Year: 3071
Unit: P/N: CYN-MYKX - S/N: N-0X0010010
Exoplanet of Unit Deployment: Copper-9
The return journey back to the Tower was a relatively short one - all things considered. Though, given how N had first come across their stalker whilst patrolling near the outer perimeter of their squad's territory, as well as the fact N also had the ability to fly over most inherent obstacles he came across, it really shouldn't have been much of a surprise in a fairness.
Even when including the fact that N was also carrying the worker drone's body alongside their severed head and personal effects, the reality that none of these things really slowed him down much - if at all for that matter - during his journey was simply just a testament to the effectiveness and marketed superiority of a disassembly drone's capabilities!
…
… Hmmm…
That all being the case however, such thoughts were more so drifting into the territory of unnecessary bragging… Kinda…
And, true, as much as N did personally like to take pride in what he was, as well as all the benefits that came along with it, such needless preening was… Well, it wasn't really his style.
Plus, it's not like I'm actually all that good at bragging anyways… N inwardly admitted to himself with a resigned acceptance. After all, many of his earlier attempts at wooing V over were a solemn reminder of this very fact…
"Ah! Wait, no!" N suddenly blurted out upon remembering something important, "Ah! Don't think like that! Oh biscuits, and we were doing so well too…"
Coming to a sudden stop just outside his squad's home base - that being a rather pristine looking skyscraper on the South-Eastern edge of the city - N inwardly bemoaned himself for his sudden bout of negativity.
"Okay. Remember, T went over this with you during our last session." N continued assuredly, ""Stay assertive and challenge your negative, self defecating thoughts. If you're not good at something, that's fine, it's best to firmly know one's self and your own personal limits, for only then can you start on the path of improvement.""
Not too long after arriving on Copper 9, and there-in clearing out the majority of the rogue worker drones which had taken up residence within the city proper, T had put in place several routine guidance sessions for all of them to take part in alongside the usual quarterly review meetings. These sessions, as she'd gone on to explain to them at the time, were primarily designed with the intention of helping them overcome any underlying issues they might be experiencing; with said help usually tending to take the form of either a totally normal heart-to-heart conversation - be that one-on-one or as a group - or both a mentally and physically intensive training session - again, be it one-on-one or as a group.
In N's case specifically, it was his apparent lack of self confidence, worth and overall attitude towards certain things which T was set on resolving, alongside some other, more minor, issues - most of which T had easily helped him overcome anyways… to some extent or another…
Ahem…
Well, in any regard, he was definitely doing better than he was original! That counted for something, right…?
But still, be it in regard to work ethic, the relationships we have with one another, or our overall mentality towards the predicament we currently found ourselves in - that, of course, being stranded with a damaged ship and limited to no avenues of communicating with either the other disassembly drone squads currently stationed on the planet or JCJenson itself - T would always strive to improve them however, and through whatever means, she believe was correct for the situation. And it was that resolve, among a plethora of other things, which truly endeared T as a leader to N at the end of the day. The fact that no matter how occasionally cruel she acted or how hard she was with them, deep down, N knew that she did deeply care for all of them. That she simply wanted them all to live up to the potential she herself saw within them.
It was all rather core warming in all honesty.
That said… N had to fight back the urge to inwardly cringed a bit at one of the prior points he made reference to however - regarding their current situation. He had been, and still was to some extent, the ships pilot after all - or at least that's what his role in the squad supposedly was, even though, like most of the others, he couldn't really remember much outside of the mission and who everyone else was - therefore it technically was solely his fault that they'd crashed landed in the first place and were now stuck having to scavenge around for any bits of workable technology they could then use to fix up their ship's spotty flight and relay equipment…
"Ah, Wait! No… Remember, no unnecessary self defecating thoughts!" N awkwardly tried to remind himself once again, "Well… Maybe they are kinda warranted in this particular case…? Hmmm…"
Truthfully, the whole "crashing the ship" thing was something which N could never truly find a silver lining or satisfactory excuse for, no matter how hard he tried. Well… not withstanding the obvious one which was him physically not knowing he was the pilot at the time, but, then again, that was a rather cheep excuse in his own personal option.
