Chapter Text
Snow blew across the surface of Copper-9, the rough winds promising a blizzard in just a few hours. Mayday sat on top of the school bus that she and her moms have been using as a mobile home while they traversed the frozen frontier of the planet. She had her thick jacket covering her metal plating and her hood drawn over her long pale hair. She looked down at her notebook, remembering what today meant for her.
Many years ago, the first Disassembly Drones arrived on Copper-9. Nicknamed “Murder Drones”, the vicious robots were programmed with only one task: to kill Worker Drones for the company, JCJenson. However, there was some malicious intent behind this task. The Murder Drones were truly sent by Cyn, a Drone under the control of an evil eldritch intelligence known as the Absolute Solver. The true reason for wiping out Worker Drones was to kill any drones affected by Absolute Solver so they couldn’t use it against her. The Worker Drones went into hiding, and an era of fear began.
But those days were over. Twenty years had passed since Cyn’s defeat, and the constant fear of slaughter had been replaced with something far stranger: peace.
The tension between Worker Drones and Murder Drones had ended in a way no one had thought to imagine: an unlikely trio consisting of both a Worker Drone and two Murder Drones worked together to save the world. Eventually, alliances were forged and agreements were made. With fear out of the picture, both factions of dronekind ventured across the planet for a new purpose: discovery and exploration. The frozen landscape was no longer a death trap; it was a frontier. The newly renamed World Discovery Force, once the Worker Defense Force, now led these expeditions, with Serial Designation V at its head after Khan Doorman passed the position to her. Teams of explorers were dispatched to the farthest reaches of Copper-9, tasked with mapping terrain, studying climate patterns, and recovering technology from before the collapse.
Today was Homecoming Day; the one day each year when every explorer returned to the colony for a few days. It was the colony’s one true festival, where exploration met celebration, and the frozen planet felt, for a moment, alive.
V and Lizzy had missed the last sixteen of them.
In their defense, it wasn’t entirely by choice. Their work always seemed to keep them moving, whether it was repairing old relay stations, assisting mapping crews, and checking up on distant weather towers that had a bad habit of going offline in the middle of storms. The travel bus they called home sat miles away from the colony. Mayday had grown up there, far from the hustle and bustle, and far from any other drone.
This year, though, was different. Lizzy had decided it was time for a break, and V, reluctant at first, had eventually agreed. It was time, Lizzy insisted, for their daughter to see the colony, to attend school, and to make friends. Or at least acquaintances. She was almost seventeen, after all.
“You’ve got to meet other drones sometime.” she had told Mayday more than once. “Sparky doesn’t count.”
Mayday, for her part, wasn’t convinced. The thought of returning, permanently , made her feel uneasy. The quiet isolated life she lived was the only life she knew of. It felt a bit nerve-wracking, being around Drones like her, and yet not like her. Before she could continue her train of thought, Mayday heard a chirp from behind her. V’s pet sentinel, Sparky, stood behind her, his head titled in curiosity. Mayday gave him a scratch under the chin.
“I’m worried about heading back the colony, Sparky.” Mayday admitted, letting out a loud sigh. “Mom and Ama say it’ll be good for me, but I bet the whole colony’s just dying to see the head of the WDF’s kid, especially when she’s half Murder Drone.”
Sparky gave another chirp, lowering his head to nuzzle her cheek. Mayday smiled and looked at the horizon. There was a break in the clouds, so she could see the rising sun, painting the sky in pink, orange, and yellow. Out here, the world was endless, with rolling white hills, jagged shards of blackened metal poking through the ice where old cities once stood, and the ever-present horizon that seemed to stretch forever. It was quiet. Peaceful. Out here, she didn’t have to think about being a hybrid. She was just… herself.
A gust of wind sent snow spiraling around her, nearly pulling her hood off. She pulled her jacket tighter. Sparky lifted his head, tilting it towards the west where a ridge loomed in the distance. Mayday thought she saw movement, a flicker of a shadow against white, but when she blinked, it was gone. Probably just the wind.
