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N stirred from his slumber. He had slept soundly, curled up like a bat, hanging upside down from his tail on the ceiling of the Corpse House.

But as he began to rouse, his tail's grip on the roof slipped, and he plummeted to the dusty floor below with a thud, for he had a memory of sorts, a very unsettling one.

Dazed and disoriented, he lay there for a moment, feeling the ache in his head where it had collided with the unforgiving ground. Slowly but surely, he picked himself up and gingerly rubbed the sore spot, taking in his surroundings with a groggy confusion.

"N, I found something in here!" Uzi exclaimed, her voice echoing through the metallic walls of the Landing Pod.

Inside the pod, Uzi inspected her new finding: a symbol consisting of a skull with a cap and wings, intricately carved into a piece of metal.

As she turned it over in her hand, she couldn't help but feel a strange sensation wash over her. Uzi glanced up and caught a glimpse of her own reflection in a small mirror, which suddenly shattered as her right eye took on the shape of the symbol for just a few fleeting seconds.

Behind her, V lounged in the corner, blowing bubbles into the air with a bored expression. She wore a metal collar with a chain attached to the ground to keep her in place.

"That's weird and concerning," V drawled, her voice laced with a hint of smugness.

"Bite me! This is probably you weirdos' fault!" Uzi shot back, referring to V and N.

"I've never seen that symbol before." V replied, her face suddenly contorted into a psychopathic grin. "Wanna do an autopsy to find out?"

Just then, N appeared at the entrance to the Landing Pod, descending the ladder with a curious expression.

"What'd you find?" He asked, but before Uzi could respond, she clipped the skull emblem onto N's hat.

Uzi cocked her head to the side, eyeing N curiously. "Did you know that was a pilot hat?" She questioned, gesturing to the emblem clipped onto his headgear.

N's eyes widened in surprise. "I was the pilot? That's awesome!" he exclaimed, a broad smile spreading across his face.

But as he paused for a moment to take in the gravity of the situation, his expression darkened. "...I crashed and ruined everything..." He muttered, a note of despair creeping into his voice.

For a moment, the group lapsed into a heavy silence, each lost in their own thoughts. But then N shook himself, summoning a burst of positivity.

"Spaceship Pilot: Origin Story!" N declared with a grin.

V hissed annoyingly at him, before calming herself by blowing bubbles from the pink bubble blower she held in her hand. More so, was her hand.

"...Speaking of piloting to Earth, are we sure 'exterminate all humans' is, uh, morality?" N questioned, a furrow creasing his brow.

"The humans sent you without a communication relay and reformatted your memories to soup." Uzi argued, her tone firm.

N had no rebuttal, no response. He simply stood there, lost in thought, while V crossed her arms and licked the soap from the bubble blower, making a face that suggested she didn't mind the taste somehow.

Uzi's grip on the wrench tightened as she spoke, her voice low and heavy with anger. "Covering their tracks means they're past negotiating." She said, the words dripping with contempt.

"Not like they tried negotiating with my mom..." A flash of pain crossed her face at the memory, and she crushed the wrench in her hand as if it were a piece of paper.

V, sensing the tension in the air, suddenly jumped from her seat and stood just a few inches from Uzi's face. The chain attached to her collar rattled as it held her back from attacking Uzi. "Or miss the negotiations!" She snarled, her face twisted into a vicious sneer.

"The humans programmed us to solve a problem. Where's proof of your backstory? The one where your kind's so conveniently innocent? And what about that other nuclear-powered worker drone, Y/N?" Her voice rose to a fever pitch as she spoke. "For all we know, they have more power than all of us combined."

Uzi's eyes narrowed, her jaw clenched tightly. "You don't know what you're talking about," she spat, her voice low and menacing.

N, sensing the tension in the room, quickly intervened to prevent another fight from breaking out. He gently pulled Uzi out of the way and changed the subject.

"J was getting orders from someone." N said, his brow furrowed in thought. "If not the company through that relay, then, uh, who? And how?"