Still, with some amount of guidance, N had somewhat leaned to at least accept what had happened for what it actually was, that being a honest mistake which he had virtually no control over… All that was left then to do after that was simply to move forward and learn from it the best he could so that it never happened again - as per T's advice.
"Heh…" Really, N couldn't even begin to express just how lucky he and the others were to have someone like T as their leader. Honestly, if not for her leadership, N would wager rather heavily that none of them would be the same drones that they were today. In fact, another part of N kinda dreaded even thinking about how things would look without T around to guide them down the correct path…
The thought was truly that discomforting.
Feeling that his mind was steadily becoming a complicated mess of errant thoughts and emotions, N promptly decided to move away from his current rumination's; instead focusing back more so on his flying as he looked over the facility standing tall directly in front of him. Adjusting his flight path so that he could circle safely around the exterior of the Tower, N began scouring the numerous entryways into the structure - both visible and hidden - for any signs of where T specifically wanted him to land.
Like mentioned previously, their home base - though more typically referred to as simply "the Tower" for a number of reasons besides the most obvious one - was housed within one of the few still stable skyscrapers which lined the outer, South-Eastern quadrant of the city.
As notable landmarks went, the building in question might've been rather bland and somewhat unassuming during its heyday, if not a bit on the bulkier end of the spectrum, what with its thick grey walls and small sporadically placed windows. Indeed, the only truly striking element about the building was the artistic "penthouse" space at the top of the structure which currently house what was left of the ship as well as their primary living and command accommodations. However, with the planets core collapse - causing the world around them to be thrown into a seemingly eternal winter - said building was now one of the tallest structures still standing for seemingly miles around.
So, in essence, the skyscraper before him was certainly the most practical platform for their squad to use as a base of operations - both in terms of it being a rudimentary centre point for surveying the city and its surrounding wilderness, as well as giving them some much needed fast response capability with how high it stood over its ruined contemporaries below.
And all of this - why this particular building continued to stand tall while other similar structures fell into ruins around it - was in no small part to something which they'd only realised after several weeks of continuous prep work to make the skyscraper more functional for their squads ever-developing needs.
To list off a few of the main points which N could recall of the top of his head:
The building had a frankly ludicrous amount of internal support bracings… The exterior walls were sufficiently resistant to a number of natural threats such as drastic temperature changes and heavy rain or snow fall… Not to mention it also possessed several solid supporting pads underneath the structure consisting of steel, rubber and lead which could theoretically absorb forces of up to a level nine earthquake…
And couple all this along with just how wide the diameter of the whole structure was when compared to other, much smaller, buildings which had collapsed years prior to their squad arriving, it all began to make at least some amount of sense as to why this particular skyscraper was still standing tall, even after all this time.
And yet, even with all that being said, such truly interesting discoveries were only the result of happen-chance as N had alluded to previously. There were still a good many questions regarding their home which had yet - at least, back then - to be answered…
"Just what exactly was this building being used for before the collapse occurred?"
"What necessitated the need for so much structural reinforcements and protection to begin with?"
"And why exactly was there a plethora of JCJenson branded mechanise everywhere…?"
Now, in regard to how N himself felt about these particular things? Well… back then at least, it wouldn't have been completely incorrect to say that he might've been somewhat interested in discovering the answers to these questions - if for no other reason than to simply be of some more use outside the normal requirements expected of him.
Plus, he thought cheerfully, Who didn't like a good mystery? Detective N, yeah!
Still, when thinking about such things from a strictly productive standpoint as he knew T ultimately would given he'd have to ask for her permission to start such an investigation, there in lay the issue of time. Specially, was him going around, searching for answers to questions which didn't strictly need answering, a good use of his time; which could instead be used patrolling the city for worker drones or useful equipment for repairing their ship? Because if not, he knew T - despite N's own personal hopes - would definitely not be on board with him looking into this.
