The wind howled through the rotting building, cracks and rubble showing their age, windows broken from an event now since starting to become a blur to history, long enough that snow poured into the interiors. But non of it mattered to the lone figure dragging herself through the white waste that weaved between the decaying towers.
Each step flinging snow away as she did, scars littered across her body, visor cracked from what should've been her demise long ago. Head tilting forward as if in on a reluctant lead, arms hanged loose at her sides as she kept walking. There was no destination, just a vague idea of something.
Again and again and again, it went on in her head in what felt like a never ending loop. Occasionally she would stare into the insides of the empty shells around her, even walking into them in search of something, but they were never right. Bird didn't even know what it was, but they were just never right.
The joints in her legs burned and ached but her hazy, overcooked mind was unable to process it, so she continued to walk. Her steps sluggish but she was still moving.
Her optics weren't right, one a sickly yellow with the other only barely holding onto her original distinct lapis blue colour. Every now and again, the yellow would claw up, expression starting to shift only to let out a grunt or a hiss, causing the sickly colour to be shoved back to it's original spot.
Soon she found her inside a hallway, a chill pierced through her core before she looked around, confusion oozing in her hazy mind. Ahead was a small rectangular kitchen with another room on the other side, some kind of living room on her, a staircase leading up on her right and turning around showed the doorway leading outside. The door seemingly long gone which showed the yellowing sky.
A jolt of fear briefly shock the Solver drone out of her confusion. She peered into the living room, windows. She looked into the kitchen, window, she peered into the last room, it seemed dark. Small but dark.
Bird stumbled to the room, a clawing aching pain in her legs nearly causing to start falling over. All but puncturing her fingers into the counter to stop herself from meeting the floor. The small breif scraps of sunlight the reached only made it worse.
The room was indeed small, but there was a window. And another door. With what was left of her digital adrenaline coursing through her, she curled her pinky and torn all but a third of it off, hearing it land somewhere besides her but didn't pay attention as she went down the stone steps.
It was narrow, the walls a dark dull stone but didn't last long before she was at the bottom. The room completely pitch black with the bits of like coming from behind only showing enough to confirm that yes, this was a basement.
A breif smile came to scarred drone's face, faltering when the exhaustion just rammed into her, barely able to keep herself standing as her legs shook. Optics flickering to a yellow three arrowed symbol, nausea starting to pool into her stomach as her core screamed for rest.
Bird soon dragged herself to the wall opposite the passage, all but fully collapsing as her overheating body met the frezzing stone below. Curling up into a fetial position, symbol stabilising.
She felt how exhausted she was before sleep started to take her. Her body ached and burn, patches of hot and cold now blooming through out her body. She could feel jolts and sparks of electricity coming from her core, each time her body would twitch but the sleep was definitely winning by miles.
It's okay. The thought was hazy. We'll sleep her and find mama and home then. It was the last thing she did before sleep fully took her.
The symbol remained though, shining brighter before forcing the floor and walls around her to warp and melt, wrapping around the drone with a surprising amount of care.
First a rough oval shape, then strands clumping around it, carefully mimicking rubble that might come from her current spot. Doing it layer after layer, hiding more of the egg shaped cacoon until the only part that remained was a small patch of what âat first glanceâ looked like smooth rock. Only being given away be faint but audible heartbeats.
One from the Solver drone inside and two for the kids she carried.
