Chapter 1
21XX Year. Planet Copper-9.
Night on the planet lasted quite long. It was cold and harsh, just like the times here. Despite this, life still existed on the planet. The cold did not stop the workers from building an efficient society, or so they thought. A society with functioning political pluralism, where drone workers could finally feel safe.
After the core collapse, there were no more humans left on the planet, those who had ruthlessly exploited the worker drones and killed them for disobedience or whenever it seemed necessary. At some point, for an unknown reason, all the humans on the planet simply died, and the planet itself turned into a lifeless wasteland where the worker drones could feel safe.
Until a certain moment...
Apparently, the humans didn’t like that the worker drones had decided to build their own society, one where humans could no longer use them as slaves. The company, with its vast resources, sent a squad to the planet to suppress the drones’ desire to create their own state. This meant the complete destruction of the worker drones on the planet.
The company sent ruthless killers, capable of wiping out the entire planet. These were drones. Disassembly drones. Like the workers, they were not alive, but they possessed their own consciousness. However, they were different. They were packed from head to toe with various weapons, incredibly strong, fast, durable, and aggressive.
Disassembly drones, literally walking and flying machines for mass murder, reduced the population of worker drones on the planet to 30 percent in a short time. They were merciless. They brutally killed the workers, drinking their oil right in the street. The worker drones had no choice but to flee.
Thanks to the cunning and ingenuity of the worker drone leaders, they managed to find shelter in the form of a bunker and some underground structures, with huge tunnels leading to the bunker for communication. For many years, the disassembly drones tried to infiltrate, but they had little success. In the end, we arrived at the point where our story begins.
3071 Year.
The Worker Drone Bunker
It was just another uneventful weekday in the Bunker. The worker drones were once again going about their usual tasks: maintaining the complex, guarding it, and ensuring the supply of all the necessary resources for the survival of the colony.
One of the Bunker’s ministers once said, "Work is the blood that sustains our society. As long as the hands are busy with work, the heart remains free." It was hard to disagree with him: the situation of the worker drones couldn’t exactly be called pleasant. Only constant labor could ensure the survival of this small colony, carefully built by the first-generation drones.
But there was also a second generation. And now, the story turns to one of the worker drones from that generation. More precisely, it was a female drone. A girl, who would be considered a teenager by human standards. A high schooler. At first glance, it would be easy to say that this girl was different from the others. And in fact, she truly was.
The girl was dressed in typical emo style. A black hoodie with a tablet design, with crossed human bones on the back and another black-and-white symbol on her shoulder. These symbols were once seen on crash-test dummies when humans still inhabited the planet. She also wore a black mini-skirt. Everything followed the emo traditions.
However, her skirt didn’t seem provocative—because the girl was rather short. All her classmates were taller, some significantly so. She didn’t stand out for her size either—her chest appeared to be around the first size, maybe a little more. She didn’t boast any prominent curves—she was quite slim.
Her head was covered in beautiful violet hair. Typical emo hair. It wasn’t long, just of medium length. Her face was quite sweet, and her big violet eyes only amplified the aura of endless cuteness that radiated from her. And she was the only one like this in the Bunker.
The alarm clock rang, which meant it was time for the girl to get out of bed and prepare for school. She had an important project to present today—something that could improve the life of every worker drone.
The girl reluctantly opened her eyes. The clock read 7:30 AM, so it was time to get up. She groggily pulled herself out of bed—she had been up all night finishing her project. Her hair was disheveled, and there was a clear tone of annoyance in her groans as she realized she had to get up so early. But her project was ready, so she walked over to her desk to grab the results of her work.
"Here you are. You’ll bring me success and victory in this!" she said as she stood over the items on her desk.
On the desk lay a small black flash drive, and something else that could be quite surprising. This item resembled futuristic weaponry. Inside, there was a transparent tube glowing green. The weapon itself looked like an alien sniper rifle—there was a scope and a stock that could be braced against the shoulder.
The girl grabbed the alien-super-laser-sniper rifle and tried to shove it into her backpack. The backpack couldn’t hold such a large object, so she struggled to force it inside. Eventually, she gave up and left the backpack unzipped. She then took the flash drive and put it in her hoodie pocket.
Afterward, she slung the backpack over her shoulders, sighed, and headed for the door. She opened her door—it was on wheels, retractable—and stepped into the main part of the apartment. The apartment was fairly average in size—but it seemed large to her. It had a bathroom, a kitchen, and another room. She lived here with her father. The girl walked out of the apartment and into the Bunker’s corridor.
The Bunker’s corridors were wide, and the main areas where life happened were well-lit by numerous lightbulbs—some of which were from the human era, while others had been manufactured by the drones. The worker drones had managed to set up production for some items, although the quality of the lightbulbs was questionable at best and far inferior to what the humans had left behind.
The corridors were bustling with life: workers were running here and there—some to work, some to school, and others just aimlessly wandering the halls. The emo girl seemed completely unnoticed among them, just trying to get to her class to attend school. However, her plans were not meant to be so simple. She was called out from the crowd, much to her misfortune.
“Hey, you. Purple toaster!” came the voice she absolutely hated. She sighed aggressively and turned around. “Uzi, I’m talking to you.”
Before her stood a group of three girls, all in the standard school uniform of the Bunker. The uniform consisted of a white tank top worn under a short, dark red top. The skirt was short, orange-red in color. The more conservative members of society considered this outfit too revealing, while the more liberal faction advocated for its complete abolition. Everyone seemed to have an opinion...