After all, their primary mission required them to be out killing worker drones and harvesting their relay control chips to construct pylons which would make up the start of a new planet wide communication network. Nowhere in that briefing did it say they should actively wander aimlessly around some cavernous, old skyscraper, doing nothing of importance in the eyes of the company. Everything else they'd done thus far from working on the Tower's infrastructure to collecting the necessary components and material to fix up their ship's equipment pretty much fell within the same area of improving the effectiveness in which they could complete said mission.
So, the question then stood:
"Was knowing the previous purpose of this facility necessary to the overall mission?"
…
… Well, maybe it might've been possible… N was pretty sure he could've presented a good argument to T as to why it could've been important, and with the benefit of hindsight it most likely would've worked too given how things played out in the end, But then again, T had just slated some personal hours for all of us to use however we wanted… So… Yeah…
In essence, N had gone for the easier and less stressful option.
Though looking back on it, a part of N couldn't help but find some slice of belated amusement at how ironic that decision would ultimately be for him as he continued to fly - slightly aimlessly - around the Tower in the present.
But to summarise briefly his previous point: As a way of helping with their efficiency and their effectiveness whilst preforming their daily duties, T had early on looked to gift them all a period of three hours of free time each per day - not counting their recharging periods - to do with as they pleased; with the possibility for additional hours being given as a reward for outstanding work.
Now, of course, there were a couple stipulation to this personal time. The first point T had brought up was that all of them should plan accordingly in advance for when they were taking their own hours off. To an extent this was to make sure that at least one of them was always either on stand by in the command centre or out on patrol at all times - just in case of an emergency.
As for the second point, T had specified firmly that whatever they ended up doing during their free time, that it didn't, in any way, threaten their overall mission nor their squads safety. No exceptions!
To N specifically, it was all very clear and understandable. Enough said.
In addition as well, T had also proposed the idea of them all starting up hobbies as well. Specifically that the four of them should consider using this newly acquired free time to do something which they'd either enjoy or felt would be productive given their situation - again, all within reason.
T finished off their meeting by citing that a personal hobby or two would keep their processors active even whilst they were relaxing, which would in turn further help their efficiency once they were back on duty. A fact J specifically was very supportive of from what N could remember.
Still, as N had stated, this was his quote-unquote easy option - not counting the benefit of hindsight. After all, this newly acquired free time could be used to do some sleuthing! - which also just so happened to double as a hobby he could delve into as well… All be it a rather eccentric one, but what did that matter at the end of the day. Ultimately speaking, this was an absolute win-win situation in N's books!
He also had complete free rein to do as he liked without worrying about potentially disappointing T! Just so long as nothing truly bad happened as a result of his investigation, everything would turn out great!
And, true, maybe there were better choices for N to invest his free time in besides wandering around old, decrepit rooms and corridors in search of answers to seemingly meaningless questions… For instance, he could get into art like J! Even if she said he had no talent for it… Oh! Or possibly even reading like T! All be it, he'd likely prefer something a little less daunting than: "The Workplace Revolution: 2867-2931" or "The complete history of space travel in the third millennium: Volume II"…
Still, N had plenty of time to think about such interests later! It was best to solely focus on the present for now - that's what his past self thought at least.
Hmmm… Chuckling inwardly a bit as he hummed happily at the nostalgia he was experiencing, N couldn't help but loose himself further to his memories of days long past as he continued to recall the first couple months of his investigation…
With a timetable set in advance and all other preparations made - which mainly just amounted to procuring a simple bag with enough space for anything interesting he might find alongside a flask of emergency oil T had personally gifted all of them not long after they landed on the planet - N delved into the "unknown"; embracing the experience with an unparalleled sense of determination and eager excitement; ready to see what secrets their new home would offer him!
…
… And yet, as the days slowly started to come and go, several weeks eventually passed N by without much fanfare to speak of, and so personal investigation started to become rather… lacklustre - for the lack of a better word. Even as N continued to search through areas which his squad barely ventured - Especially back during those early days when we first moving in… - nothing he found really seem to offer anything noteworthy besides adding more to his ever growing pile of questions.
