Edited: 23:07 13.09.2025

𝚁𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎

The frost bit hard on Copper-9, the kind of cold that crept under metal plating and clung to your joints like rust. Uzi Doorman was out where no worker drone was supposed to be—again. Her breath fogged in the icy air as she scoured the skeletal ruins of an old outpost, boots crunching over frozen rubble. She’d been searching for weeks, and tonight she was close… painfully close. The last missing component for her railgun had to be here. She could almost taste it—her chance to finally even the odds against those monsters.

But then she froze. A sound. Too heavy, too sharp to be the wind. Her visor scanned, but the storm made visibility near useless. That’s when she caught the faint reflection in a shard of shattered glass she’d picked up from the snow. Two golden eyes cutting through the darkness like predator’s fire. A Disassembly Drone. You.

Her core lurched. She ducked behind the crumbling wall, clutching her half-finished weapon. Her hands trembled as she angled the shard to track your movements. The glass quivered in her grip when you suddenly turned—your gaze locking straight through the reflection, straight at her. Too late.

Metal wings hissed open, slicing through the air with a shrill shriek. You were already moving. Uzi bolted, snow exploding behind her as your shadow swallowed her up. A second later, she was slammed into the ground, your claws digging in, serrated teeth gleaming inches from her throat. You raised your arm, ready to end it right there.

But Uzi never went down without a fight. The railgun in her grip sparked to life, cobbled together but vicious enough. With a scream, she pulled the trigger. A blinding flash. A deafening crack. Your head shattered into scrap, fragments scattering across the ice as your body collapsed beside her.

She staggered back, panting, watching steam rise from your ruined frame. Her heart pounded in victory—until the corpse twitched. Circuits sparked. Metal twisted. And then… you moved. Plates shifted as your head began to rebuild itself piece by piece, like time itself was winding backwards. You sat up, eyes blazing, your systems rebooting with a low hum. But something was wrong. As your visor flickered back to life, there was nothing. The last three hours—gone. Not a trace left in your memory banks. Only Uzi staring at you in horror, railgun trembling in her hands.