Uzi let out a frustrated groan. "Quit complicating my murder plan." She complained, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

N tried to comfort Uzi by gently patting her on the head, but she slapped his hand away, scowling at him.

As Y/N sat outside the Corpse House, their eyes were fixated on their own instruction manual that laid open on their lap.

With a furrowed brow, they diligently scanned through each page, trying to comprehend the intricate functions of their system. The air was filled with a tranquil silence, except for the rustling of pages and the occasional chirping of a nearby bird.

Suddenly, Y/N was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching them. Looking up, they saw Thad strolling towards them with an easygoing gait.

He greeted Y/N with a casual "Yo!" and a friendly smile, yet his nervousness was still evident in the way he fidgeted with his hands. "Hey, uhm... Y/N, right?"

Y/N met his gaze with a hint of curiosity, as if wondering what Thad could possibly want. "Yes, that's my name." They replied bluntly, not bothering to conceal their lack of emotion.

Undeterred by Y/N's aloofness, Thad attempted to strike up a conversation. "So, uh, whatchu doin'?" He asked, hoping to break the ice.

Y/N paused, contemplating how to respond. "I'm reading the instruction manual about me." They finally answered, gesturing towards the thick book in their lap.

"There's a lot I didn't know I could do. I think some of you would refer to it as 'cool'..." Despite their monotone delivery, there was a hint of excitement in Y/N's voice, as if they had discovered a hidden treasure.

Thad leaned forward in awe as Y/N conjured a minigun out of their arm and fired it at a distant mountain. The sound of gunfire echoed through the valley as a burst of bullets formed a smiley face on the rocky surface. Thad's eyes widened in amazement as he realized the full extent of Y/N's abilities.

"Whoa, that's insane!" he exclaimed, his excitement palpable.

Y/N couldn't help but feel a small sense of satisfaction at Thad's reaction. "Apparently, I can create any tool or weapon I need thanks to the 'nanobots' implemented into my body," they explained, sounding almost surprised themselves. "So, is it 'cool'?"

"Totally!" Thad nodded fervently, grinning from ear to ear.

The brief moment of camaraderie was soon broken by an awkward silence, punctuated only by the sound of the minigun dissipating into thin air. Sensing the lull in the conversation, Thad racked his brain for another topic.

"So, uh... You listen to music?" He asked, hoping to find some common ground.

Y/N tilted their head quizzically, almost as if processing the question. "I don't understand. What is 'music'?" They replied, revealing their lack of familiarity with the concept.

Thad rubbed the back of his neck, his face contorting in thought. "Right, you were only activated yesterday... uh..."

He muttered, trying to come up with a way to explain music to someone who had never heard it before. "Music is basically, um, sound that's good? It's a bit hard to explain. Just, you know, like...if you hear it and like it, it's music?"

Y/N furrowed their brow, still not fully grasping the concept. "That sounds like noise to me." They replied, their voice slightly tinged with frustration.

Undeterred, Thad dug into his pocket and produced a small MP3 player along with a pair of earbuds. He showed Y/N how to operate the device, going through the basics of play/pause, volume, and skipping tracks.

After a few minutes of fumbling around, he managed to get the earbuds snugly in place over Y/N's ears.

"Okay, now listen to this." Thad said, scrolling through the device's playlist. He selected a song and pressed play, his eyes trained on Y/N's face.

As the music filled Y/N's ears, their expression remained stoic. But as the song progressed, something stirred inside them. It was as if a switch had been flipped, and suddenly they began to bob their head to the beat.

Thad grinned, pleased to see that his impromptu music lesson was working. "See? It's not so bad, right?"

Y/N nodded slowly, still processing the new sensation of sound and rhythm. Curiosity was bound to be their most prominent trait, and they were eager to explore this new world of music that had just been opened to them.

"You just chill with that for a while, 'kay?" Thad said with a smile, before turning to leave.

