drone body parts, as well as a manual entitled ‘Guide to raising a drone baby’. “Well, we got what we needed. Can we get going?” J asks.

“Okay, okay, Captain Bossy Boots. We got the manual anyway.” V answers, J bristling slightly at the comment as they exit the shop.

The next few months were ones of adjustment and change. Uzi was reaching her ‘tween’ stage by this point, and seems to have fully accustomed herself to V, N and J. She had learned each of the company policies down to the letter, a testament to how intelligent she was already despite her young age.

V’s attachment to her has only developed even more, she and N practically embracing their roles as her caretakers. And J wouldn’t admit it, but being around Uzi brought out a softer side of herself that was rarely ever shown.

One afternoon, N and V were sitting at a table talking, while Uzi is drawing in the living room.

“N…do you think being a dad is starting to get to you at all?” V asks.

“What do you mean?” N asks.

“Well…I think all this is a dead giveaway.” V says, gesturing to what N was wearing. It was a pair of khaki shorts, some crappy off brand Hawaiian shirt and socks with sandals.

“I thought all dads dressed like this…” N said sadly.

“Not all of them, dude. Just go change before you start spewing shitty dad jokes.” V says as N exits the room. As he leaves, J enters the room carrying a wrench.

“Hey, how‘s it going?” V asks.

“Good, I guess. I’m almost done building Uzi’s new body for when she’s a full adult. Never realized how hard it was for Tessa to build us.” J answers, wiping sweat off her forehead.

“Ok, cool! I’m sure she’ll love it.” V says.

“But while I have you, I wanted to show you something.” J says, pulling something out of her pocket and placing it in V’s hand.

Upon further inspection, it appeared to be one of those security bracelets every worker drone has, and there’s writing on it.

If found, contact Nori Doorman & Khan Doorman

Outpost 3

4114

The weight of what this bracelet meant slowly begins to dawn on V…Uzi had actual parents and she never knew…

“Are those names meant to be…” V asks.

“Yeah, I’m guessing so. Must be her family.” J answers. “…What should we tell her?”

“…We can’t.”

“What do you mean we can’t?!” J asks in exasperation.

“Uzi’s too young to understand what this means! And even if she’s eventually older, she’ll probably hate us for telling her!” V counters.

“But that’s lying to a literal child! Are you not seeing the moral consequences of what you’re encinuatiyng here?” J asks.

“I do…but she’s my responsibility, like you said. I have to do what’s best for her.” V says, standing firm with her decision.

J sighs before responding. “Okay…I won’t try to stop you then.” And with that, she exits the room.

V then heads into the living room where Uzi was still drawing, completely oblivious to V and J’s exchange earlier.

“You doing okay, kiddo?” she asks, sitting on the couch.

Uzi nods before climbing onto the couch herself. “Mmhmm! I made a picture, see?”

She holds up a small drawing in front of herself, depicting her, N and V as stick figures with arrows pointing at each one, all three labeled ‘Mommy’, ‘Daddy’, and ‘Me’.

A sense of happiness fills V from looking at the drawing. The fact that Uzi seems to view them as her family fills her with joy.

“This is amazing, sweetie. You’re a good artist.” V comments.

“Thank you!” Uzi says, getting closer to V. “But…what were you and Auntie J talking about?”

Unease begins to fill V now as her eyes hollow out. The fact that she now knew about Uzi’s biological parents was weighing heavily on her shoulders, and she knew she couldn’t tell her. She wouldn’t be able to process it, let alone understand what it means…

“It was nothing, dear…just grown up stuff.” V says. She hated lying to her kid, but she knew this was the only rational decision right now.

Thankfully, Uzi didn’t read too much into it, being only 12 now, and went back to her drawings.

V let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, slight relief hitting her. She wasn’t sure how long she could keep this secret, but it definitely can’t be forever. She already knew it’d be painful when she eventually found out, but all she do was try to give her as much love as she could muster.