Floor after floor, room after room, N had found nothing but cramped office spaces or large, mostly barren, warehouse-esk rooms; all seemingly distributed at random throughout the several upper levels he'd initially focussed his efforts on. Exactly why a building such as this needs tens of floors dedicated to just office and warehouse spaces, N had truly no idea… Maybe it had something to do with all the JCJenson merch they'd been finding all over the place, but sadly N couldn't been 100% sure of that fact at the time - even though such items held within them a massive clue for the true purpose of this facility…
Again, the benefits of hindsight…
Still, with how things were shaping out for him, as well as the lack of any groundbreaking finds as far as N was aware outside a few theories, N finally relented that perhaps a new perspective might likely be needed. Or, at the very least, a better plan than just: "Walk around until he found something important."…
After all, being determined was one thing, but as T had once said: "Without a good plan and a solid foundation to work from, what good is determination than a willingness to blindly walk into failure?!".
So with his mind finally made up, N decided that he should probably bite the proverbial bullet and ask T for some advice when he next had the chance, after all if anyone had good advice to give a troubled drone such as himself it was most curtainly T.
And, yes, the fact that N could've potentially skipped all these weeks of fruitless investigating and gone to T from the start, like he originally planned to before chickening out by using his newly gifted free time as an excuse instead, well… it wasn't lost of him either…
Hmmm… Still, it was probably for the best that I never told T about that specific part… N thought back a little awkwardly; trying to keep a chipper demeanour, She probably would've been more harsher then she was originally if she knew I wasted all my time just walking around aimlessly…
So it was with this mindset of going to ask T for assistance firmly set within his CPU that N suddenly felt a light tap-tap upon his shoulder. Understandable a bit startled by the notion of something, or someone, completely unknown suddenly touching him out of nowhere - especially given he was assumedly along down within the lower levels of the Tower - N released an panicked shriek as he instinctively bolted around the upcoming corner of the hallway he was in-
Only for him to then suddenly, and unexpectedly, come face-to-face with the very same drone he had just been thinking about a few moments prior - that being T.
Well, technically speaking N had come face-to-face with J first - who had been walking practically hand-in-hand with T at the time - but that wasn't the important part. What was important however was that given his moment of panic, alongside him not expecting anything, much less his two superiors of all drones to be in his immediate path as he bolted full speed around the corner, N had only enough time to close his optical receptors in preparation as he all but tackled the two of them to the ground.
With heavy and rather painfully sounding thud as the three of them hit the ground, N took a brief moment to collect himself before slowly opened his receptors again to find his faceplate firmly pressed up against the visor of either J or T. Though given the rather pissed off glare their yellow eyes were giving him, N had a fairly good hunch as to which of his two superiors he was currently straddling at that time.
Oh… I'm on top of J, aren't I? N remembered thinking at that exact moment to an almost immediate confirmation as J promptly removed his face from hers, allowing N to better make out the silvery pigtails laid out on either side of her head - a hair style synonymous with J specifically, confirming that it was indeed her he was on top of.
Feeling something else soon after impact against his chest, N had additionally no time to react as his whole body was then suddenly set flying off of J by what had seemed to be a concentrated, but not inherently harmful, pulse of energy - most likely from one of their numerous retractable weapons if he had to take an educated guess.
Whatever the actual cause actually was however, the end result was still very much the same. N body was violently shot straight back the way he came until he eventually impacted against the wall at the opposite end of the corridor. Or… well… to be exact, his body had first collided with something else before then hitting the wall, with whatever that something was having also cushioned the impact a good deal for N, so he was somewhat thankful for that… At least, that was until he had extricated himself from said wall; finding that the thing which cushioned his impact was in fact V.
Shocked by the sudden realisation - especially given she was supposed to be out on patrol at that time - N had immediately made to extricate his crush from the wall. A task somewhat hampered by just how deep she was within said wall. Still, with a good deal of effort on his part, N was able to get V out relatively without much issue. And just in time too, as J came storming up to the two of them not a moment later to chew the both of them out thoroughly.
From what N could recall from the lengthy conversation which fallowed, both J and T had been in the process of looking into what there new headquarters had to offer them in terms necessary materials and/or equipment when he'd accidentally, and literally, run into them.