Y/N was left alone with their thoughts and the music, feeling a sense of slight excitement and wonder wash over them.

Meanwhile, back at the Corpse House, Uzi was in a state of panic. Sweat dripped down her forehead as she frantically typed away at her computer. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, that they were being watched.

"Oh, I'm sweaty! Who programmed that?!" Uzi exclaimed, her voice trembling with anxiety.

N looked up from her own computer, concern etched on her face. "You good, Uzi?"

"I'm good! Better than good! I am GOD!" Uzi declared, trying to convince herself as much as anyone else. But then Thad walked in, and Uzi's confidence faltered.

"Hi... Hi, Thad," Uzi mumbled, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Thad held out a railgun that Uzi had forgotten back at the colony.

"Thank you," Uzi said, taking the weapon and inspecting it carefully. She couldn't help but wonder if Thad had seen something he shouldn't have while he was there.

"Of course, 'Zi!" Thad said with a grin, before turning to N. "N&M's?"

N nodded, smiling at the playful nickname. But the conversation quickly turned serious as Thad explained the situation at the colony.

"You 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? I can never return..." Uzi interrupted, her voice serious.

Thad nodded gravely. "Recent disappearances, and your murder friend's corpse. When I went to grab your gun, it kind of looked like it... crawled away...?"

"We can return a little..." Uzi said hesitantly, realizing the gravity of the situation.

(Flashback...)

The memory of the past flooded back as though it had just happened yesterday. Back at the colony, the atmosphere was tense as two drones stood before a gaping hole in the roof. The remains of J's body lay scattered on the ground, a grim reminder of the recent battle.

Tim, one of the drones, spoke in a hushed tone. "Yeah, just fix her up because-" He paused, stepping over J's oily remains.

"Whoops, pretty big security risk in hindsight. Uh, you got this, uh..." He glanced at the other bot's nametag. "Ladderbot 5000." The bot's actual name was Frank.

Frank let out a weary sigh, his metallic joints creaking as he shifted his weight. "Ugh... Please, just leave the lights-" He was abruptly cut off as Tim left the room, flicking off the lights as he did so.

Alone in the dark, Frank dug out his flashlight and began to contemplate how he would repair the damage. But his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden clattering sound. He spun around, his sensors on high alert, and that's when he saw it: something that resembled flesh.

Cautiously, Frank approached the mysterious object, his flashlight trained on it. But as he got closer, one of J's remains revealed itself, sending a chill down his circuits.

Suddenly, the entity turned the colors of the room yellow and red, pulsating with an otherworldly energy. Frank barely had time to react before he was violently dispatched by the unknown force.

(Flashback End...)

The present-day scene at the colony was fraught with tension as Tim, a drone, stumbled upon a hologram of Frank.

"Oh, Ladderbot 5000? We looked everywhere for you!" Tim exclaimed, his voice laced with relief at the sight of the hologram.

Frank's hologram screamed in pain, glitching out momentarily before returning to normal. "Hi Tim, care to join me?" It said in a monotone voice.

Tim eyed the hologram suspiciously. "Join you standing eerily still over there in suspiciously low resolution?" He asked, his tone tinged with suspicion.

"...Yes?" Frank's hologram replied, its glitching becoming more pronounced.

With a shrug, Tim approached the hologram, unaware that it was not really Frank but a manifestation of an entity left behind by J's remains, known as the Absolute Solver.

As Tim drew closer, the entity struck, snatching him up and dragging him into the darkness of the ceiling before he could react.

A large claw pierced through Tim's chest, sending him hurtling upwards into the void. Suddenly, something emerged from the shadows, resembling a camera. It began creating a hologram of Tim to join Frank's.

"Flawless character acting, me." Tim's hologram said, grinning smugly.

Frank's hologram regarded the new addition with interest. "Improv game for more practice?" It asked.

"Hahaha! We are a monster!" Tim's hologram exclaimed, its tone becoming increasingly distorted and inhuman. Or in this case, indrone.