A particularly spooky cephalopod

"yOu kNow wHat I never quIte UnDErStOod?"

Her breath hitched. She turned around to see it. A monster, as black as the void, with piercing white eyes, glowing, and though they hand no such thing, Tessa could feel the pupils focused on her.

"wHy wHENeVEr A ChaRACtEr IN A GaME taKeS A robOTIc cOMpanION OF YouRs aNd 'rEseTs' THEM tO FIgHT You, do They NEvER tRuLY reSET tHem?"

Tessa's vision moved to the side of the monster, widened as she felt the grip on her gun shake.

There she was. Serial Designation J, but not the one she'd known. The drone's modified body, its peg-like legs with hazard strips at the tips. The arms at its side were cones, one ending in not a hand, but a set of razor sharp claws. On top of its head were a line of yellow lights, and yet its visor was blank.

Tessa felt tears begin to well up as she looked at it, not in the military-esque outfits she'd seen so many don, but an all to familiar maid uniform, the glowing lights atop its head covered by a maid's crown.

Her grip shook even more, her entire body trembling as tears began to creep down her face.

"reALLy THouGH. THEY AlwAyS saY aLl ThAT StuFF About rEveRTing tHeM oR aCtivaTInG soME prOcesS, buT thEy lEAvE THE mEmOrieS IN TaCt. AND WHAT HAppenS?" It laughed. "thE ROBot REmEMbers YoU ANd youR FrIEnDS. iT REgAINS ItS sEnTIenCE, itS lifE, aND JOinS YouR SiDE aGaiN. aND iT'S AlWAYs bEcAuse Of the foOLISH cReaToR takiNG The eaSy wAY oUT."

"I Can asSurE YOU, elLIOTT"—Tessa's sight moved to the black tendrils that formed from two of the monster's hands, how they flowed down like wires, connecting to the drone, to J—"thAt i haVe mADe NO sUcH MiSTaKE."

Its finger twitched, and J booted to life, visor first flashing the horrendous three pointed symbol that had grown a place in Tessa's nightmares, then two yellow eyelights.

That blank stare. It tore at her heart as tears flowed.

"noW tHeN, J?" It pointed at Tessa with one of its sharp bony hands. "̴K̵i̵l̸l̵ ̸h̶E̵r̷.̴"̷