J, for her part, had been sketching up detailed maps of the building's interior layout while T had simply been fallowing her, pointing out areas of interest - such as the warehouse and main office blocks - for any useful materials or pieces of equipment which they could then use in the meantime instead of going out and salvaging supplies from around the city.
As to why V had been there and not, as previously mentioned, out on patrol, well… N might've, sorta, lost track of time and gone over his allotted break period by a hour or so…
This misshape; in conjunction with both J and T out doing their surveying of the lower levels, left their main hub at the top of the Tower empty when V inevitably came back from her patrol. As she had recounted to all of them at the time, she was rightfully confused as to where everyone was, which has led her to understandably go searching for where they could've gone. This so happened to be how V inevitably came across N mindlessly walking by himself; who, upon being suddenly tapped on the shoulder to gain his attention - because she apparently was in a devious mood and wanted to seemingly scare him a bit - bolted away from her; resulting in her falling after him and… well, the rest is history…
Once everything was firmly sorted out and explanations were thoroughly given however, there was seemly no fanfare involved with what came next as he, alongside V, were forcefully sat down back at the main hub to have an impromptu lecture from both T and J about the importance of workplace and personal behaviour alongside the leniency in which N himself was exceeding his person times - even if it was by accident. A further promise was also made for additional, as well as increasingly more severe, disciplinary actions to be taken at a future date if such things happen again; something neither V nor himself were overly excited about, though N guessed it was deserved to some extent…
Even looking back on it now, N could agree with both T's and J's reasonings.
Nevertheless, N couldn't complain too much at the time either way. After all T and J had come to an agreement with him in the end that every one of them - including V - would now made a concerted effort to better understand their base's prior history to a greater extent than they initially had. With T even citing that there was indeed some merit in finding out what the building was previously being used for after he explained his own reasons for investing the topic.
So, all-in-all, there was at least some semblance of a true silver lining to the whole ordeal…
And to that extent, his squad's assistance did help N massively! For in no time at all the information he was originally searching for just seemed to materialise out of the drywall!
Though… N would freely admit it was primarily thanks in no small part to T's and J's efforts in recovering the facility's primary database early on during their renovations which truly sealed the lid on this adventure, and not them all systematically exploring the whole building for small but important clues like he'd originally hoped. In all honesty, it was somewhat of a let down for N that the answers were discovered so easily, but then again… I guess that's what I should've expected when asking for help from two of the most capable drones I know… N, both past and present, couldn't help but admit.
Still all that aside for the moment, his original questions still awaited answers:
"Just what was the purpose of this building before the core collapse?"
"Plus, what was the importance of that JCJenson's merchandise?"
Well… with all four of them huddled around the many screens within their command centre, the facility's database revealed to them the clear cut answer that this place was in actuality the main distribution hub for JCJension on the planet.
Not just the city itself. No. The entire planet.
Apparently every warehouse they'd seen thus far had a corresponding office block surrounding it which was responsible for the off-world collection and subsequent sale of worker drones and other such company branded products form mugs too generators for every notable sector on the planet. From N's perspective, it definitely explained a good deal of things he'd seen, even more so when J started deducing that all the support infrastructure for the building must've been a necessary precaution so as to safeguard the company's many investments.
A pretty plausible assessment, if not a totally accurate one, in N's own opinion.
That said, the lack of anything of true note besides the odd box of branded merchandise in the warehouses did have N question if such precautions were truly necessary?
Regrettably for his personal safety however, N had to state such thoughts out loud, and worse still, within range of J. The resulting incident started and ended with a prompt and marginally painful smack on the back of the head courtesy of J for both disrespecting the company and for being an idiot.
"Of course most of the storage warehouses would be mostly empty." J had stated at the time with an accompanying eye role before going on to cite that the products manufactured by JCJenson were naturally the best throughout the galaxy and would of course be in a high demand; reasoning away the mostly empty storage units as a mere supply issue - one which wasn't the company's fault, natural, but instead one most definitely brought about by whatever incompetent fool who happened to be in charge of re-stocking this facility.