There was the sound of boots thumping as Lizzy climbed the ladder they attached to the back of the bus. She looked over and saw Mayday sitting on the roof. “I figured I would find you up here.” Lizzy said, her voice soft, yet slightly creeping with agitation. “I think that’s enough waiting around, kiddo. It’s almost time to go.”
Mayday sighed. “Alright, Mom.” she muttered. Sparky had already hopped off the roof. He knew better than to ignore Lizzy’s orders. Mayday climbed down after him and followed her mom inside. The bus doors opened with a hiss, letting out a wave of heat.
Inside was a mess of open crates, scattered clothes, and tools stacked in neat piles. All the bus seats had been cleared out, except for the driver’s seat, so there was plenty of space for a small table, chairs, and a bunk bed. Lizzy picked up a checklist and read it over twice while V wrestled with a stubborn zipper on one of the larger packs. Mayday pulled off her hood, shaking the powder from her jacket and long pale hair. Snow fell onto the floor and V looked up at the noise.
“There you are.” she said. She grabbed a smaller bag and tossed it towards Mayday, who caught it against her chest. “Make sure you’ve got what you need, but don’t go overboard, alright?”
Mayday nodded and walked over the far side of the bus, setting the bag on the bunk. She looked around. The space was small, but it had been theirs for as long as she could remember. Walls lined with scavenged trinkets, photos, and hand-drawn pictures. It was strange to think that they would soon be living in a large compartment in the colony.
She pulled off her jacket first, its fabric worn soft from years of use, and put it in the bag. The notebook went in next, followed by her pocketknife and a small pouch of mechanical parts she liked to fidget with when she was bored. She hesitated before adding a map she made of the planet when she was eight. If the colony was as cramped as she’d heard, she’d need something to remind her of open spaces.
“Leaving’s not so bad.” she murmured to herself as she kept packing, though she wasn’t sure if she believed it.
In the front of the bus, V finally managed to get the pack zipped up and let out a dramatic sigh of relief. She walked over to Mayday and squeezed her shoulder. “It’s gonna be a big change, going from this to being a part of the colony.”
Mayday nodded in agreement. “Yep.”
V gave her daughter a nervous look. “Are you sure you're ready?”
Mayday opened her mouth, hesitation tightening in her chest. She didn’t feel ready—of course she didn’t—but she had to try. And if V and Lizzy believed this was what she needed, then she would just have to trust them.
“Yes, Ama.” she replied. “I think I’m ready.”
V smiled. “That’s my sunspot.”
Mayday rolled her eyes and playfully shoved her away. “Amaaa.” she groaned, a little embarrassed of hearing that childish nickname.
By the time they’d finished packing, the wind outside had picked up. Snow rattled against the bus's windows, and the horizon blurred into a wall of white.
“Storm’s coming faster than I thought.” Lizzy remarked, peering out at the sky. “We should head out now if we want to beat it.”
V agreed with a sharp nod, and soon as the bus was ready—the heaters on, windows closed, and Sparky was settled—she slid into the driver’s seat and turned the key on the ignition. Mayday climbed into her seat, with Lizzy settling in next to her.
The bus rumbled to life, tires grinding through the snow as they set off toward the colony. Through the windows, Mayday watched the snow-dusted ecosystem become nothing but a blur as they moved.
She opened her bag and pulled out the mechanical parts she enjoyed fidgeting with, but her thoughts kept circling back to the colony. She’d heard about it from other the explorers. She heard it was a crowded place, with too many drones, too much noise, and way too many eyes. She could already feel the stares, the whispered questions.
Hybrid.
The word felt heavy in her mind, and she pushed it away.
Somewhere beyond the storm, the colony waited, alive with the celebrations of Homecoming Day. And for the first time in years, Mayday was heading straight for it.