“So, did you prepare your project? Let me guess—it's a plan to kill all humans? Or maybe a tutorial on how to become a little midget like you?” One of the girls grinned smugly.
This girl was clearly taller than Uzi. She had beautiful blonde hair, adorned with a headband featuring plastic cat ears. Her eyes were pink, and her figure was rather attractive—she had a C-cup chest (for a worker drone), which many would certainly find appealing. Her height was around 155 cm, which was considered the standard for worker drones. In general, she definitely attracted a lot of male attention.
The second girl was about the same height or perhaps 2 centimeters shorter than the provocateur. She wore the same uniform, but she differed in two ways: first, her hair was blue, and second, her curves weren’t as pronounced. It seemed she was the "sidekick" of the blonde who was now provoking Uzi into a verbal conflict.
The third girl, like Uzi, had violet hair, and her body was somewhere between the blue-haired girl and the blonde. Her eyes were red, and her expression was noticeably different from the other two. She appeared to be deep in thought and wasn’t interested in taunting Uzi. It seemed her concerns were much more serious.
“Take that, Lizzy! I prepared my project, and it's going to be better than yours!” Uzi growled, maintaining a fierce expression.
“Oh, how angry you are. Well, well. Midget, maybe you’re just missing a boyfriend? Why else would you be so focused on all this nonsense? Or are you into girls?” Lizzy asked, trying once again to get under Uzi’s skin.
“Yeah, but what kind of guy would go for a girl like you? Either he's blind, or as messed up as she is!” said the blue-haired girl.
“YOU CAN BOTH EAT IT! You’re both idiots! Sluts!” Uzi shouted, finally letting all the curses out.
“Lizzy... we have class soon. We should hurry up,” the red-eyed girl said. “The lesson starts in two minutes.”
“Ah, damn it, fine, Doll. Even our purple freak won’t be upset by us. Well, let’s see how her project falls flat,” Lizzy said, laughing loudly.
Lizzy had once again ruined Uzi's mood. She hadn’t been feeling great today, and after the encounter with that pink bitch, her mood had completely soured. If she had a few more moments, Uzi might have strangled that damn Lizzy with her own hands. But then she noticed something interesting. It seemed that Doll, the red-eyed girl, had somewhat stood up for her. Despite being secretive, Doll appeared more pleasant to Uzi than Lizzy or the blue-haired Rebecca, who was always with her.
“Yeah, what a bitch! Just awful...” Uzi muttered to herself, walking behind them into the class.
On this day, the students were presenting their projects to improve life in the Bunker, as well as possibly some things that could be of interest to everyone here. Ted, Uzi’s classmate, a worker drone with green eyes, suggested holding an annual sports olympiad in the Bunker. The green-eyed drone was very obsessed with sports, which was obvious. Tall and muscular, he attracted attention, especially considering that there were almost no other workers like him.
Lizzie suggested organizing beauty contests in the Bunker – yes, even such ideas were proposed. But most people liked it. Lizzie spoke about how beauty and style were very important for the residents of the Bunker because... And then she went on with various pretty slogans to present her idea in the best possible way. Uzi thought it was idiotic. Lizzie, noticing that Uzi lacked enthusiasm during her presentation, arrogantly said:
Let’s face it: everyone wants to be in my place, but not everyone can. Well, let them try! – During this, the blonde obviously looked at Uzi, which made her even angrier, but she decided not to say anything.
And now it was Uzi’s turn to present her project. She stood up, feeling a bit nervous, and approached the electronic presentation board. She inserted the flash drive, waiting for the click, and took the remote to control the board. A few presses, and the presentation began.
Have you ever wondered what it means to be a slave? Worker drones know this better than anyone. For humans, we were just walking tools – to build, repair, and carry things. No rights, no freedom, no independence. We were just an expensive inconvenience to them, something they could throw away once we stopped being active. And then, when they destroyed themselves with their stupidity, they left us to die here, like garbage. But no! That wasn’t enough for them! They sent the disassembly drones to clean up after themselves and clear us out. You know why? Because we are a reminder of how stupid they were. – Uzi read the speech fiercely, while the whole class listened to her with bated breath.
After that, Uzi suddenly pulled a rifle from her backpack and aimed it at the class, making everyone there panic, while Uzi, with a fierce expression, aimed at everyone as if preparing to shoot.
To hell with them! I’m tired of being afraid. Tired of hiding from these metal psychos who only know how to kill. That’s why I built this – a railgun! A weapon that will blow their brains out, damn it. I’m showing these metal freaks that we, worker drones, are not just a bunch of idiots, but real power. We can fight! We can survive! And I’ll start by taking them all down! – Uzi screamed, angrily waving the weapon around.
The whole class seemed very scared, and some were simply laughing at Uzi. However, one student’s reaction was very different from all the others. It was Doll, and now there were notes of admiration and respect in her gaze.
Uzi, this is not exactly what I asked for. You were supposed to come up with some useful project… – The Teacher started his critique.
EAT SHIT! – Uzi said, aiming the weapon at him.
Suddenly, the railgun started heating up in her hands. Uzi realized something was wrong and quickly dropped the railgun to the ground, fearing something might happen. And something did happen – an explosion. Uzi's engineering knowledge turned out to be insufficient to make such a weapon safe.