T however proposed a different alternative. In lieu of J's assumption that the empty warehouses were sign of some mismanagement by a lousy department head, T instead put forth the theory that the rogue worker drones might've possibly looted the building some time after the core collapse, but before their forces arrived on the planet. Her reasoning primarily coming down to the general lack of drones and other basic or nondescript items such as clothing and standard workplace or household equipment present within any of the warehouse - which by all standard reasoning should still be there given the size and scope of such a company, no matter who's managing the intricacies of it's stocks.
Still a bit confused - especially in regards to her last few points of reasoning - N rightfully asked what T had meant; to which J elaborated that their leader was simply stating that she was of the belief that the already active drones must've come here in a delusional attempt to "liberate" their brethren whilst also stealing whatever wasn't nailed down for their own twisted / misguided uses - to which T stated was correct.
"Not only that," his leader then went on to say, "but just think for a moment. Most drones we've come across so far were wearing none-regulation clothing and were in relatively good condition, no?"
After some thought, both V and N nodded in affirmative.
"So, would you say that's something you'd expect from survivors of an extinction-level catastrophe? To be in prime condition with a plethora of undamaged apparel?"
"No, of course not." J then stated; helping T with her point despite her own past thoughts on the matter.
"Exactly." accepting readily the back-and-forth nature of which the conversation was turning into, T continued with her point, "So the only plausible conclusion then is that these specific drones are indeed likely both new and had access to a large supply of none-regulation items… I did always find it strange, but it would seem I've underestimated just how ingenious these basic drone have the potential to be. Something I, nor any one of us, should forget while we're here. Am I understood?"
"Naturally.", "Loud and clear, Boss.", "Absolutely!" All three of them said simultaneously.
Honestly, it was truly amazing just how much T could gather from so little information. Though he might sound like a broken record by this point, N was indeed glad he had T, as well as the rest of his squad, here with him. Truly, what would he be without-
Buzz-buzzz~
Breaking out of his rumination's and coming back to the present, N looked up and to the right; in the direction of where his right arm was currently resting. Said appendage was still firmly resting against the worker drone's decapitated body just in case it were to fall from his shoulder; yet a subtle vibration was now coming from it. Though, more specifically, it was coming from his forearm, indicating to N that a call was trying to get through via his personal channel.
Buzz-buzzz~
"Hmmm…." Adjusting his hold on the worker's body so as not to accidentally drop it, N gently pulled back from his flight path before coming to a gradual stop with a slight flap of his bladed wings.
With a bit of extra work, N managed to awkwardly free up his right arm to answer the incoming call. Within a moment of bringing his hand up to his face, it was immediately switched out for his handy-dandy walky-talky.
"Hello…?" N questioned slowly into the receiver after mentally switching it to his personal channel, still somewhat perplexed as to who exactly was calling him all of a sudden.
"… N." a female voice suddenly spoke from the other side after a couple seconds of silence; their tone sharp but very much measured - it was T, "Are you going to come in for debriefing, or are you instead content with wasting the company's time doing meaningless laps around the base?"
Ah! Right… Almost forgot about that… Oh, wait… "Sorry, T." N immediately spoke back in response, slightly panicked, "Just got a little distracted is all. Yeah…"
There was a few more moments of agonising silence as N waited with some trepidation for T's response - hoping she wouldn't be too upset with him for needlessly getting sidetracked.
"… Understood N." T ultimately called back with a barely audible sigh. Something which only pained N in all honesty - he really didn't like disappoint T like this… "I'm currently in the disassembly workshop." she continued, "We'll discuss everything there. T out."
And with that, their impromptu call ended as quickly as it began, and N was left with his own thoughts once more…
Mindlessly changing the walky-talky out for his right hand, N took hold of the corpse rest upon his shoulder once again. "Well, you heard what T said." N spoke as he momentarily looked down to the worker drone's severed head clutching within the claws of his left hand, "Best not to keep her waiting any longer, hey buddy?"
No response.
"Yeah…" N stated with a slight nod, "Best not."
With that, N shot up further into the sky with a flurry of unnecessary flaps of his wings before carefully swooped down in the direction of the Tower's workshop.